The noose is tightening....

[midntmn]

One of my local supplier banks (NOVA area) will now start charging $25 per ordered box of halfs. I have been ordering 6 boxes/week from them for several years. Their explanation was that their supplier (Dunbar) just raised their fee to the bank from $18 to $25 per box and the bank decided to pass the whole cost onto the ordering customer. My initial reaction was that I would no longer order from that bank. I did request additional boxes from some of the other banks I use that do not charge a delivery fee. The conundrum is that boxes from this particular bank have been the most consistent provider of "keepers", even though Dunbar also services some of the other pick-up banks I use. Like everyone else, I can go through extended periods of not finding anything. With 6 boxes at $25 each, getting into the red can be a real short trip. But I can also have a run where I am finding much more than $25 in value from each box.

My decision was to cut my order to 2 boxes/week from that bank, then reassess after a few weeks. I am willing to give the bank $50/week for a few weeks. After all they supported my habit for free for a few years. If I can average a plus value after several weeks, then I will stick with that plan, which still puts me in position to grab that monster box of 20 to 40 keepers that shows up every so often. If the positive return just isn't there, then I will just have to rely more on the other banks.

The big issue here, though, is that if one bank is charging an ordering fee, will others follow. At $25/box, the math does not favor us. Are others running into this, too?

 

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[BuffaloBoy]

i would not pay a penny for a box of coins, let alone $25... think, you're paying $0.50 per roll extra, is it REALLY worth it?

 

[Brush64]

My banks are all saying the same thing as well...wanting to charge for boxes now. I don't know what happened. It all seemed to change about 1-2 months ago. I'm still trying to decide if I should pay them the $5/box fee that they say they need. In the meantime, my volume has dropped off the planet...so I need to get more creative in how I find more of my precious Ag...

 

[Piledriver]

Try this:

Take the money you spend on boxes down to the little coin shop and BUY 64 halves, Bens, Walkers, whatever you want.

You will probably be silver ahead for your money.

I know that I certainly would get more silver in my area by that method if the fee per box were $25.

Just sayin'.

Keep on Rollin' !

 

[midntmn]

That's a good point. I like buying my silver for 50 cents. I have checked at the local coinshops over the past few months, too, and their supplies of "junk" silver and bullion silver are very low to nonexistent. I stay away from bay for on line purchase and also APMEX as the end price usually is well over spot. Bullion Direct has a very good member auction site where I have been able to supplement my silver,as well as gold & platinum, stock piles at good prices close to spot.

 

[Generic_Lad]

Auctions, garage sales, estate sales, etc.

While their selection is usually sub-par, you generally get decent deals on everything that they do have if you are lucky. For example, I went to an auction and bid on my selection of any of the "1971 and later" Kennedy half dollar bags. Prior to the start of the auction I knew that there were 2 bags with silver in them, one of which was a clear 1968 40%er and the other a 1964 (had characteristic silver toning and a "D" on the reverse). Well, someone else knew that the first bag contained silver because the bidding went up to ~$12 for it ($5 face) and he picked the 1968 40%er. No one else thought there was any more silver but me, so I managed to get the bag with the 90%er for $5.50 for the bag, essentially paying $1 for it.

Also, keep an eye out for foreign silver, some good rules of thumb are:

If you see a young queen or a king on Canadian silver denominations, you can bet that it is silver.

Pre-1920 British coins are sterling, 1920-1946 British coins are 50% silver

Take note of the toning of the silver coins in a lot, often if they were stored in the same safe they will have similar toning on them. For example, if most silver coins in a sale have a greenish tint to them and you see a coin with the same style of toning, even if you cannot immediately recognize the country, you can generally know that it is at least somewhat silver. Beware though, some countries such as Mexico have "silver" coins that are as low as 10% silver! And yes they will still have toning like that on them. Avoid Pesos from 1957-1967 (see 1 Peso - Mexico 1957-1967 - Numista for the pictures), they look like big chunks of silver and in fact are silver... 10% silver! Meaning they have about as much silver as a half dime does!

Go junk-bin hunting at a coin show or at your dealer. There are -many- silver coins that they offer for as low as 15 cents a piece, you just have to know what to look for. As the old adage goes, knowledge is power.

I'd also suggest getting to know a non-US coinage system well enough to pick out even copper-nickel key dates and varieties. Germany, France, Canada, Mexico, The UK, China and many other countries have thriving collectors markets and most US dealers either scrap those coins or throw them in a junk bin. Who knows, you might be able to get the foreign equivalent of a 1916-D Mercury dime!