Pinging greeneyes cause she may have different perspective.
Coins or bars for me. No problem in buying old silver or gold coins. I stay away from junk silver, cause it's more difficult to judge if it's real or not, and if you want to sell it, you have to prove it's real again. People who are more into it than me can do that, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to not get rooked.
On the others, if they're from a valid mint, they'll have a mint marker, weight and percentage of the metal.
Coins are from a government mint. Rounds and bars are usually from private mints. The coins will also have a numismatic value above the metal value. Rounds and bars won't. The smaller a unit you get, the more you pay over the spot price, but the easier it is to sell. There's a run on both right now, same as with guns and ammo.
I've have good luck with JMBullion, and in my state gold and silver aren't subject to sales tax (SWEET!)
I like Silver American Eagles.
#1461 I have made several acquisitions thru them. Very happy with their service.
“Junk silver” refers to circulated pre-1965 US coinage.