Junk Silver?

South_Carolina

South_Carolina

New Member
Hello everyone. I'm a newbie here who recently started my silver collection. I've been buying Silver Eagles and am wondering what your thoughts are on are on 90% junk Silver coins. Are they worth having in the event SHTF? I feel like 90% dimes/quarters would be a useful and realistic currency for smaller items, etc. If so what would be the best way to accumulate junk Silver?

Thank.you for your help, I appreciate it.
 
I have 90% junk silver but not for any SHTF scenario, I wanted to diversify my stack a bit. It is worth having a bit of variety in your holdings so that when it comes time to sell the stuff you can sell whatever is most popular on that day/year and keep the other stuff until the fashion changes. The best way to collect it is just like anything else, make it a part of your regular purchases. Either purchase some Eagles and some 90% every month instead of all Eagles or alternate Eagles/90% when you do a regular purchase. It is also worth getting some rounds and bars as they are cheaper than Eagles. I have a bunch of Eagles/Maples etc... along with bars, rounds and 90%. Once I retire I want the people who buy my stuff to be pleasantly surprised at what I have and not just think "Here comes the ASE king again". As long as you stay close to spot and do not purchase fakes you really cannot go wrong.
 
Ian Gillman said:
I have 90% junk silver but not for any SHTF scenario, I wanted to diversify my stack a bit. It is worth having a bit of variety in your holdings so that when it comes time to sell the stuff you can sell whatever is most popular on that day/year and keep the other stuff until the fashion changes. The best way to collect it is just like anything else, make it a part of your regular purchases. Either purchase some Eagles and some 90% every month instead of all Eagles or alternate Eagles/90% when you do a regular purchase. It is also worth getting some rounds and bars as they are cheaper than Eagles. I have a bunch of Eagles/Maples etc... along with bars, rounds and 90%. Once I retire I want the people who buy my stuff to be pleasantly surprised at what I have and not just think "Here comes the ASE king again". As long as you stay close to spot and do not purchase fakes you really cannot go wrong.
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Thank you Ian. I appreciate the input. That's a great idea, I think I'll start purchasing a little of each rather than focusing in on one type
 
In a true SHTF situation, nobody would be willing to part with their precious food, water, etc, for a few silver coins in my opinion. If you live in the US, you would be better to have some guns, ammo, food, water, disposable lighters, etc, stashed in case of a SHTF event. The silver coins are great to protect your financial health perhaps as insurance, but I wouldn't count on them for some type of long-term barter currency if the SHTF.
 
Jim4silver said:
In a true SHTF situation, nobody would be willing to part with their precious food, water, etc, for a few silver coins in my opinion. If you live in the US, you would be better to have some guns, ammo, food, water, disposable lighters, etc, stashed in case of a SHTF event. The silver coins are great to protect your financial health perhaps as insurance, but I wouldn't count on them for some type of long-term barter currency if the SHTF.
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I've got the guns, ammo and food pretty well covered, haha. I'm not the big SHTF prepper type but I'd have to believe that a precious metal is more valuable for barter than a worthless piece of paper currency or clad coin. I think that's a realistic assumption.
 
South_Carolina said:
I've got the guns, ammo and food pretty well covered, haha. I'm not the big SHTF prepper type but I'd have to believe that a precious metal is more valuable for barter than a worthless piece of paper currency or clad coin. I think that's a realistic assumption.
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Yes silver would be better than paper or clad. Check this out from a few years ago. Supposedly from a real life survivor of SHTF in Bosnia. Probably would unfold differently here in the US if it happened here.



PS If they cut off food stamps in February, we might see SHTF here in some places.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...illions-without-food-stamps-hit-small-n955136
 
Welcome!

A big part of my stack is in junk silver, including 90% US CONSTITUTIONAL MONEY!!!

I love the stuff for several reasons. (in no particular order)

Low premium, I can usually find some at melt value or I can wait until I do find some.
You are buying silver not hype, they don't go out of fashion
Not a lot of fakes, and if you find a fake, it is usually worth more to a collector than the silver value anyway.
They are familiar to people, a silver bar probably isn't, at least these look like actual money.
They have a face value, so if silver ever drops below the face value you still have some value stored.
Storage, just chuck them in a box. No 2x2s, no album, no flips, no capsules.
Handling, no wearing gloves, no worries about scratches or finger prints wiping out value, drop it on the floor, not a problem
No worries about milk spots
There is always someone who thinks that if SHTF, 90% silver is going to rule, so there is always someone to sell to.
You can clean them, and they look great!
 
G'Day and welcome. A good discussion question as Aussie 80% silver 50c pieces get traded / bought & sold on this forum regularly.
 
SHTF is just plain overblown. There is nothing wrong with having a month or more of food, water, batteries, camp gear, some cash, etc for natural disasters. That is just common sense. As was mentioned, true SHTF nonsense just won't happen, and PMs wouldn't be the currency if it did. In the ultra rare scenario where major long lasting disaster struck, you would want to get outta dodge. If you look at any civil war or major hurricane or riot, etc, there is one common denominator: the ones who did best are the ones who left early. PM are a compact and portable store of value with no counter-party risk, but you'd want mainly gold since it is most compact. Silver is 80x heavier than gold, and 90% silver is even heavier than 999 silver.

...Junk silver can be part of you stack if you want. I choose not to, but I would consider if it was available under spot price...

Junk 90% has its strengths and weaknesses.
Primary strengths are low premium, widely available, govt manufactured and worn from circulation (means tough to fake and not really worth it). It is probably the best way to get the most silver weight for your money, at least in USA, and it looks fairly cool, esp JFK 1964s.
Downsides include extra weight (silver is already too heavy once you get enough), needs refining to pure 999 silver for industry use (melting junk is more cost and illegal for industry, since melting is destruction of govt currency), may have lost some of its weight if significantly worn, and will likely get you lower buyback price, esp during silver spikes since refiners fall behind on trying to purify 925 and 900 silver into 999 silver which industry can use. Research buyback prices of junk and 925 silver during past silver price spikes... you won't like what you'll find.

ASE has high liquidity and is best overall IMO. Downside is premium, but its upsides are the reason for said premium. Quality holds its value.

Generic 999 is cheap but less liquid than bullion.
Ian Gillman said:
...bunch of Eagles/Maples etc... along with bars, rounds and 90%. Once I retire I want the people who buy my stuff to be pleasantly surprised at what I have and not just think "Here comes the ASE king again"...
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No.
Ian Gillman said:
...As long as you stay close to spot and do not purchase fakes you really cannot go wrong.
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Yes.
 
DavidRich said:
junk silver is for passionate coin lovers...
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Huh? Junk is mainly collected by prepper/SHTF types or people looking to get the most silver at lowest premiums. They are usually fine with buying ugly coins and bars to get the most metal for the least price.

...Passionate coin lovers are more of the types who overpay for shiny stuff from Perth, private mint, etc "limited" mintages and older numi type coins.
 
Not as simple as that I reckon slyguy....
There are passionate coin lovers of great Aussie pre decimal such as 1927 Florin and 1938 crown, both pretty nice and .925. Laughing at the term junk silver. I laugh.

And what about gold sovereigns.... a must in any stack.

Just saying.....
 
SlyGuy said:
Huh? Junk is mainly collected by prepper/SHTF types or people looking to get the most silver at lowest premiums. They are usually fine with buying ugly coins and bars to get the most metal for the least price.

...Passionate coin lovers are more of the types who overpay for shiny stuff from Perth, private mint, etc "limited" mintages and older numi type coins.
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well we can't judge. One enjoys old scrap while another proof or slabbed coins
 
The easiest way to find the "cheapest" silver or other PMs in your area is to look at the buy/sell spreads from the local dealers (or whomever you will be selling to some day). That spread can change over time of course.

In my local area, nice condition generic (like Silvertowne, Sunshine Mint, etc) bars/rounds have the tightest (smallest) buy/sell spread. For example, the average spread for generic 1, 5 and 10 oz bars is $1.25 per oz. For ASEs, it is closer to $1.50. For junk coins it is closer to $2.00 per oz of pure silver.

In my opinion the worst way to stack in the US is ASEs (if you want the most bang for your buck). Only thing worse is buying old silver dollars as a vehicle to play the price of silver (I did both when I started "stacking").

PS One "play" that has been successful a couple of times for me is buying nice junk silver (bu rolls, etc) when the premiums are really low then selling when demand for junk silver skyrockets, which it does do from time to time. I don't know what causes such cycles of premiums in US junk silver but I've seen it twice since I've been stacking. At one point a few years ago the premiums on circ. junk silver coins was higher than for ASEs! Maybe scared preppers loading up?

Jim
 
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