After the great silver melt(s), what's left in coin collecting?

CoinMiner1

Great Article, worth a read (or a re-read)

After the melts, what's left in coin collecting?

The article examines the state of coin collecting given the amount of silver coinage removed from circulation, first from the devaluation of silver coinage to clad coinage in the mid 1960s and then the great silver melt when silver bullion hit 50$/oz in 1980.

The timing of the article is fascinating, since it was written at the bottom of the silver price AND coin collecting (early 1999)- the time darkest before the dawn. Both the price of silver and the interest in coin collecting massively ramped up just a few months after the article was written. Goes to show, an opinion/analysis can the SPOT ON one month, and then wrong for the next decade.

http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article496.chtml

So, how will the great silver melt of 2011 affect the coin hobby?

Should the author have suspected that silver was near a low?

Could the author have known how many new collectors the State Quarter collection (beginning that year) would bring into the hobby?

Bear

Time will tell, however it may well mean that some formerly common dates and mint

may become more scarce in circulated condition. Other then the big Proof Set Melt years

ago, not much in the way of values should change much.

lightcycler

<< <i>Time will tell, however it may well mean that some formerly common dates and mint

may become more scarce in circulated condition. Other then the big Proof Set Melt years

ago, not much in the way of values should change much. >>



The biggest question I have will be the common date silver commems that have been so unloved. When silver was around $50 I know they were sending many of them to melt if they didn't move them quickly. When silver runs again and it will, how many will go bye bye.

Bear

There are so many dipped out, washed up, dead white commems left out there,

that no silver melt will have a major impact on them. Many of them have been sitting

on dealers counters for many years, without being sold. I do not know if the dealers

are wishing for a miracle, but those mountains of MS Commems are sure holding the

values of nice commems down and have been doing so for the past 10-15 years.

coinandcurrency242

I remember when I entered the hobby years ago silve was around $5 an ounce so anything over $10 now sounds good to me

kiyote

I'm mostly curious about the more common, first year First Spouse series-- I heard that a LOT of those hit the melters.

ricko

There are still copious quantities of silver available.... no shortage in coin collecting. Except, of course, for the rarities and very, very high level coins - which have always been in short supply. Cheers, RickO

Klif50

I really don't believe that as much coin silver was melted as everyone thinks. Since $1000 face bags of silver coins are traded like a commodity, I believe that most of the bags still exist. There was a turn in of many tea sets, silver cremation urns and tons of candlesticks (not much silver, just a thin sheet over a resin middle). I was active in a coin shop during the early run in in the 80s. Buried some people in common silver dollars at $50 per but I know when we took our stuff to the refinery that the crushed tea sets and silverware went right to the furnace and the bags of coins were set aside. I believe a whole lot of those bags still remain in existence today. I also know that at the peak there was a lot of nicer barber coinage going in the bags along with unc rolls of common date dimes, quarters and halves. I don't think the great melt destroyed all that much, but did take some of it. The bags are still out there but there are people who are buried in them at 35 to 37 times face and they just aren't ready to take the big loss by letting them go. I also know of a couple of guys who are into bags at $2500 since they bought early. Some I sold at $2500 were bought back a year later at $25,000 and when it all died again they were back in them at around $5000. Not a bad flip.
Don't give up hope. There are still a lot of coins out there.

crypto79

link

coinkat

The sad thing is when one looks at this from a global perspective-

Silver coins of the world have been melted and the analysis just does not even hit the tip of the real discussion of rarity based on surving populations