Buying gold vs. silver...which would you do?

Steelernation

Hi guys,
If you had a set dollar amount to buy, which would you buy gold vs silver? I guess I'm asking do they pretty much correlate, percentage wise, with each other up and down? Is one influenced by external factors, economy, the market, rates etc., more than the other?
Or generally would you expect if one appreciates or declines over a 5 yr period that the other would follow in the same direction?
Would you expect to pay about the same over the spot price percentage wise?

Gold is just less physical volume to store.
Thx

Overdate

I would buy some of each. If I was spending a considerable amount of money, I would tend to buy a higher percentage of gold because, as you mentioned, it takes less room to store.

Edited to add: Over a long timeframe, I would expect gold and silver to show similar percentage rates of appreciation.

derryb

silver, more upside and cheaper. both move in same general direction. expect better prices in the short term.

TwoSides2aCoin

You get to watch it long enough you learn to be patient. If you have a "set amount"…. you can bet if you do ONE over the other, it's probably not a good bet. I think hedging with a little of the yellow stuff is as good as silver…. but , metal is metal. If you can find some palladium or platinum near spot, that's okay too.

OPA

Neither at this time. Cash is currently the 800 lb Gorilla. I'd wait for an upward market move. Both silver & gold have been in a holding pattern for over a year and have traded in a narrow 10% up or down range.

tneig

I bought mostly silver in the beginning and still do buy silver. But now converting to Gold when the exchange is right.
Better to balance during the first purchase cycle though. If you think you'll end up with a bothersome bulk of silver,
then gold really balances it. Especially if you have to grab and go.

ps. I bought when spot was at $35/$1650 so anytime now is a good deal to me.

KentuckyJ

It depends a lot on how much money you want to spend, how you feel about that amount of money, what your goals are, etc. Gold requires less volume, obviously. Silver has the potential to double in price much quicker than gold. Gold is playing poker with the central banks of the world using a deck stacked in their favor. Silver holds a more stable level of industrial support. This is a totally personal decision involving your attraction to the metal, what measurement of purity and authenticity you need, perhaps long term family considerations ... tough call. There isn't any one size fits all answer to the problem. You could reasonably expect this or that to happen but none of us can see exactly what the future holds.

bronco2078

<< <i>I would prefer silver from a "pure" investment return standpoint, but here are the cons as to why I won't buy it:

1) It tarnishes

2) The buy/sell spread (on a percentage basis) is usually much larger than gold

3) This is the biggest issue by far that I have with it. Even to buy a $100K worth of silver, you're talking about 350-400 POUNDS of the stuff. It a guy with some money wants to park a "mere" $500K into the physical stuff, he's dealing with almost a TON of it. >>



I think the buy sell spread is pretty favorable on 90% . I can buy it locally at a BM for 16 times face and get 17.5 times face on ebay instantly . With ebay fees at around 7% thats pretty painless

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>

<< <i>I would prefer silver from a "pure" investment return standpoint, but here are the cons as to why I won't buy it:

1) It tarnishes

2) The buy/sell spread (on a percentage basis) is usually much larger than gold

3) This is the biggest issue by far that I have with it. Even to buy a $100K worth of silver, you're talking about 350-400 POUNDS of the stuff. It a guy with some money wants to park a "mere" $500K into the physical stuff, he's dealing with almost a TON of it. >>



I think the buy sell spread is pretty favorable on 90% . I can buy it locally at a BM for 16 times face and get 17.5 times face on ebay instantly . With ebay fees at around 7% thats pretty painless >>



So you net around $50 before shipping?

derryb

The only way to profit flipping metals is to buy them at a discount. Otherwise buying metals should be for the long term with hopes that they appreciate relatively more than your investment alternatives.

bronco2078

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I would prefer silver from a "pure" investment return standpoint, but here are the cons as to why I won't buy it:

1) It tarnishes

2) The buy/sell spread (on a percentage basis) is usually much larger than gold

3) This is the biggest issue by far that I have with it. Even to buy a $100K worth of silver, you're talking about 350-400 POUNDS of the stuff. It a guy with some money wants to park a "mere" $500K into the physical stuff, he's dealing with almost a TON of it. >>



I think the buy sell spread is pretty favorable on 90% . I can buy it locally at a BM for 16 times face and get 17.5 times face on ebay instantly . With ebay fees at around 7% thats pretty painless >>



So you net around $50 before shipping? >>



Who me? I'm a stacker not a flipper. I sell truck parts , and I also hate leaving money in paypal I rip it out right away so when my monthly fees are due if I'm short of cash I'll sell a roll of quarters or even dimes if I'm only a little short. Last month I sold 2 rolls of quarters in mid july to pay June's ebay fees.

Posted them at 174.99 a roll and they were gone in under an hour.

I'm not saying its a huge profit but its a flexible system . It lets me parse through more 90% for varieties , I have found some decent VG and fine standing liberty quarters and even a few dateless SLQ's that turned out to be 1917's which I have put aside . As well as one recent type B reverse which I set aside also although I'm not convinced it is really valuable .

If say I want to buy $500 a month in 90% this way I can buy $700 and keep the nicest $500.

I have to pay the ebay fees anyway this way I get to pre-use the fee money for extra stacking leverage.

BAJJERFAN

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I would prefer silver from a "pure" investment return standpoint, but here are the cons as to why I won't buy it:

1) It tarnishes

2) The buy/sell spread (on a percentage basis) is usually much larger than gold

3) This is the biggest issue by far that I have with it. Even to buy a $100K worth of silver, you're talking about 350-400 POUNDS of the stuff. It a guy with some money wants to park a "mere" $500K into the physical stuff, he's dealing with almost a TON of it. >>



I think the buy sell spread is pretty favorable on 90% . I can buy it locally at a BM for 16 times face and get 17.5 times face on ebay instantly . With ebay fees at around 7% thats pretty painless >>



So you net around $50 before shipping? >>



Who me? I'm a stacker not a flipper. I sell truck parts , and I also hate leaving money in paypal I rip it out right away so when my monthly fees are due if I'm short of cash I'll sell a roll of quarters or even dimes if I'm only a little short. Last month I sold 2 rolls of quarters in mid july to pay June's ebay fees.

Posted them at 174.99 a roll and they were gone in under an hour.



I'm not saying its a huge profit but its a flexible system . It lets me parse through more 90% for varieties , I have found some decent VG and fine standing liberty quarters and even a few dateless SLQ's that turned out to be 1917's which I have put aside . As well as one recent type B reverse which I set aside also although I'm not convinced it is really valuable .

If say I want to buy $500 a month in 90% this way I can buy $700 and keep the nicest $500.

I have to pay the ebay fees anyway this way I get to pre-use the fee money for extra stacking leverage. >>



I was assuming that you could routinely buy $100 face for 16x and sell it on eBay per your statement for 17.5 face which after the 7% would net you around $50.

silverinvestor

I'm a silver kind of guy (I guess that's obvious).

But I do sorta feel like I should at least dip my toes in gold at some point.

fishcooker

Depends on the amount. $10 million and I'd do gold. $1000 and I'd do silver.

rawteam1

<< <i>Ratio favors (physical) Ag to move towards par w/Au.

There is no validity to this whatsoever, more propaganda...

I believe (physical) Ag is more "valuable" (trade near/below par).

What you believe is what you believe, ain't nutin wrong wit dat...

In addition to its historical "monetary" role, it's also an "industrial" commodity with an increasing 240Moz (physical) per annum deficit (2013). Probably less above ground (physical) Ag, ready for "industrial purposes", than Au.

Some more propaganda with no validity except that which was interpreted by a dream someone had...

Plenty of paper silver provided, according to some, to bring visibilty and liquidity to this underappreciated market ....

Paper of anything is a game, some good players, most terrible players....

Cheers,

cheers... >>

cohodk

The gold to silver ratio is at just about the average it has maintained for the past 30 years. In other words, it is neither more expensive nor cheaper than gold.

I prefer gold to silver. Gold is yellow and warm like the sun, while silver is blah and cold.

lcoopie

Obviously gold is so much less bulky to store

BAJJERFAN

The cost of 1 ounce of gold puts a lot of potential buyers out of the picture. Fractional coins add unnecessary cost and premiums. Silver [even by the roll] is more affordable, but single coins/bars are something of a PITA.

Timbuk3

1/10 oz. AGE !!!

TwoSides2aCoin

Yes,,,,,both. Selling and trading both, too. But one never vs. the other. They compliment one another just fine. Got some ? Sell. Like some ? Buy. Lonesome ? Trade.

I'd like to say I hate my job, but it's just a job I wouldn't do in Minnesota.

renman95

Hey, what about the other white meat, ah, metals?

jmski52

Silver - Industrial, trends with gold but not always, sometimes quite volatile in price - in both directions.

Gold - Inversely reacts to moves in the dollar. Always keep that fact in the back of your mind.

Platinum - Industrial like silver, trends like silver, concentrated value like gold. Subject to supply interruptions that affect price.

Take your pick, each provides it's own benefits

OPA

Lets see....silver is ready, once again, to break the below $20 barrier.
Gold broke the below $1300 barrier again for the ump-teens time.

Gasoline prices have dropped about 10 cents a gallon from 2 weeks ago.

Power Ball jack-pot is up to $80M... It's a no brainer for me where to "invest" $10 of my fiat cash.

Jinx86

I see silver as a really good buy right now, Im gonna buy a few 10oz bars today and hold out for the end of the week for some more potential drops. Silver has more upside but hell to store. I had some luck with gold 1oz eagles though, when gold go high enough I swapped several for slabbed $20 libs and saints which have held their value longer as gold came back down.

Steelernation

You guys are an amazing wealth of knowledge. And of course I'm now more confused. Ha.

Im thinking of buying gold with some silver mixed in....maybe. I just don't want all that physical space occupied that would be needed.

Situation...I'm probably just going to put in a set amount yearly. Maybe my IRA or part of it. So for let's say over 20+ yrs that would be a lot of physical silver. I'm probably not going to sell unless a huge bubble occurs. Or buy more than unless some dips.

I def dont follow these markets like you guys to trade in and out. Or are there apparent trends in charts that even i can see? Thoughts?

And thanks again for your time and info.

jmski52

Start with a well-conceived plan and recognize that you will probably modify the plan from time to time as you go.

I'm one of the ones that don't trade in & out. I do sell when something doesn't fit the overall scheme or when my tastes have changed.

I follow some of the trends, but not many. I track spending levels by Congress, tax rate trends, and the debt clock trend.

Oh, you meant precious metals charts? Nah, they're too manipulated.

derryb

I would avoid a precious metals IRA that holds the physical stuff. Better off with a brokerage IRA where you can buy and sell metals related stocks and ETFs. This enables you to get out of metals at your choosing, not when you retire.

Baley

<< <i>Lets see....silver is ready, once again, to break the below $20 barrier.
Gold broke the below $1300 barrier again for the ump-teens time.

Gasoline prices have dropped about 10 cents a gallon from 2 weeks ago.

Power Ball jack-pot is up to $80M... It's a no brainer for me where to "invest" $10 of my fiat cash. [ /b ] >>



One share of a speculative biotech stock?

rawteam1

80 mil? I'm in for a buck, but if I win what the heck am I goin to do with all that worthless paper?...
It might be a nice supply of cigar lighting material now that I think about it...