+1. I wouldn't buy gold until you've got a decent stack of silver, spend your $10grand on silver, you can trade for gold at a later point when the gold/silver ratio improves.
If you go to Calculators above you will find the description of the 3 different $10 The State series, for example... 92.5% $10 State, Bird, Endangered (1985-1998) 20 gm 0.5948 oz At the current spot price worth $24.2 You can sometimes get them here at SS, be quick be though, they're usually popular. Ebay has a lot of them for sale, just go Coins and type State series or whatever you like... You should see many there. Hope this help.
Lunars are considered to be a collectible buy many people, good for birthday gifts etc.. and popular in the Asian markets. Also you can get a set by the end of it ie:12. Kookaburras change every year, and now mintage has risen to 500 000 whereas the lunars should stay at 300 000 till the end of the series. It might be time to do some reading on the specifics of mintages and the like by searching for the various types of 1 ounce coin so you can form your own opinions as well. However, both rabbit (this years lunar) and kook are sold out so be quick if you see some. Mouse still avaiable although from 2008, as it is building up to 300 000 mintage limit.
Do people buy pamp 1oz bullion? I see them advertised at bullion mark but I never see anyone talk of them.
Can't get over the premium personally. Anyone wanna vouche and say they are worth the premium? I worry about conterfiet and if/when the silver price goes silly i can see it being a plaugue. This is why i prefer coins to rounds or bars as counterfeiters have to break money conterfeiting laws which i guess are stiff but with bars/rounds the charge would only be fraud?? With this in mind do pamps offer anything?
My very last question and thanks to everyone that has given me advise. Would it be stupid to just go into the Perth mint and just buy 1/2oz and 1oz coins and 10oz and 20oz bars ? I just can't get my head around the fact that if everything turns as bad as is prodicted by so many people that coins like lunurs would be worth more than a kooka after all they are both still only weight the same. Am I missing something?
On a purely bullion perspective both kooks and lunars are worth the same, but lunars have a greater collectible value so may fetch higher premiums in the future. In addition they now have a lower mintage limit compared to the kooks. If you can walk into the Perth Mint and buy direct from the shop, then definitely buy your bars there since it will pretty much always be cheaper. If you can't you may want to look at bullion dealers like the site sponsors of this forum. For all sized coins, dealers will be better (check out some of the site sponsors) than the premiums charged by the mint. That's from my experience
If everything turns bad then maybe 1 ounce is 1 ounce when you want a bag of rice, milk, bread, petrol etc.... However, if you are selling your silver for the usual reasons, to realise gains or release savings, then you may get more of a return for a more highly desired coin. Take the scenario where even if it went bad and I was a seller of a bag of rice I would take the lunar over a less desirable coin or plain round. Assuming I was not desperate I'd put it away till the real scarcity value could be realised. If the person wanting rice knew this, he could perhaps bargain for an extra kilo or two and it might be worth it to me. Anything that people want, that is in limited supply, will be in more demand and perceived to be of more value. There will be another kookaburra next year and the year after, even if with a different design. There will not be another lunar rabbit for 12 years, and if/when there is it will be part of a new series. The way to get your head around these things is to do research and absorb enough of it that it becomes intrinsic to your understanding about silver. That way, although everyone still has varying opinions, you can understand why they think that way. See what earlier release coins sell for on ebay, APMEX etc and you will see that, even if it is hard to understand, the disparity in price and demand exists nonetheless. A further note - I have found the PM has lately been better in price on bars, but not usually on coins. If buying more than one or two ounces at a time even with postage if sometimes works out cheaper elsewhere. BUT, it would not be stupid to go in the doors and walk out with some silver. Just do it soon so you can get a feel for what it is all about.
I got this email from a coin dealer the other day...might have some importance here Dear Valued Customer, Perth Mint recently announced that they will be increasing their prices, due to the continuous rise in the spot price of silver. This will take effect from Tuesday 3 May 2011, and apply to all up-coming new releases and products that have already been advertised.
Doubt they would have seen things rise so much so quickly to cover themselves from needing to do this at some point
