Constitutional Silver, does the series/condition make a difference ?
hfjacinto
Posts: 871 ✭✭✭✭✭
Question:
My local dealer recently got a bunch of new constitutional silver, like I posted previously I'm not really a stacker but I get dimes when I go the coin shop (in addition to what I went there to buy). The new purchase of constitutional silver was higher grade, so he separated out the coin into 2 options:
Since I only get dimes these are the dime options, the same option was available for quarters.
Option 1: Low grade coins, mostly Roosevelts but a few low grade Mercury Dimes are included. Today they were 20 times face.
Option 2: AU-MS Roosevelts and XF+ Mercury Dimes, I even found a Barber dime in this pile. Today they were 21 times face.
I ended up picking Option 2 and getting 9 Mercury and the 1 Barber dime I found.
The question is when you buy for stacking which option would you pick and why?
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
Comments
I would not choose either one.... I prefer either ASE's or certified silver rounds. Cheers, RickO
I happen to like 90% 'junk'. Most people use a factor of .715 when calculating amount of silver.
If you can get half dollars for the same price as dimes then consider the halves. Personally, I'd go for the full weight roosies and mercs. Two weeks ago, I sold 4 rolls of mercs for 27x.
With some patience, you can get BU or AU 90% silver for the same price as average circulated coinage. In small amounts like the deal you just had, I wouldn't mind paying 21x for better quality silver.
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
@Meltdown your "junk" collection puts mine to shame, but like I said I'm not really a stacker.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
Did someone say junk? I prefer AU/BU but would not pay any extra for it. Personally I wouldn't buy any gutter metal at the current price. 10X would be more my speed. Life in the gutter. RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
@blitzdude Wow! That's a lot of gutter metal that you have there.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
life in the gutter. LOL
"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
Looks like gutter heaven to me....
Gutter is good.... Cheers, RickO
Hard to find constitutional silver for 20x or less. Most places want 25x or more. I won't go over 20x.
ixnay on the imdays
just bought 81 Roosevelt's for $98 including auctioneers premium, and sales tax from an estate auction. There were a bunch more lots (around 15) of 50 Roosevelts that someone picked up for around $90 including auctioneers premium but believe he was a dealer and did not have to pay tax.
When it comes to constitutional silver, series/condition has no bearing on the price my dealer charges. Whatever he gets in, is what’s available at the going price. I hand pick my “junk” silver. I love em all, but my favorite are nice Barber Half Dollars.
That's a great looking pile. I love pawing through 90% and picking out the best of it. A couple years back a local shop had a TON of merc dimes in stock... Over a couple weeks, I hand picked a 2 rolls of XF/AU pieces.
I've done the same with 2 different Franklin albums and 2 Walking Lib half albums also.
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
Absolutely! If an LCS will not let me hand pick through the "junk" silver, I will not buy it from them.
My dealer doesn't mind me looking through the silver, and hand picking what I want. Because he says that what I don't buy, he sells the rest to those who will buy what is left over sight unseen. They don't care, and are just buying it for the silver, and not how it looks or it's rarity.
I on the other hand, will pick out the nice Barber coinage, early Walkers, better date Franklins, SLQs with dates, early and better date Mercury dimes, and early date Washington quarters. I don't even care about the wear, as long as the coin is nice for the grade and age. When I fill a tube, I start another one.
Hand picking "junk" silver satisfies both my collector cravings, as well as slowing accumulating a store of wealth in silver. It has been my main interest in coin collecting for a very long time.
Where did you guys come up with the name constitutional silver ? While technically correct I suppose after 40 years of playing with coins ( many years working in a shop) it’s always been 90% sometimes silver coins or junk silver but never constitutional silver. BTW halves are usually preferred.
Probably You Tube.
I know I mentioned 'constitutional' with my last purchase as the local lcs guy called it that and I mentioned it in a post...but it's been randomly mentioned here over the years I believe.
Using the term "constitutional silver" to refer to 900 fine junk US silver coins never made any sense to me. Wouldn't a 1794 silver dollar or a 1796 half dollar also be "constitutional silver"?
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Picked these Barbers up today for 22 X face. The Morgan was $31.
The reddit kids like to throw around the term. That's the first time I heard junk called "constitutional". RGDS!
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
My dealer has called it constitutional silver ever since I’ve been shopping there. I took the term from him.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
It only matters when you go to sell it.
If you're selling junk silver coins and some are well worn, most dealers will weigh them and pay you based on the weight.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Wish I could get em' that cheap, my LCS sells Morgans for $45
Young Numismatist. Over 20 successful transactions including happy BST transactions with @CoinHoarder, @Namvet69, @Bruce7789, @TeacherCollector, @JWP, @CuKevin, @CoinsExplorer, @greencopper, @PapiNE and @privatecoin
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing" -Benjamin Franklin
It's 90%. Or "Pre-1965" if you must.
Calling it anything else is cringy. $405 face if my math is correct:
--Severian the Lame
I profiled a bit over 25% selling around 600ozt of the slickest junk in my collection since 8/8/2020. Mostly to the new reddit crew. Not a big win but a win none the less (if we don't factor in inflation since that time). RGDS! Especially after what has transpired the past few weeks.
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
Today I hit $40 in constitutional silver Woot Woot.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
The same reason "Plain" M&Ms was renamed "Milk Chocolate" M&Ms. Because "plain" and "junk" aren't very flattering terms.
D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
Picked up another 20 Constitutional Silver Dimes. Prices are good to buy. Hope they drop a little more.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
My stack is getting a little fuller.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
It is Constitutional coinage made of silver, but I get the inference.
And for those who don't understand why it is called that, please refer to the U.S. Constitution regarding the coining of "money".
I'll simplify it
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-10/clause-1/
I like constitutional coinage. It made a hobbyist out of me.
The series and denominations matter during study and assemblage. Grade matters in the market and in our collection.
50% of my silver is Junk/constitutional. I never liked the term “Junk” because it wasn’t junk to me. I’m not thrilled with constitutional either. To me it’s pre-64 dimes, quarters and half’s. My pre-33 gold is just that pre-1933 gold…
MIKE B.
Will the dealer that sold the slightly better junk silver for 5% extra pay you 5% extra when you go in to sell it?
I doubt it.
Not only no but HELL NO. But let's not start diverting to the "Phantom Premium" thread again. So sad that a select few here continue to do so and continue to hurt the youngbloods. One could certainly begin to ask; "Who's trolling who"? LOL
The whole worlds off its rocker, buy Gold™.
Never heard the phrase "constitutional silver" till very recently.
There's a rash of newbies calling it that. Whatever floats their boat, I suppose.
I knew it would happen.
When I hear someone calling 90% junk silver "constitutional silver", I assume they are new to buying silver bullion and are novices. That term is a recent invention by some marketing group trying to hype pre-1965 circulated common silver coins and make them sound special. This term has no real meaning.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Has no meaning to you. The term constitutional coinage has the same meaning since the constitution was written. For the satisfaction of debt , only coins made of gold and silver are valid instruments.
Despite what you think, the meaning remains.
Clad coinage is not constitutional. It is congressional coinage ... not backed by silver or gold as the Constitution instructs. Those who choose to ignore history may be the very ones trying to rewrite it.
Interestingly, piracy and slavery are in the constitution.
But the only time the constitution even mentions gold and silver is when it says "No STATE shall coin money...or make any thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts"
Article I, section 10.
And that only "The Congress shall have the power to coin money, regulate the value thereof".
Article I, section 8.
In other words, the federal government, and not the individual states, has the sole right to decide what is and what isn't legal tender, and how it's valued. A position the courts have reaffirmed many times.
Using the clumsy, seven-syllable phrase "constitutional silver" to describe what the vast majority of us call "90%" sounds like some crazy sovereign citizen nonsense, or a pretty obvious effort to reinforce the unfounded myth that the government would somehow shrink from confiscating gold (and silver if you can't afford gold) if they wanted to, as if they were vampires in the sunlight. Hint: They don't care what your gold or silver looks like.
And if you're new to precious metals and you're being told that muttering the words "constitutional silver" three times over the pot of 1964 dimes you buried in the back yard is going to keep the boogey man from taking it? You're being manipulated.
--Severian the Lame
Some good points, Weiss. I would add to that the notion that only pre-1933 gold is somehow exempt from confiscation is no more than fairy dust.
I knew it would happen.
Yes, the series and condition make a difference with silver coins. If you're just looking for a yes or no answer. it's just junk for those who answer no. ( in their book and mind, there's no extra value for any of it. ).
And if you're really hung up on what it's called, most likely you're hung up on semantics. However, every coin stands on it's own merit. > @hvellente said:
Some in the thread are hung up on the term " constitutional".
You're the first to insert "politics".
What political statement is made by referring to silver .900 coinage as constitutional silver ?
I've heard the term for over 15 years. Okay that's relatively new , but I never regarded the term as having political connotations. The world is redefining what everything means nowadays. Not me. The stuff is what pays my tuition.
I have no objections to the use of the term "Constitutional Silver". In fact, I prefer it to the traditional "junk silver" or even "90% silver". And I've bought and sold the stuff many times over the years.
Probably not. But somebody else might very well pay a modest premium for it.
Is a 1916-D Mercury dime in MS-65 condition "constitutional silver"? Is a 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter in AU58 condition "constitutional silver"? What about an 1893-S silver dollar in F12 condition. My point is that every US silver coin is "constitutional silver". This term is not very specific and includes many coins that are not bullion coins which is why it's a pretty much vague and meaningless term. Even an 1804 silver dollar is "constitutional silver".
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Yes. Yes. Yes, and point taken. So if it isn't bullion, and it's collectible, and it's minted by our government, then it's money. Real money ( not junk silver) and not fiat money.
And not 90% (.900 silver) money.