Silver Coins and Silver Bullion

The silver market offers investors a variety of products. Pre-1965 U.S. 90% silver coins, which were used as money until the mid-1960s, serve both as an investment medium and could be used as "survival" coins should our monetary system fail as many people fear.

Nearly as popular as pre-'65 U.S. 90% silver coins are 1-oz. silver rounds. Just behind silver rounds are 100-oz investment bars.

Other favorite silver bullion products include:

> 1-oz American Silver Eagles
> Ten-ounce bars

Privately-minted Silver Eagles are an inexpensive and convenient way to own silver. They have their weight and purity (999 fine) stamped on them, making them easy to sell or exchange. They are called "privately-minted" because they are produced by a private mint. The American Silver Eagles, on the other hand, are struck by the U.S. Mint and are "legal tender," officially being $1 coins.

Privately-minted Silver Eagles are so named because the obverse side (front) of the coin depicts an eagle flying through the sun. Both the U.S. mint's legal coins and the privately-minted Silver Eagles contain one ounce of 999 fine silver.

The U.S. Mint's Silver Eagles carry a substantial premium over the privately-minted Silver Eagles. Normally, the Canadian Silver Maple Leafs are priced below the $1 American Silver Eagles but higher than the privately-minted Silver Eagles.

Pre-1965 U.S. silver coins-Circulated and Uncirculated

U.S. dimes, quarters, and half-dollars dated prior to 1965 were minted of 90% silver/10% copper. Large quantities in circulated condition are readily available. Common-date uncirculated coins are available but carry premiums over circulated coins. Numismatists (coin collectors) sometimes call circulated coins "junk coins" because they have no collector value.

Although silver dollars also were minted of 90% silver/10% copper, they are not called 90% U.S. coins. Half-dollars dated 1965-1969 contain only 40% silver and are traded as 40% clad half-dollars.

Because U.S. Mints originally shipped 90% coins in $1,000 face value bags, today "a bag" refers to $1,000 in face value. A bag of dimes contains 10,000 coins; a bag of quarters 4,000 coins; and a bag of half-dollars 2,000 coins. However, pre-1965 U.S. coins are often sold in quantities smaller than $1,000 face value.

When minted, a $1,000 face value bag contained 723.4 ounces of silver. Due to wear, however, a bag of circulated coins yields approximately 715 ounces when refined; therefore, to calculate an accurate price per ounce, divide the cost by 715. A bag weights a little under 55 pounds on a bathroom scale.

CMI ships all 90% bags it sells from its Phoenix office. We do not drop ship 90% coins. (In fact, CMI rarely drop ships any orders.) A drop shipment occurs when the selling dealer has another dealer ship the coins to the buyer. This saves the selling firm postage. CMI does not drop ship because we go though all 90% coins before shipping and replace any excessively worn or otherwise damaged coins. Furthermore, we do not ship in $1,000 bags because they are heavy and burdensome. When a client buys $1,000 face 90% coins from CMI, we ship in two new $500 bags. We will ship in still smaller bags for those clients so wanting.
Dimes

> Roosevelt Type 1946-1964
> Mercury Type 1916-1945
> Barber Type 1892-1916

Typically, a bag of 90% silver dimes consists mostly of Roosevelt dimes, with Mercury dimes making up the rest. Invariably, Mercury dimes (sometimes called Winged Head) show more wear than Roosevelt dimes due to the longer time they functioned as money. A bag of all Mercury dimes sells at a premium over a bag of circulated dimes.

Occasionally, a bag of dimes yields a few Barber coins. Rarely do the older Draped Bust (1796-1807), Capped Bust (1809-1837), or Seated Liberty (1837-1891) designs appear in circulated bags.

Quarters

> Washington Type 1932-1964
> Standing Liberty 1916-1930
> Barber or Liberty Head 1892-1916

Bags of quarters contain mostly Washington type coins with a few Standing Liberty types and still fewer Barber types. Invariably, Standing Liberty and Barber coins will be quite worn, but sometimes a bag will contain a few of these older coins with readable dates. Rarely will a bag yield any Seated Liberty coins (1838-1891).

Half-Dollars

> Kennedy Type 1964
> Franklin Type 1948-1963
> Walking Liberty 1916-1947
> Barber or Liberty Head 1892-1915

A bag of pre-1965 half-dollars normally contains equal amounts of Kennedy and Franklin types, with a smattering of Walking Liberty coins, and maybe a few Barber halves. Promotions, however, can cause one coin to rise in price relative to the other types. As with dimes and quarters, occasionally a Barber-designed half dollar will show up in a bag. Rarely will a bag contain the older Seated Liberty types (1839-1891).

Typically, half-dollars sell at higher prices than dimes and quarters. Orders for bags of all one type will boost the price still higher. Half-dollars carry a premium over dimes and quarters because fewer were minted and they are popular promotional pieces. Except for the Walking Liberty coins, half-dollars show less wear than do dimes and quarters.

Although a $1,000 face bag is a standard unit for circulated coins, smaller quantities, such as half bags ($500 face value), quarter bags ($250 face), and 1/10th bags ($100 face), are commonly sold. For investors wanting to invest a specific amount of money, CMI will cut (count out) the number of coins to fill the order.

Because of their small sizes, circulated 90% coins offer convenience in selling; they can be liquidated as full bags, as fractional bags, or a few coins at a time. Additionally, pre-1965 coins were minted to serve as a circulating medium, a job they did very well until the 1960s. For those investors who fear the dangers of our present fiat paper money, pre-1965 coins make an appropriate investment for these coins could again function as money.

Uncirculated Pre-1965 U.S. 90% Silver Coins

Common-date pre-'65 silver coins in uncirculated condition carry premiums over circulated bags, sometimes $500-$700 a bag. Bags containing coins of only one date carry still higher premiums. The 1964 Kennedy half-dollar is the most popular uncirculated 90% coin.

U.S. Silver Dollars-Minted 1878-1904 and 1921-1935

U.S. silver dollars are the most widely collected coins in the world. Additionally, thousands of people who do not consider themselves coin collectors have invested in bags of silver dollars, and countless millions more have small quantities of silver dollars stuck away in drawers and Mason jars.

Nicknamed cartwheels, silver dollars carry two designs. The ones minted 1878-1904 and in 1921 are called Morgans, after George T. Morgan who designed them. Peace dollars, struck 1921-1935, were so named to commemorate the end of World War I.

Silver dollars fall into three groups:

> Pre-1921 Morgan 1878-1904
> 1921 Morgan
> Peace Silver Dollar 1921-1935

Like dimes, quarters, and half-dollars, silver dollars were minted of an alloy of 90% silver and 10% copper with each coin containing a net silver content of .77344 ounce; therefore, 1,000 coins contained 773.44 ounces of silver when minted. By contrast, $1,000 face value of pre-1965 U.S. silver dimes, quarters, or half-dollars contained 723.4 ounces of silver, a difference of fifty ounces.

Because of their rarity, pre-21 Morgans command higher prices than either the '21 Morgans or the Peace coins. Although quantities of both '21 Morgans and Peace dollars are readily available, the '21 Morgans sell at slightly higher prices than Peace Dollars of comparable grades. The premium '21 Morgans carries over Peace dollars will probably increase further due to the popularity of the Morgan design.

Silver dollars carry big premiums over the value of their silver content. The pre-'21 Morgans carry larger premiums than the '21 Morgans and the Peace dollars. Obviously, better grade coins have the biggest premiums.

999 Fine Silver Bars

> 100-oz Engelhard silver bar
> 100-oz Johnson-Matthey silver bar

Silver bars, also called ingots, are a popular way to invest in silver. They are uniform in size, making them easy to handle and convenient to store. Additionally, silver bars are compact, which enables investors to secure a great deal of wealth in a relatively small storage area. Bars with recognized hallmarks are readily accepted for resale, making them easy to convert to cash.

The silver bars offered by CMI (and most other dealers) are 999 fine (99.9% pure). 100-oz and 10-oz sizes are the most common. Yet, 50-oz, 25-oz, and 5-oz bars, which were produced in the early 1970s, will surface occasionally.

100-oz silver bars are often called investment bars, because investors who buy them usually do so for investment purposes and may sell when prices rise. These investors generally ignore the survival aspect of owning silver. Investors who want greater flexibility in their silver investments often buy 10-oz bars. A 100-oz silver bar weighs 6.86 pounds on a bathroom scale.

Although Engelhard and Johnson-Matthey bars are two of the worldÂ’s largest refiners, they have not mass-produced silver bars since the mid-1980s. This means Engelhard and J-M bars are available only when other investors sell. However, 100-oz Sunshine Minting and Wall Street Mint bars are readily available. Occasionally, Sheffield (English) and Handy & Harman bars surface.

Silver Eagle Bullion Coins

Privately-minted Silver Eagles are among the most popular 1-oz silver rounds on the market. In reality, they are privately-minted coins, a coin being a "round piece of metal of a known weight and fineness minted for facilitating commerce."

The obverse (front) of the silver Eagles depicts an eagle flying through the sun, hence they are called Silver Eagles. They are called "privately minted" because they are produced by a private mint. The American Silver Eagles, on the other hand, are struck by the U.S. Mint and are "legal tender," officially being $1 coins.

> 1-oz Privately-minted Silver Eagles
> 1-oz American Silver Eagles ($1 face value)

One-ounce Silver Eagles were introduced in 1986. They are minted of .999 fine silver and carry a symbolic $1 face value, officially making them Silver Dollars. However, in the precious metals industry, the term Silver Dollar denotes either the Morgan silver dollar or the Peace type silver dollar.

Silver Eagles are dated and come in tubes of twenty, twenty-five to tubes to a box. The minimum order for Silver Eagles is a box of 500, unless smaller quantity is added to another order that meets the minimum. Backdated Silver Eagles (earlier year coins) usually sell at lower premiums than current year Silver Eagles.

I would say the exit time for your investment will determine which one you wanna get. Bars or coins as well as whether to pay the premium or not.
You gotta set a limit when you plan your exit.
What price should I sell out all?
When should I sell out all?
And of course everyone will say ' I wanna sell at the time where the price is at the peak'.
But for now, I see no accuracy of an exact exit time and price. All are just speculation currently.
So to avoid regret and being too greedy which may led to losses, one should decide their own exit plan.

Chef,
My answer is in my earlier posting. You can get a court order to forbid my posting, and I will abide with the law of the land, unlike others. As for my recommendation with 1oz silver bar it is purely based on my empirical research and observation, and I can't force everyone to take my advice, as some people just don't have the brain to understand, and I believe it is not my fault.

wish to add on some stuff as well.

Exit plan for physical varies base on a lot of factors. Many people jump into the silver bandwagon without thinking of the liquidity factor, when you are holding bars it is hard to cash out when you need to(emergency,profit-taking?), sometimes people may even incur losses due to the buy back %.

Best profit from silver investment is still from numismatic value, I find getting bars or bullion not as attractive due to the price fluctuation where when silver price drop alot,you will not see any silver traders around. Market demand also affect as well when something nice is out, the first to jump in seems to get the least value as when some silver bar gets popular, more people will bring in and more competition leads = good for consumer but bad for traders which eventually a consumer will become as well some day.

I still can't see the attractiveness of silver bullion as a save heaven like people say but I do like silver because apparent it is the only PM where minting company will create more designs to market them 

wish to add on some stuff as well.

Exit plan for physical varies base on a lot of factors. Many people jump into the silver bandwagon without thinking of the liquidity factor, when you are holding bars it is hard to cash out when you need to(emergency,profit-taking?), sometimes people may even incur losses due to the buy back %.

Best profit from silver investment is still from numismatic value, I find getting bars or bullion not as attractive due to the price fluctuation where when silver price drop alot,you will not see any silver traders around. Market demand also affect as well when something nice is out, the first to jump in seems to get the least value as when some silver bar gets popular, more people will bring in and more competition leads = good for consumer but bad for traders which eventually a consumer will become as well some day.

I still can't see the attractiveness of silver bullion as a save heaven like people say but I do like silver because apparent it is the only PM where minting company will create more designs to market them 

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Added on December 2, 2011, 6:27 pm

wow 

Whats the point of that when you just going to bash people for being brainless? People's money people's choice.

Hey guys, we are here to share information and help one another, not win argument.

Some people prefer chinese food while others prefer western. But we still can sit down together, enjoy our food and have a pleasant chat.

I, for one, would only invest in bars but i also buy coins for the beauty of them. As for now, i think bar could be a better investment, but i could be WRONG. Only time will tell. Who knows, maybe coins (with legal tender) may yield a better return in the future? Only time will tell. I make my current investment decisions based on the (limited) knowledge that i have at this point in time. And that knowledge can only expand with time and experience.

You know, i always think gold is better than silver. I still think so and that affects my investment decisions. Again i could be DEAD WRONG HERE. If gold triples but silver jump up ten folds, then i wish i had taken a different view.

At the end of the day, I looked at my risk profile and also my investment portfolio and i make a decision to have such and such gold to silver ratio in my portfolio and i am happy with it. But this is an ON GOING PROCESS as i always review my portfolio on a periodic basis. That ratio IS be a Dynamic figure/ratio not a static one i believe.

Numismatic coin is one way of investment.

Silver bullion bar is another way of investment.

Silver bullion round may be another option worth exploring, particularly on the desgn artistic attribute (Numismatic) with low premium (bullion bar).

You can refer to page one of this thread for details.

Before you comment, please read all the facts thoroughly, meaning the question prior to the answer, history of posting, and if you are going to pick only 1/3 of sentence and make a statement, then you are shallow and judgemental.and maybe you are really a pack of quack.

How did I response to your comment todate? Fair and square.

That does not mean we should take it without understanding other factors involve. Most of the post article posted here are from US which reflects the US market not the market we have here in Malaysia.
I am replying base on the way you present your argument. You must be having a rough day seeing how you just wish to attack people verbally instead of replying people in a civilized method.

Like you mention,people can post whatever they like on the forum,now my reply is base on your use of words in a place for discussion not verbal attacks.

What is civility and what is verbal attack? Everyone have different yardstick, and who are you to judge? I believe this forum have mitigating mechanism that censored certain words that are deem offensive and will not allow it to appear in this forum, like the words starting with 's" and 'f'. I don't see words like crap, and BS  are words not disallowed in this forum, and I am not directing to anyone directly in the first place. I am puting in my post with facts and reference to repudiate Crap and BS, so that inncocent readers will not be influence by the posting. If the forumer think they are posting facts and not BS, then I am not reffering to them, period. I am putting my facts on 1 oz silver bar in the forum, and if they don't have the brain to understand them, it is not my fault. This forum is an informal setting that only the admin set the rules. Forumer can keep their own rules and regulation to sanction their own family and have no right to sanction other forumers on proper conduct and decorum in any forum for that matter. If any forumer are so offended, they are free to skip the offensive articles, complain to admin to sanction the author of particular  posting and choose not to participate in this forum.

As far as I am concern, you can go fly kite for all I care, as you are a nobody with a shallow thinking. What do you have that you think you are qualified to lecture me? Age, experience, education, achievement or money? Name it? Don't give me all those qualitative factors of your own yardstick to judge others. No one have the right to sanction anyone for what they said in a free and 'democratic' country. Oh! you can sue me if you think I am offensive to repudiate your uncalled for comment of what I said.

I would say the exit time for your investment will determine which one you wanna get. Bars or coins as well as whether to pay the premium or not.
You gotta set a limit when you plan your exit.
What price should I sell out all?
When should I sell out all?
And of course everyone will say ' I wanna sell at the time where the price is at the peak'.
But for now, I see no accuracy of an exact exit time and price. All are just speculation currently.
So to avoid regret and being too greedy which may led to losses, one should decide their own exit plan.

Another information for Numismatic Coin investor, someone is selling Perth Mint 1oz Gilded Dragon for RM310 in KLIA today. I believe the selling price by Perth Mint is AUD94.54, and that worked out to be RM308 without tax, and with tax using Fedex will be around RM400.  Mind you, dragon is still quite a hot property now, and we have a case of "high profit" for selling Numismatic coin.

 

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Added on December 1, 2011, 9:29 pm

What i'm saying is that 12 months ago, traders selling at 15-20% profit. Today in SLS, traders selling at 3-5% profit. That is already a 10-15% reduction in selling price (assuming spot remained the same today as in 12 months ago).

base on what i understand + see + 6th senses.
in the future I foresee the following
a) Price of silver will go up, silver is rare people will just look for any form of silver.
b) Numismatic value growth rate will go down. U can see that in gold panda prices when gold approaches USD1700/oz. Thus there is more growth in silver content. Thus, U better cash out when the numismatic value is still high.

c) to understand numismatic you must understand collector behavior, rarity and how it occurred and in most cases it is due to accidental decision/policy/unique
situation. U need to be a collector to understand. Thus 50% of the time i got it wrong, thus i got the idea but sometimes trading will screw up your initial plan due
to lack of patience and cash flow.
d) in the future, branding is more important. The will be some issue on the authencity of the coin/bar. thus, stick to popular brand when U r still hoarding.

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Added on December 2, 2011, 10:24 pmWow! the bull is full with energy.

1. U will be surprised to know who much Perth mint sells to their reseller those dragon coin.
Dragon 1 oz can be as cheap as USD55/oz or lower at spot USD30-USD35/oz. according to my secret source.

2. Silver round /bar :- 95% of the time it has no numismatic value, U can only dream of it lah numismatic value.
the remaining 5% U name it lah, i will try to double verify but that all also depends on collector size and buyer.

of course coin with legal tender is no doubt the best investment but with  a 15.5% (closed to 16%) upfront tax thus making it not so worthwhile
lah. thus, the right legal way is branded bar is the choice to go. that what my sales data tell me.

i dont which will win or lose.
All i know is i am in both boats.....gold since $240 and silver since $5.80....

Last time silver topped out at $50 i sold my AGQ after last entering at $108 and sold $380

either way i will win.......  

GoldChan,
There is two types of dragon coin from Perth Mint.
1) The bullion coin, including lunar, for this year is dragon, only sold to registered Australian residents and global distributors. They are currently selling 1oz version from USD39.92 to USD43.42, depending on quantity ordered. Due to initial scarcity, some Australia online distributor are selling the 1oz bullion as Numismatic and price is USD99/oz, and that is the reason why local sls trader are able to sell at RM400, but now it had triggered down to lower RM200+. You may be referring to this type of dragon coin at USD55/oz sold to local dealers by Perth Mint's distributors.
2) The Numismatic dragon coins, such as colour, proof, gilded and gemstone sold online to everyone with credit card, is what I referred to as Numismatic coin. I amd not so sure why Perth Mint would want to sell such low price of USD55/oz, if they can't even meet online customers' demand with higher price.

The above two facts concluded that the USD55/oz you are referring to is the bullion dragon, and off course Chris Chin and I had bought the 10oz silver bullion as well.

for years i been trying to convince people on certain issues be it peak oil, 9-11 , gold silver
but my success rate is very low. and on top of that there are lot of people will sing a song
" I did it my way"
So, now i have a general policy unless they ask then only i tell my comment, otherwise there is not much point in convincing others as both has a strong mind and conviction.
exception on forum sometimes voice out something lah.
i generally found that after a certain age > 30, people will form their own ideas /view etc susah to change.
"force a horse drink water"

as one open to other comment, progress is seen

@y_Lc

wah.. so cheap now lunar dragon RM258/pc!!

wow! thats really cheap, as far as i can remember, about a month ago it was like RM300!

What is civility and what is verbal attack? Everyone have different yardstick, and who are you to judge? I believe this forum have mitigating mechanism that censored certain words that are deem offensive and will not allow it to appear in this forum, like the words starting with 's" and 'f'. I don't see words like crap, and BS  are words not disallowed in this forum, and I am not directing to anyone directly in the first place. I am puting in my post with facts and reference to repudiate Crap and BS, so that inncocent readers will not be influence by the posting. If the forumer think they are posting facts and not BS, then I am not reffering to them, period. I am putting my facts on 1 oz silver bar in the forum, and if they don't have the brain to understand them, it is not my fault. This forum is an informal setting that only the admin set the rules. Forumer can keep their own rules and regulation to sanction their own family and have no right to sanction other forumers on proper conduct and decorum in any forum for that matter. If any forumer are so offended, they are free to skip the offensive articles, complain to admin to sanction the author of particular  posting and choose not to participate in this forum.

As far as I am concern, you can go fly kite for all I care, as you are a nobody with a shallow thinking. What do you have that you think you are qualified to lecture me? Age, experience, education, achievement or money? Name it? Don't give me all those qualitative factors of your own yardstick to judge others. No one have the right to sanction anyone for what they said in a free and 'democratic' country. Oh! you can sue me if you think I am offensive to repudiate your uncalled for comment of what I said.

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Added on December 2, 2011, 9:48 pm

Another information for Numismatic Coin investor, someone is selling Perth Mint 1oz Gilded Dragon for RM310 in KLIA today. I believe the selling price by Perth Mint is AUD94.54, and that worked out to be RM308 without tax, and with tax using Fedex will be around RM400.  Mind you, dragon is still quite a hot property now, and we have a case of "high profit" for selling Numismatic coin.

@y_Lc

wah.. so cheap now lunar dragon RM258/pc!!