Buy/Sell Spreads

Proofmorgan

What are you guys seeing lately?

At FUN the spreads were decently tight when spot was $75-80. I would say $1-$5 total spread for .999 (generic through eagles). In the $90s I'm hearing local spreads of $10-$20 (wild!). Are dealers insulating themselves from a perceived $100 ceiling and crash? From a couple accounts it seems the buy prices are the same as when spot was $80.

Share any recent experiences you have.

blitzdude

Mountains and mountains of gutter metal backed up at the refiners. Nobody wants it. If a dealer can't move the garbage obviously the spreads will continue to increase. This move is 100% paper driven, once the meme (think gamestop) crew run out of steam lookout below. The spread will then correct itself just as it always does.

P.S. I am still dumping the physical gutter so I hope we do still have some time left but I feel we are getting very close to the collapse. I have in the neighborhood of 3k ounces to go. RGDS!

softparade

@blitzdude said:
Mountains and mountains of gutter metal backed up at the refiners. Nobody wants it. If a dealer can't move the garbage obviously the spreads will continue to increase. This move is 100% paper driven, once the meme (think gamestop) crew run out of steam lookout below. The spread will then correct itself just as it always does.

P.S. I am still dumping the physical gutter so I hope we do still have some time left but I feel we are getting very close to the collapse. I have in the neighborhood of 3k ounces to go. RGDS!

For some reason, blind squirrel/nut never happens for you lolz.

Proofmorgan

My local dealer who sends out to the "Big Boys" as he says, told me they are only buying eagles from him currently. A couple weeks ago they were even buying 90% at 60x from him and he shipped a lot out. They won't take generics.

I've pushed everything except eagles and .999 to ebay and its doing quite well there.

Proofmorgan

Call a few shops today. Some paying $8-10 back for silver eagles or generic (the line about refiners paying -15 on .999 and taking 30 days to pay). One place quoted $2 back and no complaining.

Coinobsessed

What about 100 oz bars? Any info?

jdimmick

Spreads are really widening especially on unwanted stuff, places are really limiting what they are buying.

we are way back on generic 999, not on ASE they are still selling

when this breaks, it will be pure t ugly

blitzdude

JHCB Customer Update Jan 20, '26
To Our Jack Hunt Partners,

Another day and another record high price for gold & ̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ gutter. The sheer amount of activity in the market in such a short period of time combined with record high prices puts strain on capital needs for purchasing and hedging. Refining turnaround times are going in the opposite direction, taking longer than ever. Converting metal to money has slowed down significantly.

Last week we temporarily suspended s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ gutter purchasing for all items except ̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ gutter Maples/Eagles. The pause will be fluid as the market changes continue.

We continue to purchase scrap gold and bullion at these record levels. The volume in the door is faster than we can process but our team is working hard to keep turnaround times to a minimum. As of today, gold processing times are approximately 3-4 business days and s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ gutter processing is about 5-7 days. In addition, the following changes are being implemented until further notice:

– Advances: Advances on eligible scrap and bullion orders are halted for all customers. Payments will be initiated upon processing your order. See processing times above.

– Pool: Individuals having unpriced (pool) metal with JHCB can still price on demand, but will be paid under industry standard 2-day value.

We will continue to make the necessary adjustments as the markets dictate in order to serve all customers. Further updates will be posted to our website at jackhunt.com.

Sincerely,

Thomas Dzielski, CPA
Director of Wholesale Operations

https://www.jackhunt.com/customer-update-on-scrap-silver-payment-processing-refining/

RGDS!

taxmad

So gold is now getting the same treatment as silver. That’s interesting.

Proofmorgan

Made some calls today preparing to sell some later this week when I'm off:

4 places called:

2 are not buying "we are inundated with the stuff, check back maybe next week".
2 were at $87 for eagles and $86 for generic .999

RonaldDay

Those thinking that there is a $100 ceiling might be in for a surprise. There has been a supply shortage for the last 4 or 5 years that shows no signs of correcting itself. Most silver production is incidental, and it takes years to add more supply. While there is plenty of inventory, that inventory is finite. My call? We will see $120/oz before we see 60 again. What is happening right now is a classic consolidation before the next move up,

nags

@RonaldDay said:
Those thinking that there is a $100 ceiling might be in for a surprise. There has been a supply shortage for the last 4 or 5 years that shows no signs of correcting itself. Most silver production is incidental, and it takes years to add more supply. While there is plenty of inventory, that inventory is finite. My call? We will see $120/oz before we see 60 again. What is happening right now is a classic consolidation before the next move up,

There's not much market inefficiency these days. All information is baked into the price. Regarding the alleged shortage, don't you think that the large industrial/end users have an intimate knowledge of the supply and demand status of their inputs? I find it impossible to believe that the end users just realized that a massive supply issue allegedly exists.

I'm not smart enough to make predictions, but I'm not seeing rational arguments for the huge run-up. A squeeze could drive the price to $150, or the momentum may turn, and with it the speculators bail, and it could drop to $40. I frankly wouldn't be surprised by either.

coastaljerseyguy

Besides the annual shortage and increased industrial usage the past couple of years for car batteries and solar panels, the demand for paper SLV has had an impact. Looking at their recent financials, in the past 9 months SLV acquired 90,000,000 ozs., = 2,800 tonnes of .999 silver to back the new paper issuance. Seems lot of increased recent demand for what's available. SLV now has close to 520MM ozs of silver to back the paper.

nags

@coastaljerseyguy said:
Besides the annual shortage and increased industrial usage the past couple of years for car batteries and solar panels, the demand for paper SLV has had an impact. Looking at their recent financials, in the past 9 months SLV acquired 90,000,000 ozs., = 2,800 tonnes of .999 silver to back the new paper issuance. Seems lot of increased recent demand for what's available. SLV now has close to 520MM ozs of silver to back the paper.

Absolutely. That "demand" isn't for use, it's as an investment/speculation just hoping that the value of silver will increase. Will that demand (net inflows) continue to increase? The silver being produced from the ground appears to be much more than sufficient to cover industrial supply. I'm unaware of any unexpected increase in industrial demand, or any unexpected decrease in supply which warrant a massive fundamental move in the price. All the demand side is stuff that has been known for years if not decades.

RonaldDay

production of silver ran at a surplus for years, demand for silver increased with data centers, ev's and solar panels - all of which will continue to increase for the foreseeable future. Silver at 35X gold would get us back to historical norms, heck it was 20X for all of the 1800s. The idea that silver prices could be sustained over $100/oz has plenty of historical support with gold over $3500/oz.

Silver just crossed over the $100 mark today, my guess? over the next month that will become the new floor and the ceiling will be dictated by the price of gold. I'm just waiting for the next consolidation before I sell some more.

RonaldDay

PS. Industrial demand is currently consuming 81% of all the silver that is mined compared to 50% 20 years ago.

jmski52

production of silver ran at a surplus for years

Don't you mean production of silver ran at a deficit for years (5 to 7) depending on where you begin your baseline)?

blitzdude

JHCB Update as of Jan 26, ’26
To Our Trading Partners,

Record metal prices and liquidity delays have become a common theme these last two months. We are committed to providing the fastest service possible given the circumstances. As we navigate the current conditions with you, here is our latest update.

∙ Gold Processing & Payments – Will be 5-7 business days after receipt for all orders.

∙ ̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶ gutter Eagle & Maples – Processing and payments will be 2-3 weeks after receipt.

∙ Daily Buying Limits – We are implementing overall daily buying limits. For now, it will not be an individual limit, rather an overall daily buying limit from all customers. When we meet that limit, trading will halt for the remainder of the day. Think of it like the pizza shop that only has so much dough, and when they’re out, they’re out (pun intended!). YOU CAN LOCK IN PRICES!

∙ Bullion Sales Are Unaffected – Trading lines will remain open for bullion sales.

Our expanded turnaround times are still much better than most industry wide. We will continue to do everything in our power to get you paid as quickly as possible for your metal.

Sincerely,

Thomas Dzielski, CPA
Director of Wholesale Operations

blitzdude

Jack Hunt was paying Spot +$1 for past date sealed ASE monster boxes last week. Today he is paying Spot -$5. Doesn't want anything else gutter except ASE/CML. RGDS!

derryb

bullion exchanges is paying $10 below spot for generic .999 silver, 35% below spot for 40% and has removed 90% from its sell to us program.

RonaldDay

@jmski52 said:
production of silver ran at a surplus for years

Don't you mean production of silver ran at a deficit for years (5 to 7) depending on where you begin your baseline)?

I was referring to the years before we started the current deficit for the last half decade.