Bullion at the Santa Clara show

Cladiator

Went to the Santa Clara Coin Expo today. I wasn't looking to buy any bullion there but I did pay attention to what was in the cases. Gold was extremely abundant in all forms; US numismatic, modern governmental coinage from all over the world, bars, vials of flake and massive amounts of jewelery. All I saw was overpriced.

Silver was less abundant but there. The only type of silver bullion I saw in great quantities was silver junk jewelery and silver kitchen/household items, this type of silver was out there in droves. Looks like lots of folks dug out and their old silver and took it to their local B and M shops.

I saw three 100oz Engelhards, all with insane asking prices. Maybe 100 rolls of Eagles at the entire show. Three 10 ounce bars from Silvertown, 1 from Engelhard with high prices. A handful of older, no name, poured silver bars that made you laugh at the price tags.

I bought nothing.

1jester

Is supply that scarce?

gsa1fan

Last show I went to for a 10oz silver name brand bar: Dealer offered me $1 a ounce back/less of spot price.

For the same bar in his case he wanted $2 over/plus spot?

I said why such a spread? His reply" Silvers going up in price. I'm not selling much though!"

roadrunner

If you think those prices are high now just wait until spring. Regardless of how much gold you may see, it's not any less precious...and not being discounted. I was owed some gold by one dealer and I just bit the bullet and had him pick up some at the Boston show yesterday. Sure, it could (or couldn't) drop back in the next few weeks but I'm looking at months or years down the road.

This past week I discussed with one board member on just how little silver buying the public does at coin shows. They kick the tires and walk around, but don't buy any silver for the most part. I guess they're expecting dealers to discount below wholesale buy levels before they jump. In many cases it's just far easier to send it off the the smelter or larger regional buyers.

Most of the dealers that I know that have silver just don't bother dragging it to the shows because of the bulk. And it can be sold easily at home via a phone call and trip to the PO office (75 lb. bulk box limits). Hence the appearance of little silver at most shows. For those dealers who are local to Santa Clara they can probably get more for their silver via their B&M shops than they can at a show venue where buyers tend to think everything is buyable at below dealer cost.

roadrunner