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Gold/Mining/Energy : Silver prices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: re3 who wrote (5313)	6/4/2002 4:02:53 PM
From: Canuck Dave	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8010

Good question. I have one tidbit of information on this. Silver coins disappeared when the value of the silver in the coins went far enough beyond their face value to justify melting, a classic example of bad money (cupro-nickel) driving out the good (silver). This happened in earnest around 1967-1968, when silver sold for around 2$/ounce. So that makes each silver dollar greater than 1/2 an ounce, if you believe the conversion. At today's prices, that makes each one worth 2.50 US, or 3.75 Canadian, so there's a 1-2$ numismatic premium. I bet you can't get one for 5$ anymore. I have a few dollars and half-dollars floating around and plan to sell them to the gullible public when silver hits 36$ an ounce. At that time, there'll be huge shows like they had for baseball cards a few years back. I'll be there. CD

To: re3 who wrote (5313)	6/4/2002 4:09:55 PM
From: Alan Whirlwind	Respond to of 8010

I picked up 5 Canadian SD's and 5 Canadian halves (all circulated) shipped for 20.75 on Friday on Ebay. I combined 2 auctions with one seller to keep shipping costs down. Here is a conversion chart... ctol.net

To: re3 who wrote (5313)	6/4/2002 11:28:00 PM
From: goldsheet	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8010

There is no exact rule as to when the economics of melting silver coin make sense. There have been several waves of selling over the years (1965/US, 1968/Canada, 73/74, 79/80, etc..) and different stuff went first, such as common 90%US and 80% Canadian, but not dollars. Silverware and everything flew in 79/80. If there is a premium for junk silver, it will not get melted but promoted to investors. There is a glut of 90% US Y2K bags that were sold in 1999 for $5000 and up, which you can currently buy under $4000. Silver dollars (especially US, but also Canadian) are not likely to be melted but traded in bag form. Other 80/90% junk might get thrown in the smelter when/if silver gets to $15, but it doesn't make sense at $5, when the smelter might charge 50 cents an ounce. Also, remember back in 79/80 there was such a backlog at the refiners that 80/90% coinage was being bought at well BELOW spot (At $50 silver, a bag melts for $35K, and you would be lucky to get $25k for it) My conclusion(s): If silver coinage got to a 50%+ premium to spot I would swap it for silver bullion (objective: lock-in premium) -OR- if silver got over $15 I would swap coinage for bullion (objective: maintain liquidity) At current prices and premiums, however, both you and Alan are doing the right thing picking up what you can near melt.