Yep, junk Silver is fun. The days of finding it in rolls seem to be behind us though.

The silver market moved a good deal the last couple of days. There just hasn’t been much industrial demand for silver since photography changed.

I agree. Copper would be very challenging to collect for many reasons, where would you store it? Not worth enough to make the juice worth the squeeze, just buy a mining stock and don’t try and stack it.

Wow! They just opened up again and it is $41 for a one ounce silver Eagle. That said, the spot price is $28.11 so it makes absolutely no sense for the mint fee to be $11 a coin, but that is what they are asking. I’d love to see silver go on a crazy run.

This is very interesting and I totally agree, Silver is simply too big of a market for the manipulation the day traders are seeking. If silver doubles there will be a flood of it on the market. I remember when silver hit $45 an ounce some years back people were melting down old family silver Ware sets for scrap value.

The premiums over spot are just at comical levels right now. APMEX in particular is no longer worth utilizing. Safe deposit box prices are going up now as well as many banks close out their boxes, that could become a real problem as only a crazy person would keep a large stack at home.

Gosh, your entire post was awesome and those photos were incredible. Thank you for sharing those and being in this thread. Marked as a key post.

Regarding the brick in your final picture, did you smelt and cast that yourself as well?

I just can’t get over the sheer amount of equipment you have in those photos. How many employees do you utilize? How long does a mine generally last? Has all of your mining been in the US? Do you accumulate other ancillary metals while mining such as silver and copper?

This is the only reasonable answer frankly. I don’t know anyone who keeps them at their house. I had a friend keep a large amount in a ski locker he owned, not a terrible place either but many of the same risks as a bank safety deposit box.

I’ve not been on Pinside much this last week and am just seeing this. Interesting thing is gold has kept going down a bit these last ten days and is now hovering around $1,700. People always say don’t try and catch a falling knife and what not, but I never thought gold would be back in the $1,600’s again.

Those premiums over spot are simply insane and no one has any inventory anyway right now. How can gold be dropping like it is and no one have any of the really desirable stuff in stock? I tried to order some gold for a client today and no one had the Valcambi CombiBars my client wanted...no retail distributor I would trust anyway. His second choice item was in stock but not BU...

Just to confirm my understanding, the Maples are usually 999.9 parts of our 1,000 but in some years they have been as high as five 9s. I guess it’s super expensive so they only do the five 9s runs occasionally?

You may be the best person I know to ask what is going on with these premiums over spot now? They have blasted off into the stratosphere. Has this been the case for some time? Premiums over spot for gold were under $70 per ounce a few years ago. The premiums on eagles and buffalos are approaching $300 an ounce now. Is Gary Stern in charge of the mint or something?

Currently my favorite coin. Best security features available, lower premium over spot than the eagle, Buffalo, or maple leaf, great design, backed by England and IRA qualified.

Absolutely not mine and not in my possession now or ever (or I wouldn’t post this), but check out what I helped put in capsules for a client today before she brought them to her bank for safe keeping...

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I have to say, those Britannia’s are nothing short of the most gorgeous coin I have ever seen, much less held. The security features are off the chart, they make the Eagle look like a late 19th century coin by comparison. Also, the price over spot is an outright bargain.

So, my client wanted just under 100k of gold. After vetting the options, I gave her three proposals to consider among...she effectively obtained three extra coins by going with the Britannia’s over the Eagles (55 ounces instead of 52 for just $200 separation in price). I had never really considered the Britannia’s until the 2021 upgrade and the Eagles and Buffalos going bandannas with the premium. My guess is the Britannia outsells the Buffalo this year for sure. The Eagles are getting a mid-year refresh so we will see what happens with those, I’m sure they will finish the year #1 like they always do...but that premium over spot needs to drop before I’ll recommend it to anyone.

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So, this is one of my favorite threads on Pinside. I’d love to see some more action in here. I know that I for one would trade pins for gold coins, I’d do this more readily than taking cash.

People always talk about how a gold coin 50 years ago, 100 years ago, 200 years ago, 300 years ago always had the same purchasing power (one suit and a nice pair of shoes). I wonder how this would translate into pinball purchasing power. Today, roughly three one ounce coins land you a NIB Stern pro. How many were needed for a Doctor Who in 1992?

Yea, I’ve not been adding to collection at all recently. Premiums are just too high right now. I think premiums will be dropping toward year end. I just couldn’t justify buying any silver right now with that mark up. I do want to develop a relationship with my local coin shop, I may go buy one of the new gold eagles from them and just eat the premium to gain the contact. Supporting local coin shops is important, I recognize that more now than ever.

The interesting thing will be to see what happens to precious metals when the inevitable crypto regulation hits…will some of the crypto people move into metals or will they ride out the regulation wave and see where things end up.

It depends on the specific coin and the size of the coin, as the premiums are higher for local coins and premiums are bigger for smaller denominations of coins. The most popular gold coin in the US is the American Gold Eagle, for a one ounce gold Eagle today you’d be looking at around a $135 premium over the spot price to buy a single coin from a reputable online dealer, higher for an in the store purchase. The smaller you go the bigger the premium over spot.

Premium on silver is about $10 on an ounce…when the spot price is $25 an ounce that is a huge premium.

Mail order is usually a bad idea. Sometimes on the silver coins they will cut you a good promotional deal on your very first coin (like a good drug dealer), but after that you get gouged. It really is better to buy from one of the major distributors line apmex or your local coin store. The Facebook things about fractional gold are all rip offs, you are paying vastly over what you could buy the gold for and most places have deposit plans if you want to work up to something (or something similar).

That is super neat! I wonder if that is the first pinball theme’d investment grade silver round.

I had no idea how low the gold content was. How long has it been that way? That is basically just gold plated.

So, this thread induced me today to make an order online…I plan to make the visit to the coin store next time. I bought a one ounce maple and a one gram maple, should be fun to see those side by side. I’ll take pics and post them when they come in.

Is that version one or version two? Show the other side!

About $110 each roll. They call it “junk” silver sine it’s 90%, but you’d have no trouble moving it to a stacker. I think it’s a little over three and a half ounces of silver.

I agree with Phil, hold on to them…they will keep going up. If you need a quick $2,500 you have it in those dimes and can sell them fast…but they are an investment and won’t just inflate away like your cash does.

Congrats and big welcome to pinball. Getting a pinball machine is like getting a pregnant rabbit…they multiply.

Good choice on games. I’m waiting on my Mando Premium. I’m probably in the October run.

So, my order from earlier in the week arrived and will be headed to the bank for safe keeping. If you ever wondered about the size of a one gram coin…it is truly puny. 7718992F-AE5A-49DC-BAB7-35882D7DC261 (resized).jpeg68149C58-4CB5-4AB7-AFBF-41F2C535248A (resized).jpeg3BA7D481-AC59-4879-AB24-56FA71F7731D (resized).jpeg

Consider not just what to buy but also where to buy it. If there is a coin store near you it is always good to support your local coin store. If you are looking online the 800 pound gorilla is www.apmex.com but for a lower premium over spot consider: https://www.bgasc.com/

Yea, the one gram coin was pretty cool. I just hope I don’t lose it!

I’m a believer in the need to be prepared. This is why I like the combo bars from Valicambri.

Yea, but the premium over spot on those is super high. I have never understood why they would put the same amount of gold in the 25 or 50 note as they do in the 1 note…shouldn’t the gold content go up?

The concept is super interesting. I’d like to see more states make these.

It is super tempting to buy the recent dip. I just wish these premiums would go down to where they were a few years ago. I’d love one of the type 2 American Eagles but I just can’t stomach these premiums right now. I’m really thinking of buying a bar next rather than a coin.

Inflation rates are 5.4% again year over year for July. The only reason gold hasn’t taken off like it did last year are the institutional investors are buying stocks right now with all the monetary easing and sustained stimulus…they are hoping the stocks will simply keep inflating upwards (and it seems like they will for the rest of the year at least). When the institutional investors eventually take their profits off this surge they will pour in to gold…both the mining stocks and tangible gold.

Crazy that someone would try and fake a gold coin. The amount of work that must go into that is off the charts.

I have a prepper friend who believes bottles whiskey will be the trading currency of the apocalyptic future. He has cases and cases of Jack Daniels…it is actually rather hysterical.

I think the current inflation we are seeing has many people looking at PMs closer. The big run in PM hit in the mid 00’s after nearly two decades of mostly stagnant value. I could see gold make another run like that and hit 4k an ounce over the next few years once the market cools off. The problem with gold is when the value goes up dramatically increased mining production becomes financially viable and the supply goes up and it’s not like gold gets consumed in any traditional sense (jewlery just gets recycled).

I’d like to buy some more gold jewlery but mark up on it is absurd.

This is incredibly good advice. I need to find a pawn shop to make friends with, I’ve never had a pawn shop as a client sadly. How do you get in good with a pawn shop? Thanks again!

Yea, my big concern is the inflation. Putting money into equities is also a good move, since many of the big companies can raise prices to keep up with inflation…but at the end of the day your ability to liquidate those assets (stocks) can be limited.

I’ve been thinking a lot since your post regarding the seizure of real/immovable property. I could absolutely see that happening one day…sadly.

That’s a super nice score. I’ve been flirting with making another order for more than a month now, but I’ve gone a bit of a crazy pin purchase spree and my Ultraman is one of the first off the line and I’ll need to pay for that soon.

Permabulls are a real problem in the PM industry. Everyone in the industry seems to be one to some extent, which I get due to all the BS it takes to keep the fiat currency ship afloat.

Well, you always want to buy things that are in demand…and if gold was stagnant for ten years like it was in the $250-$350 an ounce range it wouldn’t be a particularly exciting investment. That said, I think most try and buy the dips just like the digital currency people. You never want to try and catch a falling knife but it’s easier for me to buy it when it’s 10% below a recent high than at its all time high… Just speaking for myself of course, but gold isn’t really a momentum purchase for most…

And a totally digital one at that. It won’t be one of the existing ones either, it’ll one created and owned exclusively by the governments that band together to form it. Of course, the issue there is the governments are now accustomed to simply printing money…that would be harder to do if they switched to a digital currency.

I’m thinking gold drops to $1,700 an ounce by the end of August, but then pushes to around $1,900 by the end of the year.

Silver is such a pain in the butt to store. I did snag some today myself and went for the ten ounce bars, but I am not sure if I ever see silver going on a real run due to the storage issue with it and there is just so much of it…

Silver is too rare and expensive to be a desirable industrial product (industry will always look to substitute it) and too plentiful and cheap to be easy to store. It is in a weird spot.

I see some experts think gold will drop to $1,500-$1,600 range, particularly if the conflict in Ukraine resolves. I’m all for it dropping in the short to medium term so long for buying opportunities.

Yesterday was just the dollar weakening, I do agree PM are positioned well but I’m not sure if we’ve seen the bottom yet.