Owning 90% Silver Coins vs. 99.9% Bars in a Civil War
COINB0Y
Posts: 4,505
What will get you a better trade for the Toilet Paper ?
(For the purposes of this debate, both traders have inexplicitly left their guns back at the respective shack)
(For the purposes of this debate, both traders have inexplicitly left their guns back at the respective shack)
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so you can buy smaller items without having to make change
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
<< <i>90% silver coins dimes and quarters
so you can buy smaller items without having to make change >>
If your only reason is ease of making small change that doesn't quite work. Silver is readily available in 1g, 2.5g, 5g, 10g and 1/2oz bars. You can also get 1/10oz, 1/4oz and 1/2oz silver rounds.
Bars and rounds are inferior to 90% because they have a higher premium, they are much less well known, their purity is suspect, they are not as widely collected as 90% US (and anyway their production is unlimited vs. diminishing examples of 90%), and most importantly: they don't have a face value.
--Severian the Lame
Even fewer Silver Bar aficionados.
I go with the lowest common denominator where I can point out that the Frankie in my hand is 90% Silver vs. your word that the round with Bozo on the obverse is 99.9% Silver.
I think I'll end up with the TP in the trade.
<< <i>I'm awfully damn proud of my detailed response in Bear's thread. Bars and rounds are inferior to 90% because they have a higher premium, they are much less well known, their purity is suspect, they are not as widely collected as 90% US (and anyway their production is unlimited vs. diminishing examples of 90%), and most importantly: they don't have a face value. >>
--Severian the Lame
<< <i>There are not that many coin collectors as one might think.
Even fewer Silver Bar aficionados.
I go with the lowest common denominator where I can point out that the Frankie in my hand is 90% Silver vs. your word that the round with Bozo on the obverse is 99.9% Silver.
I think I'll end up with the TP in the trade. >>
Precisely why I don't have any generic silver (aka rounds with Bozo on them).
<< <i>Pre 1965 90% US silver is the best metals choice for the same reasons it's always been the best choice. Think about these key points in a relatively safe economic environment, and then think about them in a dangerous SHTF environment, and anywhere in between. Each point changes based on the situation, and each becomes more important the more unstable things become:
A) Recognition. People from this country and all over the world recognize it, are familiar with it, and are comfortable with it--even people who don't know anything about metals. I'd wager 90% of the US population has no idea what a gold eagle or gold buffalo is, let alone a Philharmonic or Panda. Apples to apples: They'd be just as unlikely to recognize a silver American eagle--and a silver bar or round? Forget it. But they'd recognize a 1964 dime in a heartbeat.
C) Purity. Its alloy and silver content is unquestioned and it is hallmarked by one of the largest and best-known assayers in the world. The US mint’s product purity is unquestioned going back 200 years. The 90% silver, 10% copper ratio is tried, tested, proven and unchanged for 170 years.
D) Face value. Each piece is marked with a proportional face value relative to each other piece in the series. A half dollar contains twice as much silver and is therefore valued at twice as much as a quarter. It contains five times the silver of a dime, and is therefore valued at five times as much as a dime. No matter the circumstance--recession, depression, hyperinflation, inflation, deflation, 90% US silver has been, is currently, and always will be accepted by anyone taking US money in exchange for goods or services.
E) Numismatic value. Not every piece, not every grade--at least not yet. But there have been massive meltings in the last 40 years, and it’s becoming clear that 90% US silver is much more scarce than people credit. And early BU 90% is rare. Every day that passes, this becomes more true—its population decreases—not less true as with all newly minted bullion pieces whose population increases as more are made.
F) Low premium. 90% US silver doesn't usually carry a heavy premium relative to other forms of metals. And it can still be found with no premium at all if you look for it. And even at today's premium, dimes, quarters, and halves don't carry anywhere near the premium that 1/10th or 1/4 eagles and buffalos do. Low premium (and recognition as previously mentioned) is the reason that pre ’64 US silver is superior to silver eagles.
G) Trustworthiness. Because of its small size, ease of recognition, and relatively low value per piece, 90% US silver is one of the least profitable and therefore least tempting targets for counterfeiters here and abroad. That’s not true of gold coins of any type. And silver and gold bars can and have been “drilled & filled” (drilled out, metal removed and filled with base metal). That’s virtually impossible and not cost effective for 90% US silver coins.
Additional thoughts: "We" the collectors, hoarders, etc., can tell instantly, with virtual certainty, if a 90% US silver coin is legit--no equipment necessary, no balance beam, no scratch test or water displacement. No filing, no loss of metal, no paying someone else and/or trusting someone else to test. We can do this by several sense tests that we always have with us.
We check visually:
US coin? Check.
Overall "look" right? Check.
Exact size correct? Check.
Pre '65 date? Check.
Full silver colored edge? Check.
No flaking, pitting, etc. that would indicate counterfeit? Check.
We check by touch:
Does it have the right heft--one that we've known for years? Check.
Does it have the right surface? Check.
Reeds all present, hasn't been shaved? Check.
Does its hardness feel correct? Check.
We check by sound. We know the sound a 90% US silver coin makes when it's rung or dropped.
Check check check.
All of these steps take less than an instant, we always have the equipment with us, and we trust the results. And if we can tell this easily with this degree of certainty, anyone can with practice. Not so with foreign coins, bars, or rounds.
It's no coincidence that these factors are there. They've all come about from literally thousands of years of testing, trial, and experimentation, representing untold billions of transactions. Every culture, every age. Weaknesses exploited by the most cunning criminals in the world, corrected, improved, tried, corrected, improved, etc. until they are as perfect as can be, where all of these factors function automatically without us even thinking about them.
Ultimately, for all of the above reasons, 90% US silver wins because of Gresham's Law and supply & demand. Because it's known, because it's recognized, because it's safe, because it's trusted, in whatever level of crisis where metals may be needed, 90% US silver will be the preferred medium of exchange. This preference will make it the most desirable, which will make it the most valuable, and so on and so on. And all of this will simultaneously lower the value of all other metals choices relative to 90% US silver. >>
I'd look like a communist.
<< <i>Clad, I think the last thing I want to sell is a hunk of metal that is measured by Metric System.
I'd look like a communist.
1/10oz, 1/4oz and 1/2oz silver rounds.
<< <i>(For the purposes of this debate, both traders have inexplicitly left their guns back at the respective shack) >>
Is either armed with a survival knife or perhaps a billy club ?
Loves me some shiny!
Save the bullion for gasoline.
<< <i>I'll use the other guys shirt before I use leaves.
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