I got into it when COVID tanked metals in March/April. If I wasn't so broke at the time I would have purchased WAYYYY more. It's not that complicated if you keep it simple.
For all PM products there are only 2 variables that determine value/cost. There is SPOT and PREMIUM. Spot is that raw metal value, if you melt it down how much X do you have. And premium is the extra on top of that. If you have a melted blob of silver and the same weight in a nice new shinny silver eagle. The eagle has "artistic" value over the blob and so it has a premium value above it's spot price. The blob should never have a premium and only the bare spot value. I bought capsules for all my coins, and avoided touching them because finger prints leave oils that will create imperfections. I'm not putting them in a sealed inert gas container at -40f. But I want them to remain and clean and new as possible to retain their premium value. But I have some which I do not protect also.
Also with PMs, if it's a round disk like a coin there are COINS and there are ROUNDS. A coin is made by government banks and is legal currency. While rounds are not and are usually made by very reputable companies all the way down to backyard hobbyists who melt down scrap silver or gold. Coins should have a higher premium than rounds. Coins also are treated at face value when crossing the border. I flew with over €10k in PM recently but I had it all counted out and the face value was something stupid low like a few hundred €. They tried to make a fuss but eventually the older supervisor knew what was up. That's because they were all COINS and not ROUNDS or BARS.
You can buy them online. If you find a good local dealer it's probably best. If you can get a relationship with them and know the market values you should get a better deal locally. For the rest of us there are some good online dealers which are blowing up on popularity.
Provident Metals and SDBullion are both good choices. They'll come by mail in discreet packages, I never buy more than 500.00 or so at a time so the packages are small and innocuous.
Thank you.
Would you mind sharing which online dealer you like most?
Silvertowne
Provident Metals and SDBullion are both good choices. They'll come by mail in discreet packages, I never buy more than 500.00 or so at a time so the packages are small and innocuous.
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