Does anyone know of an online retailer in the US that carries bulk or "junk" silver coins from Europe or Australia? I'd like to diversify a bit. I have found a couple of Australia-based online stores that will ship to the US, but the shipping is pretty outrageous. And yes, I've been watching eBay.
I can't really help you re: "junk" world coins. But obviously keep your eyes & ears open, as you've been doing. The "Buy, Sell & Swap" forums here might be of some assistance, as well. Just wanted to touch on the shipping part, though, speaking from experience.. Yep, it can be a bit pricey sometimes. Too much weight & monetary value & size can jack it up; same goes for not enough weight & monetary value & size! There's obviously a sweet spot in between, where you get the most bang for your shipping buck. Various levels of shipping service can bring it down, but unfortunately those lower-priced ones aren't always available. It ain't cheap shipping from halfway across the world! But sometimes you just have to suck it up, if you really want something that's simply not really available in the US. Or if it *is* available here, it's priced way too high, above & beyond the extra cost of shipping & any currency exchange fees, and having it shipped from AUS or wherever still makes sense. (Fortunately, I haven't run into any sort of taxes or customs fees or whatever, that some countries do charge when certain items enter their country. The US seems pretty laid-back, at least for stuff of this nature -- enjoy it while we can.) Oftentimes I've found shipping costs from Europe to the US to be really reasonable, however -- like, pretty darn comparable to shipping *within* the US. Only thing is, be prepared to wait a few weeks, in many cases. :lol: Though I've yet, knock on wood, to have any issues with any foreign postal systems. Be aware that you'll probably have to sign for the packages, perhaps even in person. Finally, keep in mind that sometimes you can haggle a bit with the smaller sellers. Might not bring down the actual shipping cost, per se, but could help lower the total overall price. Good luck in your quest. Keep in mind, too, that the lower spot prices we've been seeing can help your wallet.. So it can take some of the sting out of paying up a little extra on certain charges. Look at the forest, not just the trees. And you're absolutely correct in that there's some awesome stuff out there outside our borders.
Gatito, thanks for the advice. I did find a local coin dealer in Australia that worked with me on bulk coins and shipping fees. I will post a follow-up once I receive them.
+1 There are probably quite a few people sitting on kilos of their local junk silver who wouldn't mind doing a direct trade for whatever you have lying around. Both sides would have to pay postage so I think the only real winner would be the Postal Service, your net worth in junk silver wouldn't have changed but you would have paid a lot over spot for it. I have some nice junk silver from the UK and the USA but it wasn't cheap by the time it got here. I have managed to cherry pick a few coin club trade albums for their coins which they don't think are worth collecting but there are usually some silver in amongst them. They are usually pretty diverse so it is good to have a catalogue nearby to check the silver content. Plus coin collectors seem to think that their coins are worth more than bullion. I picked up some nice Mexican Silver Pesos from eBay US and they were still cheap by the time they got to Australia. You just don't find them very often.
I don't agree at all. Yeah, the Postal Services win -- but so do both parties, who also each now have items that they wanted to begin with. It's really cool to hold in your hands & admire something that isn't typically distributed or found in your home turf, making it a pretty special piece no matter the size or value.
I agree gatito. I'd love to get my hands on some more US silver, it's just nice to have something different.
Sorry, should have been clearer, the only person who would make money out of the deal would be the postal service. The novelty soon wears off, unless you intend to have a treasure chest full of world coins which you open up and run your hands through every now and then, the only benefit of junk silver coins is that you can get them close to spot. But if you post them half way around the world then you don't have that benefit either once you have paid the postage.
I agree completely... both parties lose.. only winner is the post office. Doing a local trade with a swap is worthwhile.. one party may benefit if there is a high grade or key date, zero sum loss.. ):
^^ I disagree. If the only goal is to own the cheapest silver possible, then sure, this isn't the cheapest way to own silver. But if the goal is to diversify, then there are winners all the way around.
You are welcome to disagree all you want, but if your goal is to diversify there are cheaper ways of doing it. If you buy a selection of locally available silver you will maintain your diversity and you will also maintain the premiums associated with the silver while reducing transportation costs. If you purchase junk silver you will have your diversity but you will loose the money spent on postage. Few people are going to pay high prices for junk silver just to cover your costs of importing it., so when you go to sell you will most likely lose money on the sale unless silver has gone to the moon. Yes you can swap junk silver to achieve diversity in your stack but it isn't the most efficient or cost effective way of doing it, unless as 1for1 mentions, you happen to find a rare variety in the coins you receive. If you really like junk silver, which I do, then you can pick it up here and there, you don't get it in bulk though. I have a selection of junk silver from the UK, South Africa, most of Europe, Mexico, the United States and about 23 kg from Australia. I have looked into many ways of exchanging some of my Australian junk for other junk silver but nothing makes any sense financially due to the weight of junk silver. It is cheaper to sell my junk silver over here and then use that money to buy junk silver from someone else in Australia or failing that from someone else abroad.
My goal to diversify was to include some foreign silver coins, which aren't available to me locally that I've found. My disagreement was that incurring postage costs in a trade meant both parties were losers in the deal. But I do agree that's not the most economical way. In this case, I chose to buy direct and pay shipping vs trade internationally. It helped that the dealer in Austalia was super great to work with and I ended up getting some bulk coinage shipped for a price I'm comfortable with. But if you are stateside and ever decide to sell your foreign silver coins, let me know. I'd be interested.
Again, I disagree: If & when it comes time to sell any/all of these, odds are you're not going to sell back to the originating country, but on your own home turf. In which case, you're that much more likely to recoup some or even all additional premium you paid, due to the rare appearance of them in your land, making that a whole issue a wash. Liquidity could potentially be an issue, as many might not recognize the piece. But for those who *do* recognize (and desire) such, their purchase price would likely reflect that relative scarcity.
There goes my baggage allowance! We do come across the odd foreign junk silver every now and then but you never really find it in bulk, still 23kg of the same coin isn't very diverse either.
I can only speak from my personal experience in Australia. Price is usually driven by desirability, rarity and condition. Junk silver by definition is not in good condition. And although locally it might be rare, the market place is global, so I wouldn't be buying junk silver from you (which includes the cost of the coin, the original cost of postage to the US, the cost of postage to my address and an additional premium) when I can buy it direct from the country of origin for the price of the coin and the price of the postage direct to my house. If I was buying something else off you and you mentioned that you had some junk silver I would probably tell you to add it to the stack if the price was right. For face to face deals we don't generally factor in the cost of getting to the meeting or the time out of our day. As to recognition, the more info you give the buyer the easier they are to sell, if you do the work for them, tell them the name of the coin, country of origin, the percentage silver, the weight of the coin and the actual silver weight then they don't have to go away and look anything up, they can work out the value of the silver in them and decide if they want to pay the additional cost to get the variety. I don't think there will be much of a liquidity problem, I certainly hope not. So you are left with desirability, I personally like it, it is the sweet spot between high price numismatics and the bland modern offerings, you get silver with some free history thrown in. The more people desire something the more likely they are to over spend on it which is good. I have some Mexican Pesos which were not really junk silver as they were in pretty good shape, those I would expect to be able to sell over here for a bit more due to the novelty and the beautiful designs on the coins. The UK ones would sell quite well as we have a lot of ex-pats over here who can probably remember the money before 1971. The US pre65 are fairly common over here in the smaller sizes, I found it cheaper to buy them direct from the US when our dollar was doing well against yours. When they are on their own in a 2x2 they are priced quite expensive, when they are in a bucket they are a lot cheaper. One great feature is that instead of getting one .999 coin you can get a (small) handful of junk silver for the same price and the postage cost is split up over more coins However most people approach junk silver by starting off on the spot value of the coin and then adding a percentage premium, if the percentage premium starts getting too high they compare it against an uncirculated offering from a major mint. But most junk silver is just that, dirty, worn and worth around spot value, before silver went to the moon I was buying junk silver off eBay for less than spot, which is how I got into stacking in the first place. Since then I have added a few foreign pieces as they turn up on Silver Stackers or in the Coin Club. I think the most I have paid was about 10% over spot but they were better than junk silver. Some of the really dirty silver I have soaked in acetone to remove the oils, grease and dirt. Some of them I have soaked in cloudy ammonia and given a rub with bi-carb of soda. They come up really well and as they were junk to begin with I don't feel bad about it, anything half decent or low mintage I leave alone, though this gets harder with foreign coins as the information is harder to come by. So in summary, if you want junk silver from other countries and you think you will have a market for them such that you won't loose any money on them then so much the better, I think they are a great addition to any stack.
Just thought I'd post an update. I was able to track down some Australian "junk" silver. My initial thought is that it is far nicer than the US "junk" silver coins I've found. Some of the coins appear to be aUNC. I'm very pleased and will keep my eye out for other opportunities to add more.
Not much help to the OP but I really like silver yen coins like the 1964 1000 yen olympic coin, Mexican silver pesos and i think i am going to pick up some French Hercules francs, too. They all tend to be a little exotic, have some numi value added and it keeps ya fromgetting bored with Morgans and the other US junk silver. I've scored most of mine from ebay.
Congrats. Just an FYI, you can get US junk silver in UNC condition at some dealers like Apmex, for example.
I see the bags of junk silver at Apmex and it is tempting but as it is 90% silver it is not considered 'investment' bullion by our tax office so you are required to pay an additional 10% on entry to the country and probably a handling fee as well. This goes for any silver that isn't 999, so all world silver that gets intercepted by customs would incur the same fee.
