Silver - Few Questions :)

[MaiYun]

Hi guys,

I am 'newbie' to gold and I need few answers

I hope you can help me

1. What is the average price for Silver? - 1 oz. in Dollars and Pounds?

2. Most of the coins I find (eg. on ebay) comes without COA (Certificate of Authority) does that means that the coin is 'fake'?? or maybe that whole Certificate is useless??

3. Silver American Eagle or Canadian Maple - which one is more popular and why??

4. .999 or .925? which one is more popular and which one will keep value??

5. what does 'uncirculated' means? - does it mean that this coin comes brand new with no visible marks or something?

6. Coins with 'value' (eg. 1 Dollar or 1 Pound on back) or Coins without Value (no amount at back)?? - which one should I buy and why?

7. Do you know any good website I can buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple? (or just ebay?)

8. Silver Coins or Silver Bars? - which one do you recommend and why?

I know Lots of Questions But I Hope You Can Help Me with Them

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

[ken_ichikawa]

These are my thoughts and I admit I could be wrong.

Hi guys,

I am 'newbie' to gold and I need few answers

I hope you can help me

1. What is the average price for Silver? - 1 oz. in Dollars and Pounds?

You can buy silver for close to spot price, IF you buy uncommon coins of inconvenient weight, i.e. you get 1/2 Toz and 1 toz. But Coins inbetween sell for a lot less and much closer to spot price. A while ago a coin dealer was selling .999 500Korean Won coins. Nobody wanted them as they were 25grams each. But they had no VAT on them as they were tender. See later about circulation.

2. Most of the coins I find (eg. on ebay) comes without COA (Certificate of Authority) does that means that the coin is 'fake'?? or maybe that whole Certificate is useless??

A lot of my coins lack certificates, my Balboas have certificates and they pass the ring test and weight tests and I bought them from reputable dealers. This was when silver was around the £12 mark. Ebay has a lot of scammers so be careful

3. Silver American Eagle or Canadian Maple - which one is more popular and why??

Not sure I'd be inclined to say Eagles. I have a small stack of them.

4. .999 or .925? which one is more popular and which one will keep value??

I have a mix of both. I collected coins anyway and many of the special £5 coins were .925 anyway.

5. what does 'uncirculated' means? - does it mean that this coin comes brand new with no visible marks or something?

In time I discovered it can mean one of two things, Either it is brand new and was never issued as currency (which means its VATable) or that it is brand new unmarked condition.

6. Coins with 'value' (eg. 1 Dollar or 1 Pound on back) or Coins without Value (no amount at back)?? - which one should I buy and why?

Take your pick. Essentially any coin which can be used i.e. you go to a shop and can spend it is VAT free and CGT free as well as its currency CGT doesn't apply to currency.

7. Do you know any good website I can buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple? (or just ebay?)

Lots, there is a sticky somewhere.

8. Silver Coins or Silver Bars? - which one do you recommend and why?

Coins due to mobility and ability hide in plain sight and move it as and when needed. You can stuff a roll of 1toz coins up your bum easily. I'd like to see those folks with 1kilo bars stuff that up their bum when TSHTF

I know Lots of Questions But I Hope You Can Help Me with Them

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

[Alastair]

1. What is the average price for Silver? - 1 oz. in Dollars and Pounds?

2. Most of the coins I find (eg. on ebay) comes without COA (Certificate of Authority) does that means that the coin is 'fake'?? or maybe that whole Certificate is useless??

3. Silver American Eagle or Canadian Maple - which one is more popular and why??

4. .999 or .925? which one is more popular and which one will keep value??

5. what does 'uncirculated' means? - does it mean that this coin comes brand new with no visible marks or something?

6. Coins with 'value' (eg. 1 Dollar or 1 Pound on back) or Coins without Value (no amount at back)?? - which one should I buy and why?

7. Do you know any good website I can buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple? (or just ebay?)

8. Silver Coins or Silver Bars? - which one do you recommend and why?

1. Prices move so check sites such as: http://goldprice.org/live-gold-price.html

2. There have been some shysters on Ebay - try bona fide UK merchants/ dealers e.g. Bairds ( http://www.goldline.co.uk ) or Kitco ( http://www.kitco.com )

3. Fashion and national pride dictate which coins folk choose. Though if they are officially minted and have your national currency stamped on them then you may not get hit for capital gains tax. ( You were going to tell the tax man when you sold them ... weren't you? ).

4. Higher purity is always good but probably not such a big deal.

5. Uncirculated means no scratches or fingerprints.

6. See 3.

7. See 2 - there are other reputable dealers

8. For what purpose? This stuff is a bit precious to have sitting at home.

Depending on your objectives you may do well to look into http://www.goldmoney.com/

[LeeT]

Hi guys,

I am 'newbie' to gold and I need few answers

Most of your questions relate to silver.

I hope you can help me

1. What is the average price for Silver? - 1 oz. in Dollars and Pounds?

Prices are usually quoted in US $ per Toz (Troy ounce). To find the UK £ price you need to know the current exchange rate. Changes in both the $ price of silver and exchange rate will affect the price in £.

Note also that 1Toz is approx 31.1g

Currently we seem to be at $42.935/£1.6467 = £26.07Toz

Even if silver goes up in $ terms, if £ strengthens more against $, the price of silver in £ will fall.

Lets say that tomorrow silver is $40Toz and £1 = $1.50 we can work out that 1Toz silver = £(40/1.5) = £26.67.

If next month silver is $60Toz (up 50%) and £ has strengthened to £1 = $2.50 (up 66.7%) then 1Toz = £(60/2.5) = £24.00

The prices you see quoted in articles are usually spot prices (ie what the metal trades at for immediate exchange). Metals can be bought and sold for settlement at some date in the future. These contracts will have a price different to current spot price. Generally though any author will make it clear if they are talking about, for example December silver.

Goldmoney, Kitco, Forexpros and any number of other sites can provide prices and charts.

2. Most of the coins I find (eg. on ebay) comes without COA (Certificate of Authority) does that means that the coin is 'fake'?? or maybe that whole Certificate is useless??

No COA definitely does not make a coin fake. I have no COA for any of the coins in my pocket, yet they are genuine and I can spend them in the shop. COA's usually come with some numismatic collectible coins. Whilst not useless I'd say it's easier to fake a COA than it is to fake a coin.

The best bet is to buy from reputable dealers. There are mention of several of them within the Gold threads on this site. If you go the EBay route, buy nothing from China, Check the sellers history. Ideally you want a good score and to see positive feedback from people who have bought coins or bullion. Good photos help too.

3. Silver American Eagle or Canadian Maple - which one is more popular and why??

Hmm, toss a coin and take your pick. Both are widely recognised. Consider others too, Astrian Philharmonics and Mexican Libertads for example. Also look at old pre 1920 British coin for .925 silver.

4. .999 or .925? which one is more popular and which one will keep value??

.999 usually seems to sell for more than 20% (VAT) above spot even on Ebay. .925 seems to cost near spot on EBay. However, you'll get less for .925 when you sell. I'm not sure there's generally much in it.

.500 may also be worth considering.

Don't buy numismatics for investment unless you really know what you're doing. Buy for the metal value and not a coins rarity.

That said my last purchase was at only 30% of spot price. It was only for a single half crown worth about £10 though. :angry:

5. what does 'uncirculated' means? - does it mean that this coin comes brand new with no visible marks or something?

Yes, though very lightly circulated coins might be passed off as uncirculated. Except for very old silver coins which may have enough wear for it to affect the weight this should not be an issue for non numismatic coins

To a coin collector a fairly rare coin in fair condition, with say 97% of it's metal remaining might be worth a small percentage of the same coin in uncirculated condition. To a silverbug with no consideration for rarity it's worth 97% the uncirculated price of it's metal content.

6. Coins with 'value' (eg. 1 Dollar or 1 Pound on back) or Coins without Value (no amount at back)?? - which one should I buy and why?

It doesn't matter.

7. Do you know any good website I can buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple? (or just ebay?)

coininvestdirect

There are others. Visit the gold section in the forums.

8. Silver Coins or Silver Bars? - which one do you recommend and why?

I think coins are harder to forge. They come in smaller sizes if you need to trade small quantities. Coins are prettier too.

I know Lots of Questions But I Hope You Can Help Me with Them

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

No problem.

As a disclaimer may I point out that I know next to nothing. I have about 7.5% of my cash in phys gold and 2.5% in phys silver. Bullionvault have another 33% of my puny wealth.

Go read some of the silver/gold blogs, even though they're frequented by loonies. Then for balance read mainstream stuff.

[Quiet Guy]

Hi guys,

I am 'newbie' to gold and I need few answers

Here's my take on some of your questions:

2. Most of the coins I find (eg. on ebay) comes without COA (Certificate of Authority) does that means that the coin is 'fake'?? or maybe that whole Certificate is useless??

Unless you are serious about numismatics, forget about COAs - they're irrelevant for bullion purposes.

4. .999 or .925? which one is more popular and which one will keep value??

I doubt it matters much but I prefer .999 because that will always have value for industrial use whereas .925 is impractical for industrial use in small quantities.

6. Coins with 'value' (eg. 1 Dollar or 1 Pound on back) or Coins without Value (no amount at back)?? - which one should I buy and why?

Just focus on the silver content. I suppose if you are going to buy large quantities of coins, it might be relevant to consider that Brittanias do not attract CGT because they have legal tender status in the UK.

7. Do you know any good website I can buy American Eagle and Canadian Maple? (or just ebay?)

I have used www.goldline.co.uk and www.weightoncoin.co.uk for buying silver. www.coininvestdirect.com also seems to be quite popular but their payment methods might not suit everybody.

8. Silver Coins or Silver Bars? - which one do you recommend and why?

If it's bullion you want then it doesn't really matters but larger bars offer better value for money.

Another point worth bearing mind: storage

See the comment by 'Old Nis' at

http://www.housepric...ic=133018&st=15

As far as is practical, you should aim to keep moisture and air away from you silver.