How are silver prices affecting Darksiders?

spoon

I've been semi-yeti lately, so apologies if this has already been discussed.

I see a lot of talk on the precious metals forum and similar arenas, but I'm interested in how the surge in silver prices are affecting world coin collectors, not just bullion investors. I'm sure there's a lot of melting going on which may someday affect prices and scarcity. But beyond that, how is it affecting you guys and your buying/selling personally? General comments on the topic are welcome - I'm really almost embarrassingly ignorant on PM markets as they affect collectors

One specific question I have.. what is an optimal price for selling bullion value silver? Are collectors being cautious against a drop in price right now? Is junk just considered not worth the nominal intrinsic value? Things don't seem too bullish on the BST with BV silver. I've got a good bit to unload myself and frankly need the money right now, but would really rather avoid the sacrilege of taking them to a smelter. Any advice would be helpful!

JamesMurray

My last run of auctions was last week , individual silver coins exceeded far and beyond my expectations , so much so i've ceased selling to concentrate on buying while my source price hasn't changed.Also to see where the market is heading , a lot of newcomers to darkside silver and that might have helped bump prices.To be honest prices went so high i felt sure i wouldnt be paid , i was , or i'd get grief from buyers , i didnt.

mrpotatoheadd

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm getting all kinds of eBay offers under melt on AU/UNC 19th century and 1950s Canada PL silver these days.

JamesMurray

I wonder if it's a case of "there's darkside coins and then there are "darkside coins" ? " I havnt ventured much into Canadian other than bullion , i know UK stuff is selling as fast as i can list it.

mrpotatoheadd

I think a lot of it has to do with the runup in silver lately. Lots of people seem to approach buying with the "These only cost $X when I bought some last year- why is it $X+ now?" attitude.

wybrit

Silver hit a bit of a minimum last week, so I pulled the trigger on a bunch of it. Up 15% now. Not selling any bullion value now whatsoever.

cladking

Darkside stuff is just beginning a massive flow to the melters. Yes, of course
a lot of foreign silver has aleady been destroyed by the issuer or in the '79 run
up but this time it's a little different. This time will include just about anything that
is readily available on the market or owned by individuals who are likely to know
that silver is increasing. This will be lots of things like the mid-'70's Bahamian sets
and similar material. A lot of this is so "common" that vast amounts can be des-
stroyed and never missed. The problem is that this process is likely to continue
for a very long time and when we get to the other side some of it will be pretty
scarce. There will also be substantial quantities of junk circulated foreign being
melted but on the basis of percentages this won't be so substantial. Much of the
circulated foreign has already been destroyed and people will be more selective
what gets sent in. In other words things like unc Portuguese is protected by the
high prices.

Longer term it will be interesting to see how this affects the collectability of common
and not so common foreign coins. While something like a circulated Canadian dime
set since 1920 may seem pretty mundane today perhaps with higher prices for sil-
ver and most of these being destroyed it will become much more interesting. Maybe
some sets will suffer because fewer people simply can't afford a complete heavy
set of one series or another. It's likely silver will come under a microscope by a great
deal more people so foreign can't be hurt too badly except for some that will be over
melted.

I would hardly suggest anyone rush out and buy common silver at this time. Wait
and watch until you see that something is becoming scarce and then buy it on a dip.
Convert your junk silver to higher numismatic value coins or sell it and just watch.

spoon

Thanks for the comments guys!

<< <i>Lots of people seem to approach buying with the "These only cost $X when I bought some last year- why is it $X+ now?" attitude. >>

That's kinda what I was thinking. It may not be so much that people are hedging against a drop, but that it's going to take a while for attitudes to adjust to and accept the new reality. Unless of course there is a drop.