Attention Savvy Investment/Financial folks - Silver/Gold Coins????

[KMPrenger]

Hey everyone!

So I'm not looking for "financial advice" per say....just thoughts and opinions and I thought it could be an interesting topic?

I won't go into my reasons, but I am considering purchasing a sizeable amount of silver...specifically silver coins. I would buy the coins, and actually have the coins, rather than just investing in silver or having it held some place where I really don't have access to it.

I would expect to hold on to the coins for at least 5 - 10 years or longer. I am not looking to make lots of money off of it (although that would be a pretty great)....all I really want to be sure of is that years down the road, I won't have lost much if any of dollar value put into purchasing the coins. I assume that silver/gold....over time....remains fairly consistent.

I will say that part of the reason I'm considering the investment, is that if the economy does happen to take a serious dive....even worse than the 2007/2008 recession...and things really go downhill, I'm hoping the silver would remain valuable, but I don't know if that would really help me out or not in a scenario like that. If the dollar happens to fall, then I would expect it would.

Any thoughts on this? Again....really just want to know if there is any real big downside to buying silver coins?

Thanks!

[Thor142]

This is hard for some people to wrap their heads around but you're not making money per se investing in gold and silver. What you are doing is securing yourself against inflation. The "price" of gold and silver may go up or down but what it really is is the value of the dollar going up or down since it's a fiat currency. So no matter whether the US dollar is strong or completely crashes your purchasing power with gold or silver remains the same. What you can buy with an ounce of gold hasn't changed much in 100 years.
In short its excellent insulation against the volatile markets and you are doing it right by actually securing the physical metals in your possession.
Now prepare for the 100 people telling you I'm wrong

[90503]

Buying gold and silver is a good idea, and a good way to be diversified with your investments...

I would be careful, though, with "coins"....True, they are a "form" of silver or gold, but unless they are "solid" gold or silver you are only buying something that has a minimal amount of plating or clad....and they will never be a substitute as an actual currency....Just make sure you are paying for the amount of precious metal, and not an overpriced eye-candy coin that just looks more valuable than it really is....

...Good luck. Consult your financial advisor. If I knew everything I'd be filthy rich, but alas, that is not the case...lol...

[KMPrenger]

Thanks guys.

As for the coins, that's good advice, but luckily, someone close to me is doing this, and they have the coins...and they are very much the "real" thing. So if I do this as well, I'll use the same method to acquire the coins as they did.

[SS/RS2010]

It sure beats relying on that Nigerian prince and his inheritance investment scheme.

[Thor142]

Originally Posted by SS/RS2010

It sure beats relying on that Nigerian prince and his inheritance investment scheme.

What do you mean? I already gave him my bank account information?

[pyroguy]

Buying gold/silver/other commodities as an investment strategy is a BAD idea. If you look at the track record of commodities over the long term, not the last few years, you will see that it has a HORRIBLE rate of return. You obviously don't want information about other investments, but IMO if you're looking for an investment with a good long term rate of return I would look elsewhere.

[Stingr69]

Investing in coins or bars is not a sound strategy. There is a cost to convert them back to cash later and you will loose value. Try doing it right now and see how it works. Silver is actually worse than gold as it is more of a commodity play.

The american dollar is as good as it gets.

[1COR.1:18]

Nothing wrong with buying Silver Coins.

Depends on what your buying and condition of the coins.

Will they go up in value? Maybe.

Most important thing to remember..."Don't put all you eggs in 1 basket"

[KMPrenger]

Guys, lets not lose sight of the fact that I'm not *considering* doing this as an investment. Returns are not a concern. Big losses are a concern. But 5 or 10, or whatever number of years down the road if I decide to convert the silver back to dollars, I just want a little re-assurance that I'm going to get the larger % of my initial dollars back.

[jrhagen]

When buying coins from a dealer, you pay market. When selling coins to a dealer, you get much less than market as they want to make a profit. Silver coins are 90% pure not 100%. So when you sell, they take market value times 90% then their 20% or so profit.
so if silver is trading at $20, you get 20 * .90 * .80 or $14.40. Sound like a good deal for you or the dealer?

[Country Boy]

Originally Posted by pyroguy

Buying gold/silver/other commodities as an investment strategy is a BAD idea. If you look at the track record of commodities over the long term, not the last few years, you will see that it has a HORRIBLE rate of return. You obviously don't want information about other investments, but IMO if you're looking for an investment with a good long term rate of return I would look elsewhere.

They seems like a good investment when you can gain $400/ Oz over time.

[pyroguy]

Originally Posted by KMPrenger

Guys, lets not lose sight of the fact that I'm not *considering* doing this as an investment. Returns are not a concern. Big losses are a concern. But 5 or 10, or whatever number of years down the road if I decide to convert the silver back to dollars, I just want a little re-assurance that I'm going to get the larger % of my initial dollars back.

If it is something that you want to do as a hobby go for it. You just prefaced your thread with "Attention Savvy Investment/Financial folks" so it could be believed that you wanted some sort of financial advice. The fact of the matter is that the rate of return on coins is so random that it is all about what a person is willing to pay for it. They won't go below market value for the raw materials, but they may not be much more than that or they could be worth an insane amount more depending on what coin you buy, the rarity of the coin, and the demand for that coin when you're trying to sell.

[rebelyell22]

You'd probably be better off buying a metal detector and finding your own gold/silver/gems/artifacts. Lots of money to be made, if you know what you're doing.