Silver Eagles or 90%?

Mesquite

Thought this was interesting. Happy NewYear!

Coins vs. Bags: Comparing Two Options in Physical Silver

derryb

Note the comment concerning silver's ability to keep it's value over years of inflation:

"In 1964, one could take a dime to the store and buy a loaf of bread (if you are old enough to remember). Today, that same 90% silver dime is worth $2.10, enough to buy a loaf of bread."

This is the primary reason to have your intermediate and long term savings in bullion (or PM equities), both silver and gold, and not in dollars.

pitboss

I am old enough to remember and wish I had all the silver dimes I had back then and probably would have if not for the Hunt brothers but that is the way it goes. It was great at the time!

PerryHall

I like both and will buy either when there is a good deal to be had.

jmski52

I remember putting a $5.00 BU roll of dimes (which was a considerable sum for me in those days) away in 1963, with the thought that it would be worth something someday if I left it alone and never spent it.

I don't remember what I spent it on.

roadrunner

I love the divisibility of 90% when you have dimes and quarters. No such luck with 1 oz. AGE's. Any silver stash should have some 90%.

roadrunner

gecko109

<< <i>I love the divisibility of 90% when you have dimes and quarters. No such luck with 1 oz. AGE's. Any silver stash should have some 90%.

roadrunner >>





So a decent mix of 1, 5, and 10oz bars isnt good enough?

PerryHall

<< <i>I love the divisibility of 90% when you have dimes and quarters. No such luck with 1 oz. AGE's. Any silver stash should have some 90%.

roadrunner >>



I don't think they are very divisible when they each weigh an odd number of ounces.

Mesquite

<< <i>I don't remember what I spent it on. >>



Been there, done that.

piecesofme

75% for 90% & 25% for Ag. Au is overrated and doesnt have as much (potential) industrial use.

roadrunner

The purpose of the 90% is a means for bargaining, trading, etc. in a moderate shtf banking/financial scenario. It's not like this has never happened in industrialized nations over the past 40 yrs. If your minimum transaction will always be 1 oz silver (ie $30), then you have no problem...otherwise you'll have to cut your AGE or 1 oz bar into pieces. 90% silver dimes, quarters, and halves had a purpose from 1792-1964. They could have a purpose again someday. The downside of having some "just in case" is essentially zero. There is an obvious downside in having to cut up your AGE's or stamped bars.

roadrunner

THISISME

Diversity among investments appears to be the main way to protect them or at least part of them.

Figure the silver eagles as the $100 bills for large purchases and the rest for smaller purchases.

Justacommeman

This is how I have constructed the pm part of portfolios for those I've worked with in this realm since 2002. Start with one and work your way down to number 6 until you've built your financial ark. Then buy on weakness into any of the six as appropriate for risk tolerance. I think this ark still works just as well today. MJ

1) Gold 1 oz to 10 oz coins to bars for financial insurance

2) 90% silver for SHTF scenario and divisability. ( 1 $500 face bag for everybody in the household)

3) gold 1/10 oz to 1/2 oz for divisability

4) Silver 1oz rounds to 100 bars for speculation

5) white metal platinum to palladium for speculation

6) mining stocks for speculation

57loaded

thanks for the link. i never looked at it that way.

also 90% is always fun to search when one is very bored

Weiss

<< <i>This is how I have constructed the pm part of portfolios for those I've worked with in this realm since 2002. Start with one and work your way down to number 6 until you've built your financial ark. Then buy on weakness into any of the six as appropriate for risk tolerance. I think this ark still works just as well today. MJ

1) Gold 1 oz to 10 oz coins to bars for financial insurance

2) 90% silver for SHTF scenario and divisability. ( 1 $500 face bag for everybody in the household)

3) gold 1/10 oz to 1/2 oz for divisability

4) Silver 1oz rounds to 100 bars for speculation

5) white metal platinum to palladium for speculation

6) mining stocks for speculation >>



Yep. "Spot" on

DuCrozat

<< <i>I remember putting a $5.00 BU roll of dimes (which was a considerable sum for me in those days) away in 1963, with the thought that it would be worth something someday if I left it alone and never spent it.

I don't remember what I spent it on. >>



Some folks still spend'em at Walmarticus.

I drift from one to the other, like Eagles slightly better.

OPA

<< <i>thanks for the link. i never looked at it that way.

also 90% is always fun to search when one is very bored >>



How true. But if you spend your dime, all you're gonna get is a dimes worth & not $2.10 worth. I would estimate that a majority of clerks won't know the difference between a silver dime & clad dime.

botanist

My strong preference is eagles being 99.99% silver and clearly labeled silver, impressively beautiful and usually unworn, especially if they can be obtained for little premium. The almost pure silver already embodies more value due to the refinement. As for the 90%, it requires a knowledgeable trading partner, who knows which coins are silver and just how much silver they contain, and since the coins are usually eroded with the loss of some amount of silver, get out the scale, hope it's accurate, and get out the calculator, and get ready to haggle hard. The eagles are instantly recognizable as US coinage as much as the 90%, and are a much more desirable item to hold, to receive, and to barter with. The complaint about eagles being too large in value for normal transactions is farfetched because in an emergency barter economy the value of silver will be much reduced in comparison to life's necessities.

halfhunter

For the smaller purchases . . .





HH

1jester

<< <i>My strong preference is eagles being 99.99% silver and clearly labeled silver, impressively beautiful and usually unworn, especially if they can be obtained for little premium. The almost pure silver already embodies more value due to the refinement. As for the 90%, it requires a knowledgeable trading partner, who knows which coins are silver and just how much silver they contain, and since the coins are usually eroded with the loss of some amount of silver, get out the scale, hope it's accurate, and get out the calculator, and get ready to haggle hard. The eagles are instantly recognizable as US coinage as much as the 90%, and are a much more desirable item to hold, to receive, and to barter with. The complaint about eagles being too large in value for normal transactions is farfetched because in an emergency barter economy the value of silver will be much reduced in comparison to life's necessities. >>



Good points, but I'm not sure I'm convinced of the eagles or value of silver being reduced in comparison to life's necessities in an emergency or SHTF scenario. My gut feeling tells me the opposite, and for that reason I'd prefer to have a lot of fractional 90% for smaller purchases. Who knows, maybe having lots of copper would also serve the same purpose; after all, it's been in use for 3000-4000 years as a monetary metal. And, I'd love to see the US mint produce fractional 999 eagles, say 1/10 oz and 1/4 oz coins. I think they'd be a fantastic hit.

Personally, I think Justacommeman offers sound advice, and I'm similarly weighted, but heavier on silver than gold.

jmski52

The complaint about eagles being too large in value for normal transactions is farfetched because in an emergency barter economy the value of silver will be much reduced in comparison to life's necessities.

I agree. Besides, whether it's a Silver Eagle or 90% silver, no matter how you pay, you will probably not arrive at the exact amount anyway. In either case you will have to find ways to make change or to get change in return. If it's truly barter, you might have to ask for something in addition or you might have to offer something in addition to what is really being sought. The silver only gets you into the ballpark.

When I was a kid, I never spent a dollar without some type of fractional change-making as well. I could imagine that our existing coinage might function as an accepted changemaking device, even as the silver takes on higher values.

PerryHall

The one problem with ASE's is the premium dealers want over melt value for them. They are a desireable purchase if you can find them at melt or close to melt.

roadrunner

But if you spend your dime, all you're gonna get is a dimes worth & not $2.10 worth. I would estimate that a majority of clerks won't know the difference between a silver dime & clad dime

The majority of Americans have probably never held or would even recognize a silver eagle. I'd bet more of them would recognize a Morgan or Peace dollar since a large % of households have had those passed down from parents or grandparents. The truth of the matter is, the US public is essentially ignorant of all types of bullion coins, both classic and modern. And the fact that something looks like an ASE and says "1 oz FINE silver" on it doesn't mean it wasn't made in Hong Kong last week. Counterfeiters make $20-$50-$100 bills. Silver has now since entered that optimum range. Expect much more of it as the price goes higher. Don't think the Chinese will be wasting their time trying to make fake circ Mercury or Roosevelt dimes. Bottom line though, there will always be people in the business of exchanging your silver/gold for cash (pawns, coin dealers, etc.). You aren't necessarily forced to deal with an ignorant public. Is the public going to know what "FINE" silver means? I know I had to look it just to be sure..........0.9993 to be exact.

My strong preference is eagles being 99.99% silver and clearly labeled silver, impressively beautiful and usually unworn, especially if they can be obtained for little premium. The almost pure silver already embodies more value due to the refinement. As for the 90%, it requires a knowledgeable trading partner, who knows which coins are silver and just how much silver they contain, and since the coins are usually eroded with the loss of some amount of silver, get out the scale, hope it's accurate, and get out the calculator, and get ready to haggle hard. The eagles are instantly recognizable as US coinage as much as the 90%, and are a much more desirable item to hold, to receive, and to barter with. The complaint about eagles being too large in value for normal transactions is farfetched because in an emergency barter economy the value of silver will be much reduced in comparison to life's necessities.

The amount of wear on a 90% us silver coin is negligible and surprisingly consistent. Is it really going to matter a hill of beans if one uses .72 or .71X silver spot to arrive at pure ounces? Note that BU 90% uses a factor of .7234 while circ 90% commonly uses .715. I recall another forum member actually weighing some AG/G 90% silver "slugs" and surprisingly they were still fairly close in weight to the XF/AU coins (ie much more metal in the center of the coin that in the highest design features). One's biggest obstacle is not figuring out the weight, but possibly having to barter with the ignorant public. Any transaction, when it comes to two different things will always require negotiation between parties. Be prepared to bring your RED BOOK with you to help the other party figure out just how much silver is in an AGE and a 90% silver coin. They won't know otherwise.

roadrunner

piecesofme

I look at it from the point of view of what is easier to sell and get the most out of it when it comes time to sell.

Recently, I have had a very hard time selling ASE's even for well below what B&M dealers want for them...$31.50 when dealers want $33-34 for them.
But with 90%, it flies out the door and folks as well as my local B&M guy, are more than willing to pay what I ask...the first time. 90% is just easier to sell and actually get what I need out it.

botanist

On the subject of potentially using small amounts of silver for barter, there are one-gram silver bars available, for example, recently being sold at $1 apiece by Abbott's Coins in Birmingham, Michigan (I didn't get any). Even in a generalized barter situation, the smallest transactions will not entail anyone chopping up silver eagles into pieces, but probably either copper cents will be used or such pragmatic non-metallic consumer items as muskrat pelts, baling twine, and shotglasses.

derryb

<< <i>

<< <i>I love the divisibility of 90% when you have dimes and quarters. No such luck with 1 oz. AGE's. Any silver stash should have some 90%.

roadrunner >>





So a decent mix of 1, 5, and 10oz bars isnt good enough? >>


No, coinstar won't accept them.

derryb

<< <i>The one problem with ASE's is the premium dealers want over melt value for them. They are a desireable purchase if you can find them at melt or close to melt. >>


That problem works in your favor when you go to sell. Higher premium is a good reason to have them.

PerryHall

<< <i>

<< <i>The one problem with ASE's is the premium dealers want over melt value for them. They are a desireable purchase if you can find them at melt or close to melt. >>


That problem works in your favor when you go to sell. Higher premium is a good reason to have them. >>



My experience is the premium is higher when you buy than when you try to sell.

Baley

are these choices mutually exclusive?

Am I not allowed to have some of both? I guess I don't understand the debate

wpr102

<< <i>For this analysis, I have left out any comparisons to silver bars, as I believe investors should own silver coins as a basis for their portfolio. >>



I don't really get that part of it. Why not just compare all 3?

So if 90% is vastly superior to the eagles why is there still a market for them?