# Best places to buy silver



## va22315 (Mar 29, 2012)

I'm looking at buying a little silver, which I figure will be much more useful than gold if and when things get bad. I'm wondering what the best places to buy coins and bullion from are - online sites, pawn stores, antique stores, other outlets?


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I like Gainsville coins.
http://www.gainesvillecoins.com/category/470/silver-bars.aspx

I used to like Northwest Territorial Mint as they had best prices but sometimes I think they sell what they don't have. I've had orders wait months and they couldn't fulfill them.

Not sure how much you're looking for but shipping costs come into play. Shipping may be the same for 100 or 200 oz so to reduce costs, watch the shipping price and maximize your quantity for the same shipping price.


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## JosephA (Jul 6, 2015)

I buy from www.apmex.com. Never had any problems. Very fast shipping. Competitive prices. Low over spot prices. Good to buy now. Very low prices.


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## bigg777 (Mar 18, 2013)

IMO, a local coin shop, where you can buy pre-1965 dimes, quarters, 1/2s & dollars (aka junk silver) is the best place to buy your silver.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

A few hours ago I was at my local coin shop. I almost purchased all the gold they had left which was only 4 ounces. but they had silver coins everywhere. I was kinda shock at how much silver they had.

Some thing that I have never scene before, a 20 something girl was buying several thousand dollars worth of silver. Has the trouble with the economy finally struck home with the kids?

OP try your local coin shop. I will not recommend internet purchases for the first few buys.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

I like to buy from Ebay. Many big PM dealers sell on Ebay (like Apmex) and their prices on Ebay are often cheaper than on their own website. On Ebay you get free shipping and get the same price if you pay with a credit card (which makes it handier and if you have cash back card you get that 1%).
I think because so many dealers sell on there and all their prices are side by side so it is easy to compare prices that they sell cheaper. Plus there is about every variety of PMs found there. Buy a single piece or buy a monster box. Note that on Ebay just like anywhere else the prices change constantly due to the price of gold or silver changing all the time.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I have a guy that's family related to someone I work with, so I buy from him. it helps him, it helps me, and everyone knows exactly who they are dealing with.

starting from scratch is rough!  look at spot price then call a few coin dealers and a few pawn shops. find out what they are selling.

I'd recommend dimes first, if you're looking for silver on a prepper/survivalist aspect then you are considering commerce, and having an ounce of silver is neat, but it's not easy to make change if you want buy a can of beans. Dimes are the lowest common denominator of junk silver (90%) there are nickles and some kennedy halves that are NOT 90% and you can buy them cheap, but I suggest avoiding those... why would you as a seller take those as a payment? why? someone else with the better, more standard, official, silver coins will buy it too. why get locked into currency that is partial value???

just stick with regular junk coins or widely recognized 1oz rounds from a mint like APMEX.

your problems transacting in silver are going to vary:
what do you want to sell?
what do you want to buy?
what is the cost of either of those?
can you produce spendable coin of the realm in SHTF? it may not be silver or gold, those would surely be the black market though (so says economies that have already collapsed)

I say buy dimes. you can get them cheap. buy them as often as you can.
One post I saw here said have as much junk silver coins as it takes to buy a years worth of groceries. that makes a lot of sense to me, as the USD devalues the PM's will rise, and you will get more out of but you need to budget at the cost of silver=food now, not be left scrambling to buy the last roll of dimes some guy has when things are going south in our economy.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

If you can look around locally or while you are traveling and find your PM's at a brick and mortar store, then pay cash and keep your purchases to under $10,000 and there is no federal tracking.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I doubt the 10k thing anymore.

I suspect that .gov is watching EVERY transaction. it's just data... everyone says that's okay, they aren't watching me, but they are... 

is that a problem? probably not. did you wake up this morning on your farm and decide to declare war on the USA and execute anyone unwilling to help you? that's very unlikely LOL!!!

so, okay... buy junk coins and by the way, get a decent safe to store them in, as well as your firearms if you have any!


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

PM dealers are required by law to report any cash sales over $10,000. Pay in cash, in person, in amounts under $10,000 per day and have the receipt made out to cash. What is there to track?

Use plastic, have it shipped, and not only .gov but the credit card, search engine, and a few others are tracking you.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Caribou said:


> PM dealers are required by law to report any cash sales over $10,000. Pay in cash, in person, in amounts under $10,000 per day and have the receipt made out to cash. What is there to track?
> 
> Use plastic, have it shipped, and not only .gov but the credit card, search engine, and a few others are tracking you.


well that's sorta my point, that unless you're paying cash which is very uncommon these days, they are tracking... EVERYTHING. not 10k and above, .10 and above!


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

Dakine said:


> well that's sorta my point, that unless you're paying cash which is very uncommon these days, they are tracking... EVERYTHING. not 10k and above, .10 and above!


Every PM I have purchased has been in cash. In fact my dealer only excepts cash. I get a hand written receipt and my name is not on it. Cash is the only way I purchase lead products also.

I see no point in making it easy for the gov to track me.

When I hear about people buying Gold or Silver off the internet or buying bulk ammo on the internet it's a guarantee that flags are being popped up. If the right national events happen a visit from the authorities is all most a lock.


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## bkt (Oct 10, 2008)

LCS (local coin shop) might be good if they don't charge more than a few dollars over spot per ounce for silver. I've purchased from several near me, always in cash.

Apmex has been great as an online source. Prices are good there.

Provident metal accepts cryptocurrency and I've traded litecoins for physical gold and silver. They also have reasonable prices on junk silver.


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## va22315 (Mar 29, 2012)

*Thanks for all the insight!*

Some great ideas, thanks! Was definitely planning on going the dime (or 1/10 oz bullion) route, not much but enough that if need be it can help out.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

va22315 said:


> Some great ideas, thanks! Was definitely planning on going the dime (or 1/10 oz bullion) route, not much but enough that if need be it can help out.


A US dime coin is actually 0.0715 troy ounces of silver, not 0.1 oz.

There is only .715 ozt. in a face value dollar's worth of 90% silver. Does that make sense? In other words, there is .715 oz of silver in 10 dimes, or 4 quarters, or 2 halves, of pre-1965 US coins...not a full ounce. So, you don't get a 1/10 oz bullion when you buy a "dime" coin.

[Aside: Note that an old Morgan Dollar coin or a Peace Dollar coin has a different silver content than $1 face value of the lesser coins (halves, quarters, dimes).]

There are 1/10th oz bullion "fractionals" out there. They are usually private minted "dimes" which do have a full tenth ounce of silver in them. They are rare, and not well recognized, though.

You pay a higher premium for the US dime coin because it comes from a government mint (trusted source) and they are well recognized (although you may have to explain to some people the difference between a 1964 Roosevelt Dime and a 1965 Roosevelt Dime).

There is a lot of cheaper silver out there that comes from private mints. But, I would stay with the full ounce sizes or more on the private stuff. The private fractionals can be expensive.

*Premiums vary:* Shop around the local coin stores (LCS's) for the best prices. The premiums can really vary from store to store. If you don't find the cheapest one, you can really get taken. Online sites will often be more expensive compared to your LCS, but if you are in a state that charges tax on bullion, or just an expensive state, the online sites may be cheaper for you.

If you are shopping around on different days, note that the spot price of silver may have changed. You will have to account for the change in spot price if you want to compare prices from different days. Some stores set their prices in the morning. But, I figure they adjust more frequently if the prices go up. So, I usually check spot before I go into the store, and if they quote a higher spot price, I make them check for the current prices. That should bring their prices down a bit.

*Trust:* You want a reputable store. There is fake bullion out there. Go to a place you trust.

*Credit:* My LCS accepts credit, but they are always surprised when someone pulls out the plastic, and they recalculate their prices to add 3% to pay for the charge of running the credit card.

*Reporting:* My LCS will not accept purchases over $10,000 in cash. You have to use credit or a wired payment for major purchases. I've never asked them about that, but I'm guessing that they don't want to mess with reporting, so they don't make sales which are subject to reporting. My understanding is that if you use a traceable payment method, then they don't have to file any reports on you.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

Note that you pay less premiums on gold than you do silver.

Just to approximate the prices: You could buy 100 silver dimes, or one gold "dime" (tenth ounce), and you will usually pay much less premium over spot for the gold. If you can buy both.... 

The silver dimes break down to buy smaller items easier. But, the gold dimes store a lot more value in a lot less bulk and weight. 

If you are traveling, you may want to consider having some gold tenths or quarters, at least.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

In addition to the ones mentioned above, JM Bullion and Provident Metals are decent sources online. There are others. But, I rarely buy online. Buy local, and build up a relationship with your local seller. He may be your local buyer someday, if the time ever comes for that.

Stay away from pawn stores. They will rob you blind.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

I originally started with buying online with ebay, and then I got very fortunate with a family contact of a coworker, and I buy all my silver from that guy now. I've priced out the comparisons... I'm saving money buying 1oz silver rounds from him and I'm giving up a very tiny bit buying junk pre-64 coins, so to me it's preferable to give my money to someone local, and while the money in fuel to go meet him might be about equal to the cost of shipping the junk silver, I'm still more than fine supporting a local guy over a huge chain that will do just fine without my really small purchase, and those nibble purchases I make are what add up.

just keep stacking!!


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## chaosjourney (Nov 1, 2012)

Our local shop has higher premiums, but I have a great relationship with them that comes in handy. They buy a lot of junk silver from local estates and will let me search through for less abused coins.

I also check for sales at ProvidentMetals.com, APMEX.com and SDBullion.com. If buying a roll of ounces I will have the 3 websites open to see who's deal is the best at checkout. Shipping, volume and payment method must be calculated before determining my favorite deal.


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