going to trade a box of 40% ($500.00 Face) for some gold tomorrow

silvercop · Jan 24, 2010

i am going to trade a box of 40% silver halves tomorrow for some gold coins. i am trading for one st. gaudens and two indian $5 dolloar coins. i know that the dealer will come out about 200.00 (according to my math) better than me but i thought over all this is a good trade for 40's. i would like to get some thoughts on the trade? rich? mojo? anyone?

bula · Jan 24, 2010

I think it would be a good deal & just look at how much space you gain by trading 1000 coins for three. If you have not yet, I would look at the coins he is trading you & make sure they are in good shape & not junk. I think that gold will go up more that silver.

Daniel964 · Jan 24, 2010

I'm interested in this also. I'm thinking about tradeing 1 or 2 boxes of 40% for some maple leaf gold coins.

silvercop · Jan 24, 2010

space was my main problem. my floor safe is filling up fast. he told me the gold coins are EF-G condition. i have several boxes of the 40% and if i am happy with the gold coins i will probably trade another box maybe 2. i want to hang on to the 64's and i keep all the bens and walkers too.
another concern of mine is i only have one son. he is 19 and has not shown any interest in coins so far. when he gets my collection (hopefully many many years from now) he won't just sell or cash them in. i think he would be more likely to hold onto gold, at least i hope so.

jim4silver · Jan 24, 2010

It would depend on how much he is charging for the St. Gaudens. The premiums on these have been dropping lately. You should not have to pay more than 150 over spot for one in the condition you described. Remember, they do not contain a full ounce of gold, so it is not exactly comparable to a one ounce eagle, etc.

Do some checking online to make sure he is not charging too much on the other gold coins as well.

It would seem your box of halves is worth about 2300 per apmex buy price. So you will be ending up with less than 1.5 ounces of gold for 2300. Seems a bit high to me for the amount of gold you will get, but the old US gold does cost more than regular bullion.

Good luck.

Jim

silvercop · Jan 24, 2010

thanks jim. i think if i do another trade with him it will be for a small one ounce bar or a half ounce bar. i have always wanted a st. gaudens coin. trading for the coins would be a little short on an ounce for ounce basis but i was hoping that the numismatic value would tip the scales back a little. it all has to do with the condition.
one thing i did notice about the 40% halves is not everybody wants to buy them. that is why i plan to hold on to the 90's.
another thought i had was i only have face value in on the 40's so i was thinking that would help some too. also i am not having to pay shipping on them to sell them.
i know rich did a trade a few months ago i was wondering what coins he got for trade.

quiksilver · Jan 24, 2010

2 questions to answer yours

1. are you happy with the sale price of your halves
2. are you happy with the buy price of your gold

If u answered no to either shop around otherwise do it . i recently lost 175.00 by not spending 2 more minutes at a coin show. Probly lost more on the purchase mark up too by not shoping or waiting. Many of the sources i have for buying have low premiums but dont often have or keep them for long. Of couse where you live increases or decreases your opportunites for shopping around. I prefer not dealing with the internet and shipping.

Diver_Down · Jan 24, 2010

I would not make this sale. You should be able to get AU grade coins or better. The St. Guadens should be in EF at a minimum. They didn't circulate (too much) consequently the supply on the market trends towards the higher grades. The Indians on the other hand did circulate and didn't fare too well. There are plenty of Indians in Good condition which is why I would not consider anything less than an AU grade coin(s). You are buying old gold for the numismatic value, not the gold content alone. To preserve the numismatic value, you need to procure the highest grades.

quick-silver · Jan 24, 2010

Diver_Down said:
I would not make this sale. You should be able to get AU grade coins or better. The St. Guadens should be in EF at a minimum. They didn't circulate (too much) consequently the supply on the market trends towards the higher grades. The Indians on the other hand did circulate and didn't fare too well. There are plenty of Indians in Good condition which is why I would not consider anything less than an AU grade coin(s). You are buying old gold for the numismatic value, not the gold content alone. To preserve the numismatic value, you need to procure the highest grades.

Agreed

but if you are content with the trade then by all means my good man

jim4silver · Jan 24, 2010

Diver_Down said:
I would not make this sale. You should be able to get AU grade coins or better. The St. Guadens should be in EF at a minimum. They didn't circulate (too much) consequently the supply on the market trends towards the higher grades. The Indians on the other hand did circulate and didn't fare too well. There are plenty of Indians in Good condition which is why I would not consider anything less than an AU grade coin(s). You are buying old gold for the numismatic value, not the gold content alone. To preserve the numismatic value, you need to procure the highest grades.

I agree with DD and would add that unless you get a higher grade double eagle or an otherwise rare year, then you are basically going to own a coin that is worth its weight in gold plus a small premium if that.

There has been a huge demand on double eagles both raw and graded for the past year or so, thus the premiums are quite high no matter which grade you choose. There was a period in time a couple of years ago where you could get decent quality raw double eagles for not too much over spot, and sometimes right at spot if you got lucky.

If you really want one just to have it for your collection I would say go ahead and get it. If you want something that will have numismatic value then I would not buy one below MS63 or so.

My personal guess is that if gold continues to drop in the next few months, so will the premiums on these coins as they have dropped a bit recently. If gold goes below 990 and the premiums on the double eagles keeps falling I plan to get a few raw liberty double eagles myself. They are cool coins no doubt, but remember that at times in the past dealers had a hard time selling circulated grade common years for not too much over spot.

Jim

markmopar · Jan 24, 2010

Jeweler dave here on Tnet will trade 40% for gold coins sometimes. Very fair rates too.

Silver Stripe · Jan 24, 2010

Personally I would go the bullion route as well. Little homework for ya, http://www.apmex.com/APMEXTop40/Default.aspx shows the buy and sell prices. Right now $1K 40%ers is $4687, looks like 4 oz gold to ME. Smaller lots have lower bid, I mailed them $320 fv on the 14th and got a check back yesterday the 23rd- I needed the cash or I would have got some gold shipped back. Just something else to compare with. HH Mark

coinmojo · Jan 25, 2010

I appreciate the sentiment on asking my opinion. I never really considered this because I depend on my little winfalls to help stay afloat at home.

All I can tell you is that you should be able to move a box of 40%'s for around $2100.00 you could then buy around 2 oz. of gold with the proceeds.

Mojo

tenseventyfive · May 11, 2010

Yea wondering the same about bullion - personally I am looking toward bars (100oz. silver and 1oz. gold), since my main focus is storing up for the massive inflation I am sure will be coming. If you have numismatic interest, then of course coins are the way to go but if you're just dealing with dollars-per-sq. foot issues, why pay the coin premium at all?

obediah · May 11, 2010

silvercop said:
i am going to trade a box of 40% silver halves tomorrow for some gold coins. i am trading for one st. gaudens and two indian $5 dolloar coins. i know that the dealer will come out about 200.00 (according to my math) better than me but i thought over all this is a good trade for 40's. i would like to get some thoughts on the trade? rich? mojo? anyone?

Perfect timing, now that Gold is at an all time High :icon_scratch:

. Personally I'd hang on to all I had in Silver, if things do go into the krapper Silver will be a whole lot easier to work with. butt ,then we all have our own theories too and you ain't gonna be paying like face value (pun intended), for the Gold, right.

Argentium · May 11, 2010

Silvercop, Here's one more opinion ! In general I like your idea of trading 40%-ers for gold,
I'm not wild about you getting numismatic gold unless you go M.S. 63 or better , the trade or
resale on common circulated gold coins is not brisk - eye appeal is so important with numismatic
investment . However , having said that - since you acquired the 40%-ers thru CRH. , you are
so far ahead in terms of value /cost ratio - that your ok on the deal you described . I would
advise you to lean more toward bullion , especially Maple leafs , American eagles , credit swiss ,
or American buffalo gold coins . If as Obediah believes , the -*&^%$- is about to hit the fan,
then I suppose 40%-ers could be a good "first line of defense " in terms of trade goods , before
one would have to exhaust one's "precious metal " holdings . Just the rather long winded opinion
of one man . Argentium.

Kauka · May 12, 2010

Argentium said:
Silvercop, Here's one more opinion ! In general I like your idea of trading 40%-ers for gold,
I'm not wild about you getting numismatic gold unless you go M.S. 63 or better , the trade or
resale on common circulated gold coins is not brisk - eye appeal is so important with numismatic
investment . However , having said that - since you acquired the 40%-ers thru CRH. , you are
so far ahead in terms of value /cost ratio - that your ok on the deal you described . I would
advise you to lean more toward bullion , especially Maple leafs , American eagles , credit swiss ,
or American buffalo gold coins . If as Obediah believes , the -*&^%$- is about to hit the fan,
then I suppose 40%-ers could be a good "first line of defense " in terms of trade goods , before
one would have to exhaust one's "precious metal " holdings . Just the rather long winded opinion
of one man . Argentium.