How long?

[Johnny_Omerta]

I have a friend that works at a gold and silver exchange. ALL THE TIME he sends stuff to the melt. Silver dollars, halves, quarters and so one. My question would be how long will it last? Everyday things are taken out of circulation and melted down. One day many of our families will sale our stack and it may be melted down. I don't think it will be anytime soon but one day it will be so rare to find something it wont be worth the hunt but when?

 

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[ArkieBassMan]

It depends upon your definition of "worth it." I'd venture to guess that a big majority of CRHers aren't turning a profit, nor have they ever done so.

 

[enamel7]

This seems to be brought up once a month. Most coins aren't being melted down. There just being resold up the food chain.

 

[Johnny_Omerta]

I have seen 1000$ of dollars being sent to be melted. He is one person in a very small town. There are thousands of people just like him. Those coins are gone forever. Supply and demand.

When I talk about "worth" I am talking about when the price of silver is up. At some point you will make money off of this. It is a hobby with the potential of being profitable. I CRH and I buy because I know silver will be way up and I will be able to cash out making money. I know we dont want people getting hip to it so we dumb it way down on here. I know the game. I have been doing it for awhile now. I just use a different user name becauae i forgot the password to my old one. I just look like a tenderfoot lol.

 

[enamel7]

Who exactly is he sending it to?

 

[Johnny_Omerta]

A melt. Its a business so I respect that never asked for an address. They all do it around here if they can't sale it in the store. Generally they buy 20% under spot and if they cant get rid of it they send it off. I would guess the spot gives them a little over what they paid. Again I am a stacker so I never worry about selling.... until the right time

 

[enamel7]

I find that hard to believe. They're a business not doing anything illegal so why the secrecy? It's not illegal to melt silver so how do you know for sure they're melting unless your friends actually see the melt? I understand that some severe culls get melted but most silver doesn't.

 

[Johnny_Omerta]

Lol, everything has to be a debate here. Its not that he doesn't want to tell me, I just dont ask. He tells me that he sends it to the melt and I have been in the store talking to him when his brother, the owner, has told him to send **** to the melt. They buy gold, silver and sale guns. All kinds of stuff gets sent not just culls. Its a business so they are worried about keeping their money moving and not just sitting in the store. Their goal is to turn a profit. I have no reason to lie. People dont understand small business is the problem.

 

[port ewen ace]

sitting on over 120 Rosies and close to 300 war nickels. to me selling for melt with silver at $16+/- is not an option. last sold a war nic 2 years ago for $1, now the LCS is at 55 cents. I hope that November 4th of 2016 will be the time gold and silver move back up, 6 years of fundamental transformation is enough punishment! CRHing is more than just silver, add in errors and high quality desirable coins for amateur collectors, then do pick ups and dumps in your routine travels and gas cost goes to zero. sure beats a savings account or CD interest rates..when the ground thaws it's back to digging treasures, relics, clad and 100 to 300 year old coins that will never meet a melting pot. HH

 

[mAGma]

There is Way too much volume spread out over wayyyy to many people for that to ever happen in our lifetimes. There were a BILLION silver kennedy half dollars from 64-69. Not to mention all the other half dollars before that...dimes... Quarters that had been made of silver for 100 years...

If theres still this much out there after 50 years.... Itll stick around for awhile unless the fed were to get involve and remove it

 

[Johnny_Omerta]

Think about quarters. How often do people find them? Is it worth searching them? How often do people find Standing Liberties or Barbers? 40% will follow some day. Right now it is "worth" the hunt but how much longer? Everytime one is pulled from the wild or melted down that is somebody else's skunk.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Lol, everything has to be a debate here. Its not that he doesn't want to tell me, I just dont ask. He tells me that he sends it to the melt and I have been in the store talking to him when his brother, the owner, has told him to send **** to the melt. They buy gold, silver and sale guns. All kinds of stuff gets sent not just culls. Its a business so they are worried about keeping their money moving and not just sitting in the store. Their goal is to turn a profit. I have no reason to lie. People dont understand small business is the problem.

Here's the thing: When you consider the entire silver coin population, what seems like a HUGE amount to you is just a tiny little miniscule, all but negligible, amount. Like one grain of sand on a big beach type thing. There were billions upon billions of silver coins minted. It would take tens of thousands of coin shops just like the one you're describing in business for hundreds of years to make a noticeable difference.

 

[ArkieBassMan]

Think about quarters. How often do people find them? Is it worth searching them? How often do people find Standing Liberties or Barbers? 40% will follow some day. Right now it is "worth" the hunt but how much longer? Everytime one is pulled from the wild or melted down that is somebody else's skunk.

The reason you rarely find Standing Liberties, Barbers, etc is that they reside in peoples' coin collections. Even a non-coin collector can easily spot something that looks "different" and keep it. They have little chance to re-enter circulation, and when they do, they have a bigger chance of being removed again very quickly.

 

[mAGma]

Think about quarters. How often do people find them? Is it worth searching them? How often do people find Standing Liberties or Barbers? 40% will follow some day. Right now it is "worth" the hunt but how much longer? Everytime one is pulled from the wild or melted down that is somebody else's skunk.

You cant compare apples and oranges. Quarters are sooo widely used and its super easy to tell a 90% silver quarter from clad. Now take halves on the other hand, which are not widely used, and frankly most people dont even know about 40% silver halves. Thats why we find soo many.

 

[fistfulladirt]

We used to throw the 40's back.

 

[markmopar]

A lot of the places people send stuff off to "melt" don't actually melt/refine it. They will go through it and take out the better stuff and just melt the real junk.
ARA for example. My buddy sent a load of silver bolts to them and requested the silver back. They sent him a mixed batch of bars from different refineries. Clearly, they had bought the bars and kept them aside for that purpose.

 

[TheMastermind]

Bolts made of silver? What are they used for?

 

[halfhunter]

Aviation

 

[Owassokie]

Lol, everything has to be a debate here. Its not that he doesn't want to tell me, I just dont ask. He tells me that he sends it to the melt and I have been in the store talking to him when his brother, the owner, has told him to send **** to the melt. They buy gold, silver and sale guns. All kinds of stuff gets sent not just culls. Its a business so they are worried about keeping their money moving and not just sitting in the store. Their goal is to turn a profit. I have no reason to lie. People dont understand small business is the problem.

Johnny,
I understand what you're saying and I understand small business. I think you're missing the point. Junk silver is sold at a premium (even in bulk) compared to sending it to a smelter. It's also just as easy to 'move' it to a precious metals wholesaler as a smelter. Why would you want less money? More importantly, you mention there are "thousands like him". I can't say for certain but I don't feel that sending junk silver to the smelter is a common practice. It seems most of the smelting I hear about with silver is more of a novelty. Like sending in your own junk silver and turning it in to specific or personalized coins.

I'm sure there are a low percentage melted every year but I feel like it's nominal.

 

[Johnny_Omerta]

Im my town they sale junk silver with a premium. However, if there is to much money tied up then it gets sent to the melt. The biggest place in my area does this. I dont live in a huge city but the population is about 100,000. In major cities i would think it might be different but here most every gold exchange does send things to be melted at some point. Because I know theae people and they have told me. A small businesstjat buys 500 morgans ties ip a lot of their money and if they ait on it too long before silver drops the melt it. That is a fact.

I believe that it is more common than some would think.