My stepdad has come into possession of silver. Not on paper-in bars.
He inherited them from a brother who didn’t believe in banks.
What is the best way to convert them into money? Is there any way to get market price for it without a commission? If not, what’s the least costly way?
FRAK! Can a mod fix the autocorrect problems in the subject line? Wat should be Way, and it needs the preposition “in” before “the US.”
Apmex is one of several companies that will buy silver for close to the spot price (minus a small commission.) You might want to wait a bit, though - precious metal prices are very depressed lately.
You can’t sell them without some sort of commission because that is the way that the middlemen make money but it doesn’t need to be significant for pure silver bars. There are precious metals dealers all over the country that buy silver (or gold) at close to market prices. If you know someone in the jewelry or pawn shop business, they can probably advise you as well and may even offer to buy it themselves at a small discount.
Here is a tool to find a reputable dealer near you:
http://catalog.usmint.gov/bullion-dealer-locator?_ga=1.74213714.1728674329.1421249845
With spot silver at $14.07 US, he should easily be able to find a local who will give him at least spot if not a 25 cent premium per ounce if the silver is in one or ten ounce bars/rounds. If a 100 ounce bar, expect about 25-50 cents under spot. A local coin dealer is usually the best…
Yep, become familiar with the terminology and how the coin shops and bullion sellers operate. Recognized silver bars should get very close to spot price. Usually can get a handle on a dealer by asking about their spreads between bid/ask or buy/sell.
This is how they keep the lights on. They don’t care so much what the price is or whether it’s going up or down, but they make a small but useful profit on the spread.
Actually, I would recommend selling fairly soon. Silver has been trending downward for some time, and will likely do so for a while longer.
This is a chart from 2000 - now.
http://www.kitco.com/scripts/hist_charts/yearly_graphs.plx
I know you’re an expert in the biz, but I’m puzzled by your first sentence.
I know nothing of this stuff but my assumption would have been like Common Tater’s: that dealers would always be bidding below spot so as to have a spread when they later sell whatever they buy. I’m also a bit surprised to see what amounts to a 5% delta between the price for 1s/10s vs. 100s.
Perhaps my confusion is in understanding what the term “spot price” really means. As well I probably fundamentally misunderstand the whole market (and marketing) of silver bullion. Care to spend a couple minutes enlightening the clueless but curious?
With silver prices this year being relatively low, fewer people who own silver are likely to sell it. More people want to buy silver while it seems low. This year we sell out of silver every few weeks. Most of our sales are to people who want to purchase anywhere from 5 ounces to 200 ounces. They seem to prefer smaller units rather than 100 ounce bars, the theory being that they can sell off a portion of their holding at sometime in the future. So, to replenish our stock, we can buy 1000 pieces of one ounce rounds/bars from a refinery for spot plus 50 cents/ounce. We currently pay over the counter to any customer a premium of 25 cents over spot–cheaper than us buying if from a refinery. Many smaller coin dealers are paying under spot because they need a bigger margin on their sales. They aren’t doing the volume we are.
“Spot” price is the current COMEX quote for silver.
Four years ago, when silver spiked up over $40/ounce US, we were purchasing silver bars for spot minus $1.00/ounce because we had more sellers than buyers.
Dealers will pay over spot when demand is high, I should have mentioned that. It’s best to call around and ask before it’s necessary to sell. Anything really. People can smell it. Remember, nobody is required to buy gramps collection and they may just lowball you.
The best prices on sale are the American silver Eagles. If you look at eBay finished auction prices the “premium” for them is quite a bit higher than spot price. Spot price itself really just refers to futures price contracts. Coins and bars are more of a retail price thing. Generic coins and bars will be purchased at a discount. Old US coins pre-1965 dimes, quarters and halves contain .73 oz per $1.00 face value because of seigniorage. An actual silver dollar contains .77 oz (Troy) of silver. There is no collector value as such, just the “melt” worth in silver.
(For all this, Silver has been great I bought and sold quite a few bars and bags over the years, and even managed to sell some at $48. Nobody will ever believe me. I still have a little. Pray to God I never need it. Everybody should own some, of at least a reminder of more honest weights and measures.)
Silver dollars(1878-1935) melt for $11.00 (US) We, as dealers, are currently paying $16. Sound like they have more than melt value.
Yeah that was a typo I left in by mistake. I meant to say “Junk” silver dimes and quarters, not dollars. You probably knew that already.
Will the silver prices decline further if the Fed raises the interest rates?