Silver Investing - Storing Your Silver and Gold

If you have physical silver and/or gold in your possession and are storing it at home, there is a well written article that you should definitely read. In the article, the author talks about a friend of his that was robbed of some of his gold coins and is very upset about it. Especially since: 1) he suspects it was an "inside job"; and 2) there isn't a thing he can do about it because he can't prove a thing.

The author provides details on the three most common places to store gold along with some considerations for each. The article is titled "Robbed", the author is Jeff Clark and you can read the article at Safely Storing Your Gold. Scroll down a bit as the article isn't right at the top.

In a related article by the same author, readers of the "Robbed" article provide input and suggestions on storing gold and silver on which the author provides useful comments. This is good information and might save you a heartbreaking loss down the road. The article is titled "Think Like a Thief" and you will find it here. Again, scroll down to find the article.

At the time of this post (Monday evening) spot silver is up over $36 again at $36.26. Spot gold is up a couple of bucks at $1429.20. With all of the turmoil in the world (with no sign of a slow down) it should be an interesting week.

Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - Silver Nickels

In the fall of 2008, less than 30 months ago, the price of silver was $8.79 an ounce. Yesterday the spot price was over $36.50 at one time but today dropped back and now sits at $35.12. How many other investments can brag about those types of gains? If you invest in silver, you have to understand that silver is very volatile and these ups and downs are to be expected - especially with the world events now going on. Some very knowledgeable people are saying $50 silver is yet ahead so keep the faith.

The U.S Mint is taking quite a breather on the metals this month. So far in March only 717,000 Silver Eagles have been produced. This is after February's total of 3,240,000 and January's whopping 6,422,000 reported Silver Eagle production. I don't think this an indication that demand is slowing down because from everything I hear, demand is still sky high.

One of the things that caught my eye while visiting a coin shop in Laughlin was this Buffalo Nickel Set. The Buffalo Nickel was produced from 1913-1938 by the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco Mints (in 1938, the Jefferson Nickel took its place). If the design looks familiar, it should. The design was "borrowed" to produce the pure gold (24k) American Buffalo.

As you may be aware, there is no silver in the U.S. Nickel. The composition is 75% copper and 25% nickel. The only exception was during WWII when nickel was deemed a critical war material. So from 1942-1945, the nickel was composed of 56% copper, 35% silver and 9% manganese. After the war, the nickel returned to its original composition. Even though the nickel contains no silver, because of the metals it does contain the value is approximately .068 cents (not its .05 cent face value).

I have listed many of the common U.S. silver coins' compositions on my silver investing site. If interested, you can read it at Silver Bullion Coins. Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - February 2011 Totals For Silver Eagles

After a record setting total of 6,422,000 Silver American Eagles minted last month, the February 2011 total comes in at a weeny 3,240,000 bullion coins. What's up with that? Could physical silver be so tight (as the many rumors state) so that even the U. S. Mint is having trouble getting their hands on this valuable commodity? We'll wait and see what a full month of 31 days brings.

As of this post, spot silver stands at $34.48 - a 31 year high. That amounts to a gain of $6.49 in the last 30 days and a one-year change of $18.04 (+109.6%). When it comes to the rise in and potential of silver (and gold), Sonny and Cher said it well in The Beat Goes On

Are you having trouble getting your hands on desireable physical silver pieces at a decent price (or any price)? If you answered YES, well don't feel like the Lone Stranger. At the recent coin dealers show I attended in Laughlin a few weeks ago I tried to get my hands on a Silver Philharmonic for an article on my Silver Investing web site. There were none to be found - even with the large and varied silver inventories some of the dealers had. I will keep trying even though patience isn't one of my strengths. I hope you are finding yours.

Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - Are You A Collector Or Investor

I decided to escape the winter weather of the upper mid-west for a few weeks and head for warmer parts - namely Laughlin and Las Vegas NV plus Palm Springs CA later. While in Laughlin, I attended a local coin dealers show. There weren't a lot of dealers there but the ones that were had impressive inventories of coins with silver far outweighing gold coins.

There were many, many Morgan Silver Dollars, Peace Silver Dollars and Silver American Eagles being bought and sold but what struck me were the majority were slabbed and graded. MS-63s, MS-64s and MS-65s on the 1878-1921 dollars and MS-69s and MS-70s on the Silver Eagles. Of course there were some pretty hefty prices on most of the merchandise and I can't say I got too excited about most of these graded coins.

I'll admit I did enjoy looking at many of them but it just reinforced in my mind that I am a silver bullion coin investor and not a silver coin collector. Not only is it less expensive but the knowledge to wisely invest in silver bullion coins is much less. God bless the gold and silver coin collectors but for me it is quantity over quality. Unless it is a coin I am really interested in such as a Morgan CC Silver Dollar, coins grades of XF or AU will do just fine. So which are you?

At the time of this post (in Laughlin), spot silver is at $33.91 for a gain on the day of $1.25! Very impressive. Let's see where this leg up takes us.

Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - Silver Sniping On eBay

When I have some spare time, I like to look at the various silver coins that are being auctioned on eBay. While I haven't seen many "deals", every now and then I find something that is of interest enough for me to bid on. That may be Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Silver Philharmonics, Silver Rounds, Morgan Dollars, etc. As long as the current bid isn't too high, the shipping fee is reasonable, the seller has a high positive feedback with a good number of transactions under his/her belt and there are only a few hours to go on the auction, I will probably place a bid.

Nothing is more frustrating than almost having the winning bid when some other bidder "steals" it from you with seconds to go. Then it's too late to place a higher bid before the auction ends. That's where sniping comes in. There is a free service that allows a bidder to automatically place a bid with just seconds to go (sniping) thereby increasing the odds of being the winning bidder. And the bidder doesn't even have to be by his/her computer. Just enter the eBay item number, the maximum bid and when to place the bid (how many seconds before the auction ends). Then go play outside. If interested, go to Goofbay and read up on eBay Sniper. This site offers other useful services that you may find of interest.

If you have come across other useful silver investing tools, please share them on this blog.

Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - January 2011 Totals For Silver Eagles

When I last checked on Silver American Eagles produced in January, the total was at 4,724,000. This was toward the end of the month and with no updates from the U.S Mint for several days, I thought that may be the final figure. Checking today to see if they repeated their December ploy of reporting a large amount on this first day of February (rather than including them in the previous month), I couldn't believe my eyes. 6,422,000 Silver Eagles for January's total!!!

They also reported 50,000 more on this first day of February. So the year-to-date total stands at 6,472,000. That is a huge, record-setting number. It looks like they are taking the increasing demand for Silver Eagles head-on. That's a good thing. Because if they ever decide to throw in the towel and stop offering these popular silver bullion coins, the premiums will skyrocket for the Silver Eagles already in existance. To prove that silver really is the poor man's gold - in 2010, the U.S. Mint sold nearly 30 times as many ounces of silver as it did ounces of gold.

I have a few short articles you may find of interest by two of my favorite precious metals experts. The first is a King World News Blog entry with information provided by James Turk and can be found at Gold & Silver Have Reached An Important Bottom. The second is also a King World News Blog with information provided by Eric Sprott where he talks about $50 silver and $2150 gold. You can find it here.

Before I close, there is one piece of information I forgot to include in my post on Mercury Dimes. If you decide to invest in 90% silver dimes, keep in mind that it takes approximately 14 dimes to equal one troy ounce of silver. So don't go overboard on what you pay for them if you decide to invest.

Thanks for reading.

Silver Investing - January 2011 A Banner Month For Silver Eagles

The U.S. Mint is working overtime producing Silver American Eagles and the demand is right there too. So far in January 4,588,000 Silver Eagles have been produced - more than any month in its 26 year history. To put that in perspective, 4,588,000 is more Silver Eagles than were produced for the entire year of 1996 (3,466,000), 1997 (3,636,000), 1998 (4,320,000) and so close to 1995's total (4,590,000). And we still have eight working days to go in the month.

At this time, spot silver is at $28.68, down 69 cents in the last 30 days and up $10.81 (60.49%) over the last year. Despite being down recently, you will find the premiums for popular silver bullion coins and bars to be strong because the physical silver market is tight. Be a smart shopper and compare prices of at least a few dealers to get the most for your money.

Thanks for reading.