I have been buying since 2006, and their really isn't a pattern in my opinion. I just picked up a coin magazine about buying gold and silver and it had some good advice about buying AT THE TIME. It's different year after year.
If you take the coins out of the capsules, then yes. If not, don't do what I did a little while back and let the capsule accidentally hit the ground and Crack the case....
I hope not. Word on the street is that for the 2013 privy koala, they were supposed to go into a chinese made coin set, but around 500 went out for individual sale.
At the coin shop where I work, we buy silver at spot, or a little above it depending on whether there is demand for the metal. The only thing we buy under spot is oddly enough, holiday rounds.
For me, on the series 2 1/2 oz coins, it took me several months to find the ox. For example, the mouse is the "key" coin in the 1/2 oz category, but those are more plentiful than the ox....at least in the u.s. anyways....