Knowledge on buying physical gold/silver bullion

[Hemingway]

I deal with Engle's Coin Shop Engle's Coin Shop Inc. - Home They are very fair whether buying or selling.

I have bought quite a bit there as well. I can't say that I find him terribly cheap but I don't feel like I'm being ripped off. They do keep a good amount in stock, though, I can say that for him. Many places you call these days have less than 20 eagles in the whole store.

To the original poster, I think you need to ask yourself why you think you might need the physical silver, that will lend itself to some direction as to what type you should buy:

1. Are you going to get into collecting? Then get graded coins and some of the nice, small coins from Europe.

2. Do you want it strictly for investment purposes? Then stick to lower premium bullion--like large silver bars or 1 oz or larger gold bars. And bullion coins, when you can get lower premiums.

3. Do you want them for bartering after SHTF? Then buy mostly junk silver and/or clearly recognizable silver bars/rounds/coins that clearly indicate value, fineness, etc. Junk (pre-65) is generally the recommended type in this scenario, although I'm not convinced totally myself.

4. Got a mix of several of the above scenarios? Then buy accordingly.

Good luck. Whatever you do, buy a LOT and keep driving that price up

 

[FreeLand]

Trustworthy stores in the New Castle, Muncie, Anderson area to buy/sell at when needed.

Silver Towne in Winchester might be worth investigating. I've not done any business with them, but they seem to have a good reputation. They also mint their own 1, 5 and 10 oz bars of silver. Silver Towne Numismatics, Coins, Gold & Silver Eagle Dollars

I have bought a few coins from the Lost Dutchman in Lawrence and feel like the owner honest and fair. Lost Dutchman Rare Coins

 

[Magyars]

Silver Towne in Winchester might be worth investigating. I've not done any business with them, but they seem to have a good reputation. They also mint their own 1, 5 and 10 oz bars of silver. Silver Towne Numismatics, Coins, Gold & Silver Eagle Dollar

We have recently bought from Silver Towne and found the prices fair and a large amount to choose from.

 

[PistolBob]

So I'm looking to invest some of my savings in gold & silver bullion, for various reasons. Probably gonna stick with silver, given that I'm not rich.

I'm investing for asset preservation/growth reasons, not for hobby/collecting.

Anyways, I'm new to all of this, so I'm looking for some knowledge on the subject.
Some reliable sources to read to better understand the concepts.
Reliable websites, or ticker symbols, to track the value of gold/silver.
Trustworthy stores in the New Castle, Muncie, Anderson area to buy/sell at when needed.
Tips, etc.

Thanks.

Speculation, not worth, has the metals market all in a state of inflated prices. If you're not in yet, I'd suggest not getting in until you see a seriously decent drop in price. Silver dropped like 30% a couple of weeks ago...not sure where it is now.

I'd invest in something else, like class 3 weapons. They always get more valuable as the supply of legal to own class 3 devices isn't growing.

Maybe some food storage systems or water conservation systems would be a more prudent investment.

 

[jason867]

Not looking to invest all of my money in silver, I'd just like to have a small quantity on hand, to sort of "test the waters", so to speak.

I don't have the funds for class three, lol. I'm still in pre-school as far as that's concerned!

 

[XtremeVel]

If you don't have any silver/gold, what is the best piece/amount/weight to purchase?

I prefer silver in the " junk " form. I like the 90% dimes, quarters, and halves ( 1964 and prior).... I stay away from the 40% halves and at times, the dollars.

A good site if you are interested in checking the performance during the years... You can use the historic charts and call up a given month and year and see where the spot was then.

Click here: 24-hour Spot Chart - Silver

 

[jarheadcatfan]

Thanks for the info Xtreme

 

[Brandon]

Speculation, not worth, has the metals market all in a state of inflated prices. If you're not in yet, I'd suggest not getting in until you see a seriously decent drop in price. Silver dropped like 30% a couple of weeks ago...not sure where it is now.

I'd invest in something else, like class 3 weapons. They always get more valuable as the supply of legal to own class 3 devices isn't growing.

Maybe some food storage systems or water conservation systems would be a more prudent investment.

I am not sure it will go down much more then it already has. It has been holding steady right around 35-36.00 for the past couple of weeks. This is about where it was at before it started climbing a couple bucks a day before it fell.

 

[Hap Hazard]

I prefer silver in the " junk " form. I like the 90% dimes, quarters, and halves ( 1964 and prior).... I stay away from the 40% halves and at times, the dollars.

A good site if you are interested in checking the performance during the years... You can use the historic charts and call up a given month and year and see where the spot was then.

Click here: 24-hour Spot Chart - Silver

Great advice! If you want an investment to help you AFTER things return to some form of normal bullion MAY be ok but if you want something to help get you through the shth times bullion isn't going to help much. Junk silver coins will be the closest "money" property that will work for you and barter items might be even better. In that shtf situation I kinda doubt that money(even gold or silver) is going to mean much to people who don't need the couple dollars worth of silver coins you want to give them for (whatever) but two or three 12 gauge game loads or a small handfull of 22LR cartridges might just get you what you need. Translate that to ANYTHING you have that could be used to "buy" other goods or services.......and the money will be good in the future...maybe!

 

[snowrs]

In a true SHTF episode is gold or silver going to be more or less valuable than food and ammo, by bet is on the food and ammo.

Edit: I do have gold and silver stored but it is more for inflationary protections than for a true SHTF situation.

 

[Brandon]

In a true SHTF episode is gold or silver going to be more or less valuable than food and ammo, by bet is on the food and ammo.

Edit: I do have gold and silver stored but it is more for inflationary protections than for a true SHTF situation.

I will diversify... just incase

 

[HighStrung]

Though I cannot say that I don't see the importance of having some precious metals on hand, I have to agree that there are going to be more important things to those who never prepared. For barter with unpreped people, I think things like food/ammo/hygene prod's/source of fresh water/etc are gonna be the most likely tradable things. I too have some metals on hand, though not an extrodinate amount (I'm not rich either), but I see this type of item being more useful in terms of trade with others who were prepared and would also already have those same necessities I just listed.

 

[Brandon]

Though I cannot say that I don't see the importance of having some precious metals on hand, I have to agree that there are going to be more important things to those who never prepared. For barter with unpreped people, I think things like food/ammo/hygene prod's/source of fresh water/etc are gonna be the most likely tradable things. I too have some metals on hand, though not an extrodinate amount (I'm not rich either), but I see this type of item being more useful in terms of trade with others who were prepared and would also already have those same necessities I just listed.

This is what I was thinking with my previous post... you just said it way better then I did.

 

[Just4Fun]

The lost Dutchmen in Lawrence is a great place to buy or sell silver and gold. They usually have a good supply of silver rounds and pre 64 coins. Gold is a little harder to get a hold of.

 

[PistolBob]

I just don't get it. What good is gold in a SHTF circumstance? It's too soft to make bullets from, you can't eat it, you can't make a tool from it, it won't plant a row of beans, you can't get water from it....unless you find some other SHTF goofball that's willing to trade you some good water for some useless metal. Things are only valuable when you have them, and someone else wants them. All this hoarding of crap that won't save your asses just makes my head itch.

 

[silverstreak]

Good info for novice investors

There's a couple of good places I refer to. One is a dealer I've made some purchases through. Fair prices and personal service. And quick shipping too - I had my order in about 3 days.

Their knowledge center and blog has great info on coin specifications, some things you should think about when buying gold and silver and so forth...the blog has news on the markets, the economy as well as other useful information for making an informed decision. BULLION INVESTMENT: Investing in Gold & Silver Bullion Bars, Commemorative Coins, Precious Metals

The other is CoinInfo, a great site to get current prices. You can see what coins are going for on the market at any given time. This will give you a good idea on what's a fair price. Dealers of course will charge a premium over the price displayed. They also have daily news stories that are of interest to bullion investors and general observers - Coin Information :: Coin Info . com

 

[LawDog76]

I found a place today (actually was called to them but anyhow) advertising Silver @ $36 an ounce. They're selling it 1.50 over current rate for generic coin/bar or $4 over for Silver Eagles. Is that a decent price?

 

[Brandon]

I just don't get it. What good is gold in a SHTF circumstance? It's too soft to make bullets from, you can't eat it, you can't make a tool from it, it won't plant a row of beans, you can't get water from it....unless you find some other SHTF goofball that's willing to trade you some good water for some useless metal. Things are only valuable when you have them, and someone else wants them. All this hoarding of crap that won't save your asses just makes my head itch.

i will take all of any gold you may have off of you then... i can think of a few other uses for it...

it would save other metals for other things that would need thicker metal construction...

or if its local only event and i need to flee, it would be worth something else where....

not sure what kind of shtf events you are planning for, but im going for a little of anything imaginable... but thats just me.

 

[Hemingway]

This argument comes up all the time but the fact is throughout history, gold and silver rose with the inflationary tide as the monetary systems from Greece and Rome to Germany, Argentina, Zimbabwe and Belarus. And, currently the US.

People rightly argue that you can't eat gold or silver. That's true, but you can't eat dollars or Euros either. If you think you don't need any monetary instruments at all, just beans and bullets to barter, eat or kill with, then I guess you don't need gold and silver. For those that are concerned with the rebuilding on the other side of the crunch, my personal opinion is gold and silver may very well be good things to have. Just keep your priorities straight. Even back when civilizations revolved around working to eat, monetary instruments of value always were developed. I don't see that changing, regardless of what the current world leaders want us to go to.

As Brandon said, I'll take gold and silver off of anyone who's burdened by it. I'll even pay in beans or bullets

 

[Libertarian01]

Jason867,

A few things to pay attention to that I have learned.

Precious metals are priced on the trade market in troy ounces, not regular ounces. A troy ounce is slightly more than a normal ounce, so keep this in mind.

I use Kitco to look up the spot price. It is saved on my droid phone so I can see prices no matter where I am: Live Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium Quote Spot Price Chart - Kitco

What you are interested in is getting your precious metal for the cheapest rate possible to you, period! So do not forget to factor in the cost of putting the silver in your hand, whether that be gas in your vehicle or shipping charges from online sellers.

I buy all of my silver from Fairfield Coins in Ft. Wayne. They charge me $1.50 over spot for up to nine (9) ounces. If I buy a ten (10) ounce bar it goes down to $1.00 over spot. If I buy more, the charge goes down (I don't make enough to have ever bought over ten (10) ounces.)

If I were you I would simply call every single coin and jewelry store near you and find out what they charge over spot. If the nearest one is $1.50 over spot and a guy 20 miles away is only $1.00 over spot, how much gas will you spend for a 40 mile drive? Enough to save $2.50 on five (5) ounces?

As to the question of why to buy precious metals, there are several reasons. The first is simple diversity of assets. You never put all of your money in one (1) stock. Never put all of your money in one (1) bank or credit union. A good retirement portfolio could be some stocks, an annuity, a few rifles you don't need but hope to sell, and some precious metals.

If there is truly a near total collapse of markets and civilization then it is true to stock up on food, water, weapons, and survival materials. Just do not forget that such major disasters have happened in the past AND THEY HAVE ENDED! We are not still in the middle ages. The black plague ended. The great depression of the 1890's in America ended. The depression of the 1930's ended. The horrible collapse of Germany after WWI ended.

When these problems end there is a transition back to normal trade and currency. Precious metals will have great value when the bartering is over, because most people will want a return to stability. This stability can only be achieved through currency, which will eventually return. Again, a simple diversity of assets protects you by covering all of your bases.

Just a personal thought: I think(?) that IF you are thinking about using silver for trade during and/or after SHTF for trade I would buy the round coin shaped ones. Coins have been round in our culture for over 2,000 years and I just think psychologically people will be more receptive to silver that appears to be a coin rather than a rectangular shape. In reality there is no difference but the round ones "look" like money, right?

Also, if you buy silver keep a written record of how much you buy, the date, and at what price - including ALL costs. This will help you if you decide to sell in the future to see how much money you truly made.

Regards,

Doug