# silver dollars



## telegramsam

Are silver dollars going to be the only dollar left that's worth anything? Is silver as good as gold to invest in?


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## Ineffable Aces

Silver has value but that, like gold can change depending on the situation. In an economic collapse, precious metals will always have intrinsic value, but in a SHTF scenario, I'd rather have a case of corned beef hash than a pound of solid gold.


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## LeveeBreak

How much are silver dollars worth?


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## bkt

LeveeBreak said:


> How much are silver dollars worth?


It depends on what you're talking about. Any "silver" coin made after 1965 has very little silver in it and is worth only the denomination stamped on it.

Peace and Morgan dollars are the most popular bullion coins (except those dates/mint marks with numismatic value). They are 90% silver and weigh in at 0.77 troy ounce.

I have a large number of those as well as a large number of silver bullion "rounds" which are .999 fine silver and they're 1 troy ounce.

Pay a visit to a local coin dealer and have a look around at what they have in bullion silver.

Expect to pay a couple dollars over spot for silver and between $25 and $50 over spot for gold.


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## Narsil

All coins made of precious metals have value based on a couple of criteria. The least value that any precious-metal coin has (unless you're foolish enough to hand the Wall-mart clerk a Morgan silver dollar to pay for your candy bar) is whatever that amount of precious metal is worth. For example and I'm pulling these numbers out of my rear, if your silver dollar weighed 0.25 Troy ounces (silver is usually weighed in Troy ounces), was made from sterling silver, and the current market value for sterling silver was $400 per troy ounce, then your silver dollar would be worth no less than $100.

Depending on what type of coin you have, it could be worth much, much, more. If the coin is a particularly rare coin, it will be worth much more than the going rate for the metal from which it is minted. If it is in very good condition, it can be worth even more to collectors.

If you don't care about the future state of the financial system and are looking for something to invest in, precious metal coins are an interesting way to do so. This forum is not the place to learn about it but there are many books, clubs, and probably forums on collectible coins to learn about it.

If you are looking for just a hedge against a financial collapse, non-collectible silver and gold coins are a great way to do so. They will always have the intrinsic value of their metal while not having collectible value which will diminish rapidly in a financial collapse situation.


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## bkt

Ineffable Aces said:


> Silver has value but that, like gold can change depending on the situation. In an economic collapse, precious metals will always have intrinsic value, but in a SHTF scenario, I'd rather have a case of corned beef hash than a pound of solid gold.


Back in the time of the Roman Empire, you could use an ounce of gold to purchase a very fine set of clothes, belt, sandals, etc. Today, you can use the value of an ounce of gold to get a very fine set of clothes, belt, shoes, etc.

The value of gold to other commodities has remained roughly stable. It is only the value of the dollar that has fallen which makes gold "cost" more.

By all means, you should stock up on food, water and other supplies. But if finances permit, it would not be a terrible idea to stash aside some gold and silver.

Don't think of it as an investment. Think of it as having a tangible, tradeable asset in lieu of currency that may be worthless.


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## bkt

telegramsam said:


> Are silver dollars going to be the only dollar left that's worth anything? Is silver as good as gold to invest in?


I recommend (and store) both gold and silver, but some folks are buying platinum and palladium as well.

Gold can be purchased in 1/10 ounce coin sizes, so you can actually acquire gold without putting a huge dent in your wallet.


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## landshark

Where would you go to purchase these small amounts of gold?


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## bkt

landshark said:


> Where would you go to purchase these small amounts of gold?


Coin stores. American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leafs and South African Krugerrands all come in 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 ounce sizes.


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## coinguy

LeveeBreak said:


> How much are silver dollars worth?


The more common dates trade according to supply and demand. They contain .77 oz of silver, and currently should run in the $16-18 range. The premium is higher than for other silver coins, such as the 90% coins dated 1964 and earlier, and the current American Eagle, Canadian Maple and other govt. issued bullion coins, and private made 1 oz 'rounds.' They are high right now, and have been for some time. I recommend to my customers to have some of them, for barter purposes, but to buy whatever is cheaper at the time. I have seen the silver market flat and dollars jump up, drop or sell just over melt. For barter use, 90%, Eagles and rounds are probably your best bet.

Stay away from numismatic coins, coins that are rarer and sell for a collector price, unless you want to take the time and energy to learn about the FIRST before buying. DON'T buy from a telemarketer hawking the 'best buy on the market' or other such drivel. I do have numismatic holdings but keep in mind that during a total SHTF situation, they won't do anything for you that 'cheaper' coins will do cheaper.

Gold and silver do have a 6000 year history of always maintaining value, but I would put food, guns and ammo aside first.

G


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## Lowdown3

I feel bad for the folks that bought gold at $1,000. an ounce and silver at $20. thinking they would make some money off of it. Silver closed $9.00 today. 

Both will likely go back up, but as to them being "investments", I can think of better. 

Lowdown3


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## TechAdmin

I want to buy both but I'm waiting. I think if the economy goes down, they will follow suit.


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## coinguy

Lowdown3 said:


> I feel bad for the folks that bought gold at $1,000. an ounce and silver at $20. thinking they would make some money off of it. Silver closed $9.00 today.
> 
> Both will likely go back up, but as to them being "investments", I can think of better.
> 
> Lowdown3


Yup, the SPOT price closed in these ranges for the last few weeks, but go out and buy some at that price. I don't mean paper, I mean the real, physical metal. Gold eagles are bring close to 1k, silver eagles are bring 20, even 100 oz bars, ones that could have been bought for as little as ten cents UNDER spot earlier this year are bringing 16 to 18 an oz.

Due to the wild swings in the stock market, many traders and funds are getting HUGH margin calls, and they have been dumping PAPER assets by the truck full to come up with cash. This has driven the SPOT price down to the basement. I have metals funds in my IRA, and the P to E is now down around 8 to 1, something unheard of in recent years. This has been caused by dumping of the paper stocks in these companies.

We are seeing how irrelevant the spot market is to the real world. People are VERY nervous about paper assets, banks, stocks etc, and the rush is and has been to 'have and to hold.' The US mint made twice as many gold, silver and platinum eagles this years over last year, and they are sold out. Flat out of gold and silver. I get calls and emails every day from all over the country from people looking to buy gold and silver coins. I have none. Neither does anyone else, at least in quantity or regularly. 90% coins that had been trading at melt price are now bringing 30 to 50% OVER melt value, due to supply and demand. Common silver dollars are rising as spot drops. One oz silver rounds bring fantastic premiums over spot. So tell me again just how the spot prices mean anything anymore?

Yes, I could sell out my holdings (which were bought far below the top of the SPOT market) and I can still realize prices equal to or close to what I would have gotten at the top of the market. Sorry, not for sale.

Precious metals have ALWAYS held value in troubled times, and as we sit here on the verge of record inflation, this is still holding. Inflation of course is the increase in the money supply without the corresponding increase in goods and services produced. It has nothing to do with rising prices - they are just a result of inflation. The US money supply has been about $15 trillion, up from $3 trillion in 2001. Are we producing five fold as much as we did then? Nope. Now the kicker is what has been going on the past few weeks. Add up all of the bank bailouts, bank cash infusions, purchasing of toxic loans etc etc, and it adds up into the $1 to $3 trillion range. Add in what the worlds banks are doing as well, and the trend continues. So, cash is watered down faster than it ever has been before. The fed lowers the interest rate to next to nothing and encourages banks to borrow as much as they can and come back for more when you need it. And they are. This is the scenario that happened in 1922-23 Germany and present day Zimbabwa (or however you spell what they did to Rhodesia) Take a look at the same things done recently in South America. The results are always the same - massive devaluation, troubled times.

You look at all of the spending programs urged by ALL of the politicans from both sides of the aisle and you have to realize there are only two ways to fund it all, aside from taking everything from your check - create it out of thin air and lower the value of the 'dollar' and make it worth less, borrow and pay it back with 'dollars' that cost less, or.... wait, that IS the only way they can do it.

Gold and silver isn't for everyone I guess. Not a problem. I never look at the day to day price to see if I feel good or bad about my choices. But if anyone asks, I think it is just as important as food, clothing, firearms, ammo and other survival gear.

Remember gold and silver AREN'T backed by 'full faith and CONfidence in the US Gov't' Just thousands of years of a track record. Paper money.....well it is just a few hundred years old and has never lasted very long before no one wants it.

G


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## charleybundrum

*Where to get it ?*

A good coin dealer will honesty educate you on this subject. If they don't move on.


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## Tim

If you are doing survival preparation forget about the speculation factor, in other words I would highly recommend buying silver and gold coins as a store of barterable wealth in the future when the dollar could be devalued greatly. This devaluation will NOT be announced in advance and it frankly could come at ANY time now, and there could be future devaluations.

Don't think of how much money can be made buying gold - gold IS money.


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## wrench

*question for coin guy*

Coin guy thank you so much for the information

Are there coins that are sold as gold and are not?
Also is there a chemical test kit to assay gold quality that is easily obtainable or some other way to determine the quality of gold? 
THANK YOU in advance for answering!

wrench


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## TechAdmin

So gold is about $744 today. American Eagles are selling almost $250 above that?


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## Tim

Wrench,
Here are a couple of test kits for bullion coins: Welcome to Fisch Instruments : Fake Gold Platinum and Silver Coin Detection Jewelry Supplies - Gold & Silver Testing Kits/Supplies

Dean,
There is a very large premium for bullion coins right now for some reason. Actually from what I've been hearing and seeing there is a scarcity of bullion coins and bars, but for some reason the spot price of gold is possibly being held artificially low. You can buy paper gold for $744 but if you want the real gold it cost much more.


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## Davis Willy

I have some silver dollars stored away with some Susan B. Anthony's and chinese coins. I need to get them out and check their date, I guess!


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## Tim

The dates matter to colectors, but with bullion coins, in these times, its the silver content that matters. US Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, Mexican Libertads, all contain 1 Oz of pure silver. Silver could start climbing in value pretty fast, the financial scene is so uncertain investors may decide any day to put their money in silver and gold for saftey. Especially if the dollar weakens. Silver and gold are always worth something, paper money isn't.


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## BillM

*History*

A little historical info on inflation.

Inflation is caused by banks buying goverment bonds which are then listed as assets.

Then, the bank is able to lend nine dollars, for every one dollar they hold on deposit as an asset.

The magic trick is, they don't actually hold an asset, just a promise to pay issued by the goverment.

In short the goverment can just decide, to issue a note of credit, and then the banks get to claim a nine hundred precent profit, plus intrest on all the money.

As the existing money supply increases, the value of what a dollar will buy, decreases.

U S currency is backed only by, "the full faith and credit of the U S goverment".

Think about it would you sell me your food or home for faith and credit ?

When money was gold or silver coinage, it's value remained unchanged.

The first inflation happened when goverments begain to collect taxes in gold and silver coin. The King would have his treasurer clip a small peice from the edge of each coin collected in tax, and this gold was used to mint new coins.

It would take the populace a little while to figgure out that they had been "clipped", and the coin they now held, was not as valuable.

To combat coin clipping mints begain to put serated edges on coins, so you could look it over and tell if it had been clipped.


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