Is it okay to open mint tubes?
IronHammer
Posts: 33 ✭✭
New stacker here and I got a question. I can hardly resist the urge to see all of my silver piled on my table. But is it a bad idea to break the tape and remove my ASE’s from their US mint tubes?
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Mint didn't put the tape on the tubes, a third party seller did to keep them from popping open during shipment. OK to open. Pop the top and turn upside down and lift the tube off. Carefully play with each one of them and stack them back up and slide the tube down on them. Handle them by the edge only.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
Ahh. Okay. Thanks! White gloves too? Or does that matter for bullion? I mean, silver is silver right?
No gloves needed but handle by edges as a good practice.
No fun if you don’t handle them a little
Agree with all above. Play with the precious... with your hands around their edges.
And pick one (probably the worse looking: scratched, etc) as a “pocket piece” that you carry with you, toss around, spin, roll, bite, ring it like a bell, show off, etc.
Enjoy the stacking!
Yes, open them up, that is what you bought them for
The tape is not original. Feel free to open them. DerryB is correct. No tape is on original shipment in monster boxes.
Good to know about the tape. That only held me back for awhile on one tube.
Stacking silver bullion (not collectibles) are OK to handle...though you should avoid finger prints or mustard drops on them...
Cheers, RickO
That's what I like about poured bars, they are fun to handle.
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tube tops are secure in the mint's monster box. If not taped for aftermarket shipment the caps will sometimes pop off allowing the coins to get damaged in shipment. A good seller will tape the caps. A better seller will include a foam peanut on top of the coins to prevent minimal movement inside the tube.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
I picked up a tube from local coin shop (way over spot but I try to support local businesses) and it had both tape and a nib of bubble wrap to hold the coins in place. I will look for those in my BE purchase. Thanks!
Also check for milk spots !!!
I don't think I've opened a tube in 10+ years. In fact I only see the bullion stack when I put in new g/s.
Then again, I've got a bunch of USMint stuff in unopened boxes too... lol
And to make sure that what's supposed to be in the tube is actually in the tube.
Absolutely pop them out of the tubes. Dump them in the tub. Take a bath in your stack of silver!!! Stack on!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
Is it not ok to not open mint tubes?
I would not open tubes from APMEX with the "Mint Direct" seal. They fetch a slightly higher premium over reg. tubes on eBay.
Most shipments I received come with the tubes taped and a Styrofoam peanut inside the top. I take the peanut out and toss it so it does not harm the first coin, which I just read somewhere. I've been buying ASE's for several years and I just took the peanut out instinctively, now i get some verification that it is best to do that. All that being said, I doubt a buyer would pay more than spot +$1 per coin, so I don't know that I'm not wasting my time being so careful with them. Another note I quit buying Canadian Maple Leaf Silver because they were getting spots and the mint would not do anything about it even after admitting the problem existed. I like the way Perth Mint does their Silver Coins. I collect Kookaburras.
I'm 75 years old, so there is nothing new about me.
I leave the styrofoam peanut in the tubes to prevent abrasion. I don't open Apmex-sealed tubes. Mostly, I leave rolls of BU bullion alone after a careful initial inspection, but sometimes I'll open a roll to look through it if I know it's not an untouched original roll.
I knew it would happen.
CLEAN hands - freshly washed.
I doubt a buyer would pay more than spot +$1 per coin, so I don't know that I'm not wasting my time being so careful with them.
Of course they will, most likely you did. The Mint sells them to a handful of authorized purchases for $1.50+ over spot. The AP then sells for more over spot it he wants to make a profit.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
@derryb
Are you saying I could get more than spot +1 per ASE from a dealer/buyer ? If so how much?
I'm 75 years old, so there is nothing new about me.
No, you are selling at wholesale to a dealer. Individuals/stackers/collectors are paying retail (more than $2 over). Ebay completed sales will indicate what retail is bringing in.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
Fleabay, don't forget to subtract your 10-11% for fvf and paypal fees. Plus if you shipped for free subtract shipping and packaging charges too. Hard to realize retail as a bullion seller there.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
It's $2 over or did they lower the premium?
If you don't open them [and you're certain of the origin] then you can say with honesty when you go to sell that they were never opened by you.
In the last few years, the cheapest I have bought retail is about $328.90 for a roll of 20 ASE's current year. That is $16.45 per coin. Last month I paid $361.00 for a roll of 2019. ie lowest i have seen offered on sale with free shipping is about $2.50 over spot retail sale. Usually payment by check but some times on e-bay in which case I get 1 % return from credit card.
I'm 75 years old, so there is nothing new about me.
It seems to me the "Big Boys" that sell thousand of individual rolls have sent them in for grading, slabbed the MS70's and repackaged in rolls of 20 non 70's. I firmly believe this due to the fact that my monster box tubes "always" have all obverse or all reverse throughout the whole roll. I have received tubes from most major resellers and the mix of the coins in the tube were random as if someone took some and just made sure there were 20 in the tube.
Derry taught me the peanut trick so no rattle to tempt folks to steal. Saw an ad on ebay with picture of eagle roll with tape and seller said never opened.....
Big boys "grade" them in house before sending to TPG. Saves them tons of money on the obvious non-70s.
I've sold tubes strait from the monster box, never removing them from the tubes, still secured them with tape and a peanut for shipping. Most individual (small) sellers of tubes don't care about grading them. They're just moving bullion.
Anyone looking for graded 70 AGEs will find it cheaper in the long run to just buy them already in holders. I quit collecting the series in 70 after the milk spotting problem became a problem.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
I believe that the "big boys" have pallets of them just drop shipped from the mint to the TPG. Why pay extra shipping? They likely grade until a "quota" of 70s and 69s is met. The rest are return ungraded and/or retubed as needed. IIRC from watching various videos they are all oriented heads up when tubed at the mint.
OK, the small boys grade them in house before submitting.
"Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey
Seems like it might be wiser just to buy a few hundred from a BIG BOY! Or maybe the BIG BOYS accept pre-orders for a few hundreds.