one for the post,....what happened to silver american coins??

[lionhrt9]

Not only for me but the greenies also that are wondering why . I know the folks on this forum can put this together WAY better than me but I'm going to put in what i know.

I have done some research but can't find the Real story of what happened to the silver coins pre 1965. I know that the folks on TNet can put it together way better than me. (esp. when some experienced it!!)

What happened to silver coins..... I have heard that a team of brothers (names are mixed in the research) understood that they could corner the market on silver or something and that they actually affected the silver market. They got several thousands of coins and melted them down and the US silver market went way up.

I think that the Dtectorist that never had these coins floating in their pockets, which could buy there way into a movie for 25c (like my mom and dad) want to know. People are buying high end detectors that can give them the ability to get silver, and when they do we go nuts cause in the US it is lost on the mint. In the end they want to know why, just my add to the post, welcome all responses.

 

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[Copperhead]

Google Hunt Brothers

 

[Zym]

A lot was melted in the early eighties when the price of silver went up to $50/oz. Yep, the Hunt brothers thought they could corner the market. At least one of them went bankrupt and ended up doing jail time. The remainder is bought/sold/stored as bullion by investors. you can go to metals dealer and buy pre-65 silver coins at spot prices. Right now between 9-10 X face value IE a roll of quarters goes for between $90-$100 at todays spot price.

 

[shanko]

Just the other day I got a 1964 quater from the gas station in change. Its hard to belive thers still some silver floating around in circulation. They really stand out in compairson to more current dates. And yes, I added it to my collection.

Shanko

 

[skydiv]

back then I did sell a hand full of rosies for .60 a coin.I think in 3 years of detecting i found 1.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I remember the Hunt brothers. The US Mint stopped making silver coins and silver and gold certificates at least a decade before the Hunt brothers.
Our monetary system used to be based on gold and silver. One paper dollar could be traded on demand for one dollar in silver from the US government. Paper money used to represent gold or silver stored in Fort Knox. Now it is just paper, and the coins are just clad, and they keep printing more, causing inflation.

The Hunt brothers temporarily raised the price of silver to about 40 dollars an ounce, I believe, and many coins were melted for bullion. I saved one coin of each date. We may never know how many 50's and 60's coins were destroyed.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I was working for a company that made photographic emulsions (using silver nitrate) and silver was up to around $50 per oz. in the Hunt Brothers hay-day around 1980. We never did recover from that wild ride. One of my chums in the cost accounting dept was buying silver at $14/oz just prior and thought he was a made man. In about 1985 he was back to $5/oz and smiling a lot less.

Circulated silver was worth more in materials for quite a run, but the good coins still had more value as collectables.

The lost silver coins in the ground weren't effected at all. They were there and still are.