Posted on 02/12/2021 8:32:02 AM PST by albie
I'm reading that silver is the way to go now for a hedge against inflation and am asking if anybody is aware of the best type of silver to purchase. Bars, coins, etc. I guess you just buy it and tuck it away for later use as barter?
Personally I think that silver as money is history, not the future. For buying groceries I use a credit card and usually get a 5% discount. If you want to invest in silver I’d recommend the silver mining ETF SIL which at least pays a 1.91% dividend.
The premiums are completely insane right now on physical. March silver is about 27.40. A typical dealer price (APMEX) on a generic 10 oz silver bar is $325-335 in onesies. That is a 22% premium, just ridiculous. I am used to silver having a “buck an ounce” premium. This is $5 an ounce. You’d need a 30% rise in silver just to break even. Is it possible? Sure, why not.
I can’t recommend buying bullion here, even though I like it and own it.
The etfs are better bets, IMO. The argument that the etfs will collapse in a physical shortage is, IMO, ludicrous, but you can believe what you want to believe.
I *do* agree with the thesis that inflation will potentially become embedded in the economy and interest rates will rise. The question is; will gold/silver be the best & brightest reflector thereof? Although stocks have traditionally hated inflation, my own belief is that this inflation (if it happens) will show up in stocks triple or quadruple the amount showing up in gold.
YMMV.
If you have no silver at all, you might want to dip your toe in the pool, but if you already have some - take a chance and stay out. Junk silver coins have a 30% premium (now at $27 - break even at $35). Silver Eagles are even worse, going for $40 an ounce.
I say “take a chance” because Congress is exceeding their previous spending, with bills costing trillions of dollars now, which means BAD inflation is coming and precious metals might explode any day when people wake up.
Yeah, they might not “explode”, but how bad off would you be if you didn’t act compared to the opposite?
It has the lowest premium over spot.
Problem: YOU HAVE TO TAKE DELIVERY if your future contract expires and STORE IT.
You could also buy the SLV exchange traded fund (ETF), but the drawback to that is that there is more money in the fund than the actual silver to cover the position.
Next step, consider junk silver coins followed by Maple leafs, silver eagles, etc. High premium over spot, but hey, you are holding silver.
When you’re ready, I’ll trade you some toilet paper for it. ;)
You win the internetz!
I like junk US 90% silver dimes and quarters...they are universally recognized and known...plus you don’t have to make change that would be difficult with larger bars, gold etc...ammo is great too...instantly recognized and can save your life and/or property immediately and allow you to kill game for survival...someone told me 20 years ago that ammo would be the currency of the new millennium...ammo is a high tech product that requires lots of capital investment to produce...so in a global shtf situation it will be more valuable than gold imo...
Agree...they are pretty but aren’t worth more than a common coin of equal precious metal content to someone selling a dozen eggs...
I inherited a bunch of rolls of pennies from my dad. I opened one and it is a bunch of wheat grain pennies that look like they just came off the mint. I suspect they could be worth THREE TIMES their face value. :)
I would greatly limit the amount of money invested in SLV, or silver futures, unless it's for short term trading, etc.
Watch the news for articles on silver:
Here is one:
Silver: This Is Awkward
I prefer 1 oz bullion. I have some 10 oz bars, but that gets spendy when you decide to sell. By the time you really need to sell, the USD will be barely as useful as a sheet of Charmin. Some other "currency" will make more sense.
I suspect that it's like ammo now - "unavailable"...
-If you are buying silver eagles then there is a free test app for Android called "Bullion Test Free" the free version only tests eagles but that is what I buy so it works for me. The paid version tests many coins. It works by testing the tone made when you tap the coin with some object...you can run the app on your phone and if you play a youtube video of someone testing their coins the app will pick up the sound of the video and confirm...kinda cool.
-You can check the dimensions of the coins with a caliper...thickness and diameter.
-You can get a cheap gram scale and confirm the weight of the coin is within spec.
-Silver is paramagnetic, that means a magnet will not be attracted to it but silver resists a changing magnetic field. If you take a rare-earth magnet and drag it across a silver eagle you can feel the reluctance as a drag on the magnet. They make a little slide device that has very strong magnets in it...a silver coin slides down slowly.. a non-silver item slides quickly. Myself I use a strong magnet I salvaged from a defunct hard drive to test.
-Chlorine will instantly darken silver, you can use bleach, this test will make your silver coin ugly though...and hard to clean.
-Then there is the specific gravity test...you can find many youtube vids about this one.
I did all of these tests except the specific gravity test...also I only tested one per batch using the chlorine test as it makes the coin ugly.
Some fake eagles just look fake, they have mistakes of various sorts, but some look pretty good so beware and do the other tests if in doubt...don't just rely on appearance.
Only buy US legal tender. No capital gains tax on them!
If you have a ton of diver or gold but no food and your family is starving and someone offers you a loaf of bread for that ton what’s more valuable for or metal? Stock up on Mon perishable food, rice, dry beans, pasta etc
A guy I know bought some Canadian silver maple leafs, too.
He claims the silver Canadian silver maple leafs have a higher silver content than the American Eagles.
That’s true - 99.99% vs 99.9%
Yet, for some reason the US coin trades for a $ or so higher.
I still bought the Maple Leafs anyway, because I could get them for a $ or so cheaper :-)
I figure it all comes out in the wash - and the silver content difference is minuscule.
#2. Re “Silver Bullets” as in “Hi Ho Silver, Away”, or the movie “Silver Bullet”?
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