Precious metals dealer here. Too bad I had a few wines with friends tonight but I'll try to help you out.
It all depends on how your life is and how you want your outcome to be. Right now, I have people selling their PMs because they need $$ because they are out of work and need to pay bills.
I have customers who want to buy PMs in case the dollar tanks.
Bullion is usually .9999 pure metal, is round or rectangle, although new companies are making all kinds of new shapes to "stack" (a way to stack lots of the same shape on top of each other).
Lots of people want actual dollar and cents PMs. Mint conditions direct from the US Mint are uncirculated, sometimes Proof (mix of ultra shine polish with some frosty accents). .9999 pure. Always worth more than spot price.
Junk silver coins. People buy these because they were once used as common money, and still are money today, but are worth more as a Precious Metal than the dollar value. They are usually worn away but are still 90% silver (some coins are 80, 40 and 35% silver US coins). This is bought for barter in hard times. Also, if the PMs tank to nothing (possible but not probable) you still have the value of the coin in dollars and cents. They are also cheaper compared to the uncirculated collectible bullion. This is usually about silver. Junk gold can be the same. BUT, always look to see if any PM circulated coins are rare and have collectible value due to rarity and condition. I purchased uncirculated Carson City silver Morgan dollars with certificates of authenticity. Quite rare and worth hundreds of dollars each coin.
Something lots of people don't think about. Gold and silver jewelry and sterling silverware. I spoke to a woman from Argentina and asked her how did she survive the fall of their currency. She said that the government wanted to seize gold and silver coins and bullion, but left alone the jewelry and flatware. The locals used those things to barter for food and other necessities. With the WallStreetBets thing going on, and they are now wanting to squeeze silver (because silver is way under valued to hide the fact our dollar is really devalued and should be $200 an oz) seizure could be very possible with silver this time and not just gold like in 1933 when it was illegal to own gold coins and bullion.
I hope this helps you make decisions on what you want.
Oh, one last thing. In many areas around the country, there are coin counting machines that pay out dollars for coins.. No one looks at those coins, they just get tossed into coin denomination rolls. There are still those little brats who steal (or don't understand grandpa's gift of silver coins) that put them into those machines, check all your change. I recently got some mercury dimes and walking liberty quarters from fast food window clerks who got them and realized they had something they didn't understand and could not wait to dump them on "unsuspecting" customers.
Don't let that stop you from investing. No one knows if or when this could happen. You can still profit and defend your portfolio. It is better to have physical than ETFs. You should be able to know if guv is going to want to seize anything and then take action then. Invest and make strategic purchases. Buy a metal detector.
Precious metals dealer here. Too bad I had a few wines with friends tonight but I'll try to help you out.
It all depends on how your life is and how you want your outcome to be. Right now, I have people selling their PMs because they need $$ because they are out of work and need to pay bills.
I have customers who want to buy PMs in case the dollar tanks.
Bullion is usually .9999 pure metal, is round or rectangle, although new companies are making all kinds of new shapes to "stack" (a way to stack lots of the same shape on top of each other).
Lots of people want actual dollar and cents PMs. Mint conditions direct from the US Mint are uncirculated, sometimes Proof (mix of ultra shine polish with some frosty accents). .9999 pure. Always worth more than spot price.
Junk silver coins. People buy these because they were once used as common money, and still are money today, but are worth more as a Precious Metal than the dollar value. They are usually worn away but are still 90% silver (some coins are 80, 40 and 35% silver US coins). This is bought for barter in hard times. Also, if the PMs tank to nothing (possible but not probable) you still have the value of the coin in dollars and cents. They are also cheaper compared to the uncirculated collectible bullion. This is usually about silver. Junk gold can be the same. BUT, always look to see if any PM circulated coins are rare and have collectible value due to rarity and condition. I purchased uncirculated Carson City silver Morgan dollars with certificates of authenticity. Quite rare and worth hundreds of dollars each coin.
Something lots of people don't think about. Gold and silver jewelry and sterling silverware. I spoke to a woman from Argentina and asked her how did she survive the fall of their currency. She said that the government wanted to seize gold and silver coins and bullion, but left alone the jewelry and flatware. The locals used those things to barter for food and other necessities. With the WallStreetBets thing going on, and they are now wanting to squeeze silver (because silver is way under valued to hide the fact our dollar is really devalued and should be $200 an oz) seizure could be very possible with silver this time and not just gold like in 1933 when it was illegal to own gold coins and bullion.
I hope this helps you make decisions on what you want.
Oh, one last thing. In many areas around the country, there are coin counting machines that pay out dollars for coins.. No one looks at those coins, they just get tossed into coin denomination rolls. There are still those little brats who steal (or don't understand grandpa's gift of silver coins) that put them into those machines, check all your change. I recently got some mercury dimes and walking liberty quarters from fast food window clerks who got them and realized they had something they didn't understand and could not wait to dump them on "unsuspecting" customers.
Hank you for sharing!! Good info. I had no idea that the govt could seize metals.
Don't let that stop you from investing. No one knows if or when this could happen. You can still profit and defend your portfolio. It is better to have physical than ETFs. You should be able to know if guv is going to want to seize anything and then take action then. Invest and make strategic purchases. Buy a metal detector.
I wasn’t going to let it stop me. I was going to buy, then have it around. Probably in the same holes that there are guns buried.