Gold Prices Push Consumers to Sell

AP ^ | 3/11/08 | Dave Carpenter

[SAJ]

C'mon, mate, you're an old silver trader. You know (or at least NOW you do!) that you don't trade metals by proxy. Sheesh.

;^)

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Oh man, I coulda killed this guy, who was in all other respects, a great guy and very responsible. His sister worked as a teller in a Mexico City bank, but I didn’t want new shiny Onzas at 15% premium, I wanted dirty beat up ones. It happened exactly as I said, I felt like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, “OK this time FOR SURE”, every time the price creeping up a quarter or so.

Meanwhile, his boss, good friend of mine, who made lots of money but never saved A DIME, I convinced to buy 5 100-oz Englehard bars at $1331 and he owed me $2500 so I accepted 2 bars as payment!

[SnarlinCubBear]

Thank you for the information. I have gold, but mostly silver bars that my father bought quite a while ago, and I have been holding on to for a good price. Is a local “coin store” the best place to receive a fair price? He had also bought some MONEX silver trade eagles - I just don’t have a clue what to do with them.

[SAJ]

No guarantee -- and it might be inconvenient (shipping costs, f'r sinstance), but if I held the typical 100 Oz T bar, I'd try to sell it to the company whose mintmark it has. In the case of silver, presumably that would be H & H or Engelhard.

Once sold a 100 Oz T Engelhard to a ''bullion dealer'' here in STL. Best he would do was to give me a 12% haircut, on an item of unquestioned purity and provenance. Effing thief. Never again for that tactic, I assure you.

Try, if at all convenient, to contact the company whose mintmark is on the bar.

I'm not familiar with MONEX eagles. General rule: avoid private mintings (Franklin, e.g.) unless a repo guarantee comes with your purchase. I suppose I'd just have the MONEX stuff melted (esp. if you have a dozen or more) and take the discount the smelter offers.

However, once again, I've no experience with bulk 'custom' mintage coins (except to note that the assorted private mints make a freaking boatload of profit on them -- no sin, no crime, but, AHEM, I don't feel any need to play THEIR game, eh?)

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

Most coin dealers are also bullion dealers and post a bid/ask for silver bullion on an easily-changeable sign in their shop. Now...if you go to very small guy, you might take more of a haircut, especially for small amounts. For 100 oz bars, a coin dealer in a bigger city will probaly give you more just because he has more cash sitting around. Ebay is also a great way to SELL bullion but I do not reco it to BUY bullion.

Also....if you don’t need the money...my suggestion is NOT to sell at this time. Precious metals go higher, IMO. They are NOT in a bubble...but I could be accused of talking my book. I am still buying silver, not as much as I used to, but I am still buying small amounts when I can find it below spot. Last weekend at a coin show I bot some quarters for $3 (they’re worth about 14.4x face = 3.60) Nobody’s gonna retire on 23 quarters, but my own belief is that silver goes at least 40% higher. Repeat: Belief.

[Stonewall Jackson]

Sounds like a good plan. If my yard ever dries out, I hope to put in a nice garden this spring.

I'm in the process of repairing my bike. Somehow I managed to bend the main gear and am currently waiting for UPS to deliver the replacement.

Fortunately, I live on the edge of town. The hospital is less than two miles away. There are six grocery stores within two and a half miles of my house. Plus there is a large sod farm less than two hundred yards from my house that is always full of rabbits and a large cornfield just beyond that which is home to a number of deer.

The only thing I worry about it the water supply (city water), but if things get really bad, I have plenty of friends who have homes out in the country that have water wells who would (hopefully) be willing to let me stay with them.