Am I doing it right?

[junkless]

Just started purchasing junk silver coin for my kids. I have a 3 and 1yo and we will be having more. Not a big fan of doing the bond thing so I've taken up coins. Here is where I'm at so far...

1 roll (50 weighed out to 124.31 grams) silver dime. Purchased as an entire roll and have not date checked.

1921 dollar
1922 dollar
1940 half
1964 half
1934 quarter
1908 quarter
and 5 more dimes

this lot was bought separate from the roll. Guy has more which I'm going back for after Xmas.

Total invested thus far is $195.

How'd I do?

Also, met an elderly lady at a thrift store today. She informed me she has "buckets" of old coins as she once collected. Gave me her number and told me to call. I gave her my business card and asked her to call me next week. If I don't hear from her by Wednesday I'll surely be calling. Dont want to come off as aggressive with her as it might be a jackpot. Do you think offering 75% of melt would be a fair offer for the common silver? Don't want to rip anyone off as I'm a firm believer in karma and try to conduct myself with integrity. If that's not fair please let me know what you consider a good deal while still being fair.
Take care!

 

[Generic_Lad]

75% is fair. The best thing to do when buying silver/gold off of people is know what the coin shops pay (or the Cash4Gold places) and see what they pay. What ends up happening is that if they think the prices are too low they will go sell it there... only to find out that they only pay 50% of melt!

When it comes down to the elderly, you'll either get the jackpot or a huge skunk. I've met people who have saved EVERY Bicentennial coin they've come across since the 1970s. $2K face+ in worthless quarters, halves and dollars. On the other hand, I've heard of people buying a cigar box filled with Krugerrands for $125.

 

[junkless]

Thanks for the info. What do most people consider a good deal on junk silver? Meaning percentage of current melt value.
Also, the lady I met with the old coins made a very intriguing statement. "I collected coins from the mid 40s to the 70s until I got married". So, my feeling is jackpot but there is still a lot of work to do. Thanks again!

 

[Generic_Lad]

Thanks for the info. What do most people consider a good deal on junk silver? Meaning percentage of current melt value.
Also, the lady I met with the old coins made a very intriguing statement. "I collected coins from the mid 40s to the 70s until I got married". So, my feeling is jackpot but there is still a lot of work to do. Thanks again!

Depends on the person and what they think silver is at. There are people who think 5-6x face is amazing, there are others who think that their coins are worth 40x+ face. I think 70% of spot would be just fine.

 

[jerseyben]

I think someone "walking in off the street" would be lucky to get 18x face for 90% silver coins right now.

 

[junkless]

Just an update. Spoke to the elderly gal regarding the coins. I'm setting up a meeting for after the holidays. She said her husband is all for selling but they are just too busy to meet now. Looks promising but a bit concerned things will be picked through from now til then. As I'm only in it for intrinsic value I don't have much to lose. After checking with local stores I am still not certain what I should offer as they were all over the place. I guess I'll play it by ear and set a limit. Willing to drop up to a grand if the value is decent. If I'm getting a good deal I'll go much higher. I'll hopefully have a good update after the holidays.

 

[usandthem]

Sounds good so far. If I were in your shoes I would take the amount of silver coins in dollars and multiply by .72. This will give you the amount of pure silver in the lot. I would then multiply the actual silver weight by the spot price at the time of the transaction. This will give you the spot value of the silver. I would then offer the seller 70 to 80 percent of that value. This will give you both a fair price. Good luck!

 

[TheMcs]

The guys around me who buy silver coins offer $20 for each face $1. I think that's pretty fair.

 

[usandthem]

They're paying about 85% of melt. That's more than fair in my opinion. Keep in mind that you are taking a risk, when you buy silver, that the value will go down. My LCS pays 75%. I pay 80% so that I can keep sellers from going to the LCS. You also have to remember that if you have to sell you have a little room to break even or make a little profit. All just food for thought.

 

[junkless]

The silver I'm buying is for long term investment purposes. Instead of buying bonds for my boys I'm investing in silver. Trying to do something unique whic will be profitable for them in the long run. I just think it'll be cool when I unveil their "treasure chests" at a later date. I'm planning on getting a cool old box to use and am documenting the purchases really well. I'll probably include a few trinkets if I ever get a metal detector. The way I look at it is if I would have wanted my folks to do this for me, that answer is absolutely.

 

[TheMcs]

The silver I'm buying is for long term investment purposes. Instead of buying bonds for my boys I'm investing in silver.

Why not buy ASEs or 1oz silver rounds?

 

[junkless]

Not sure I guess. What would be the advantage? I'm not only investing in silver. About half of their funds are being invested at the moment. The rest is going into other methods.

 

[TheMcs]

I understand your intentions, I've got a few kids myself. My opinion is that the silver rounds will be easier to sell when the time comes. It's also easier, rather than hunting for silver currency, just go buy the round. The coins are cheaper, granted, but once you factor in time spent, gas, etc I think the silver is a wiser use of resources.
I buy the silver rounds and ASEs but continue to TH & CRH, so don't think I'm trying to discourage that. But as for the elderly couple's stash, if it were me I'd use that money on .999 silver. Or at least buy their stash, go through it for anything of greater than melt value, sell everything but the keepers, and buy silver.
Just an opinion and food for thought.

 

[junkless]

Appreciate the info. I'm definitely still hashing out my methods. I'm somewhat in it for the hunt as well. I travel all over for work so that isn't a hassle. I guess I'm just searching out the best value right now. I may flip some of the cache if silver peaks to boost my bottom line immediately. I'll probably get into gold when the amount is great enough to invest. I'd like them to be diverse in their investments.

 

[skeeterd]

I've done kinda the same thing with the treasure chest idea. I got a neat old jewelry box shaped like a treasure chest at an antique store and I try to put some things in it every chance I get. I look for older coins, silver coins, foreign coins, silver tokens and such. My daughter helps pick things to put in it. We don't like just junk, but something with a little value that doesn't cost to much or won't lose value being thrown in a box with a bunch of other stuff. We got forever to fill it up and it's fun to dig thru every once in a while. A great way to get kids interested in coin collecting and treasure hunting! Best of luck to ya, Junkless!