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"...are trying to explain away the silver bull?"

Yes, so for our fellow Freepers, I will, in very elementary way, type out exactly what a novice /a guy or a lady / should do when calling/wanting to buy silver bars:

1 Get your local Yellow Pages out.

2 Look under 'coins' or 'coin dealers'
(do not call your bank or your stock broker, they will most likely be higher then someone in the business.

3 Call and ask this: "What is the price of spot silver right now and using this price, what is your "spread," your "buy-sell" on one (1) and also ten (10) pure 100 ounce -.999 Englehard silver bars if I come in right now please?"
[an example of a coin dealers "spread" - he will say something like: "For a 100 ounce pure silver Englehard bar, I will pay 20 cents off (under) spot price and sell at 20 cents over spot.
[I have suggested inquiring about..."one" and "ten" - in that by specifically stating this - it will pin down the coin dealer to exactly what you want to know with no question about what is being asked and this also makes you come across as if you know what you are talking about / also, you'll get one quote for buying one bar and you should get a bit better quote if you are interested in buying more then one bar / I know this sounds like I'm talking down to a group of kindergardeners and I sound very basic, but I'm sure many folks who are reading this will appreciate the fact that all of this is just the basics on what to say and do so you'll get the best 'spreads']
When you get a price you are pleased with, you then have a few more things to discuss:

a. tell the dealer how many bars of 100 oz (or ten ounce or one ounce bars) you want

b.do you have the bars in stock now?(if he says he can 'order' them, then you ask when they will arrive and can you 'lock' in the price? If he will 'lock' in the price by you driving over and leaving a cash deposit, that should work out fine/ just make sure the dealer is reputable/ ck and see if you can how long he has been at the location/ in other words, does it look as if his business has been there very long or might it be a fly-by-night operation/ in the coin business I owned for 12 years, I had it on one of the busiest streets, so, with me being at that location so many years, it was obvious to my customers and new customers, that I had a legitimate coin business / if you do a lock in - listen very carefully and ask for a confirmation number over the phone if need be and say you are driving there and will be there shortly - - [a coin dealer will charge more for ten ounce and ounce bars, but that is normal, so just try to buy 100 oz bars]

c. Call many coin dealers to compare which one's spread is the best. This is a must!

d. If you are in a small city with no coin dealers make some calls to a larger city after viewing that larger cities yellow pages online/or wherever. (also, if the city you reside is small and has only one coin dealer, you must make calls to your nearest larger city because this one coin dealer knows that he is the only one in your area and he of might very well have a very uncompetitive 'spread')

Another small problem you might encounter when you like the quote you finally decide upon -is the fact that when you hear this quote, you will say you "will be coming right away to his coin business." He might very well say something like this: "Well, by the time you get here, the spot price of silver might have changed" - so what I do-(although I have known everyone in the business here for many years) - and what you should do, is tell him you're on the way, but then make a call on your cell phone in his parking lot to check if the price is the same and if so, tell him you're parking now and coming in the door now, so that way, the price will be the same

*keep any bars you might purchase in a bank or where you think they will be safe/ do not mention to folks you have purchased bars of anything
- -in post #29 there is a pic of Englehard bars
(fellow Freepers, my wife is hollaring to get off computer/ do chores/ have to go, no more time & no to ck for grammatical errors)