Silver Values

Why Buy Precious Metals

In order to understand if precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are good investments for you, you need to understand the reasons people buy them. For instance, if you want to grab a stack of silver in order to make a quick buck, you are more likely to get an ulcer then any profit. You can read the experts, become an expert charter, due your due diligence, and find that the past does not always predict the future. Nobody has a crystal ball.

And if you are considering a play in the precious metals (PM) market, first make sure you have other bases covered. In other words, just like any risky investment, do not sink the whole farm on a hot tip. Have that emergency fund in the back so you can pay your rent or mortgage, keep your utilities turned on, and put burgers and beans on the table for your children.

PM Investors Need Patience and Funds They Can Afford To Risk

In general, most conservative investors who have made a good profit with PMs were patient people who really use this type of investment as a way to preserve their wealth during inflationary times, rather then a source of speculative income. An ounce of silver may have cost $5 a few years ago, and costs $17 today. But if you look at the actual buying power of that dollar value of an ounce of silver, you may find that it is similar because of inflation. It may look like a huge 5 year increase, but the price of a gallon of gas at your local pump has also increased quite a bit.

Some people do make a lot of money by speculating, but many people lose money. The thing to keep in mind is that you really don’t lose money until you sell your silver or gold stash, and it is best to purchase with funds you can afford to do without for awhile.

And of course, it sounds obvious to say that you should buy low and sell high. However, this simple logic seems to go against human nature. We all tend to get caught up in the hype of a rising market and back away from a sinking one. So many investors tried to cash in on the optimistic bull market so they bought silver for over $20 an ounce a few weeks ago. Now, silver seems stuck around $17 an ounce and many are complaining that they lost thousands of dollars. I hope that these people can hold onto their PM because I do believe that the curve will swing back up again eventually. Note that I am not a qualified investment advisor, and I do say, “eventually”.

Now that silver seems stuck around $17, those same optimistic investors of a few weeks ago have lost their nerve. But how much better would it be to buy now (or to have bought 5 years ago at $5/ounce), and then wait for another upswing. Can the price of silver drop more? Sure it can. That’s why it is called a risky investment. That is why you should enter a market like this with money you can afford to play with, and of course, DYODD (Do Your Own Due Diligence).

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Just What is The Value Of Silver Coins?

Well most of your pocket change is pretty much worth whatever value is marked on it. A dime is just a dime. However, dimes minted in the US on or before 1964 were 90% silver. The same is true, of course, for quarters, half dollars, and of course, silver dollar coins! It was all minted to conform to a specific amount of silver per each dollar of face value. Every dollar in face value of US silver coins contains .715 of an ounce of silver.

If you are lucky enough to find a 1964 quarter in your pocket change, please do not drop it into the soda machine! As I write this post, silver is worth $17.31 an ounce. So each $1 worth of 90% silver coins is:

  .715 * $17.31 = $12.37

Divide that by 4, since you have a quarter, and your quarter’s silver bullion value is about $3! So right now, 90% silver US coins are worth about 12 times their face value. One dollar in silver coins is worth twelve dollars.

Now half dollars made from 1965 to 1970 still kept some silver. They were 40% until even that was phased out.  I remember when my dad would go through his pocket change to find 90% silver coins, and that was years after they are started minting those coins from base metals. It was a profitable and fun hobby. But these days, after over 40 years, pocket change has been searched for so long, it is pretty hard to find any silver coins. I have actually heard of people pulling a silver half out of a bank roll though, so it might be worth a scan.

What is important today about US silver coins is the fact that they still make a fairly affordable way to buy precious metals. You can look on online auctions like EBay, flea markets, antique stores, or coin shops and find US silver coins, which is sometimes called “junk silver.” Don’t be fooled by the word, junk, because it contains silver, which is a precious metal. They call it that because the coins are not in an uncirculated condition, and so they usually aren’t coveted by collectors for their nuministic value. But that is good news for you, because you will be accumulating silver without paying a premium for a collectable!

If you are shopping for silver, or see a good deal on EBay for a pile of 90% silver or 40% silver, we’d like to help you quickly estimate the value. Use our handy US silver coin value calculator. You can enter the dollar amount of the coins, the current silver price per ounce, and get a good estimate of the silver bullion value. You may expect to pay slightly more then the bullion value, but you may also find some great deals for less then the silver melt value. It is particularly important to be able to estimate the silver value quickly in a fast paced auction environment like EBay. The calculator works on 40% silver too.

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