Hi everyone,
I was just thinking of investing in silver, as in buy now sell later, without the hassel of holding physically the material itself in coins, bars, etc...
I am not an experienced investor and I'm just wondering if anybody can direct me to some type of legit service provider that offers such an investment opportunity.
In other words, I want to convert some of my monetary assets (USD) into precious metal assets in the form of silver. I don't want it shipped to me or to lock it down in some type of apocalypse bunker, I just want the investment in ones-and-zeros.
Please don't assume that I know anything about investing in stocks or commodities (because, really, I don't), and maybe some other average somebody can use the information provided by responders to this post in the same way I hope to do.
If it matters, I live in the United States.
Thanks in advance for your advice and patience.
This is something I can certainly help you with.
A great place to start is the American Precious Metals Exchange. Their service is fast and superb and I haven't really found better prices in little fish transactions. There are few others out there that are comparable in price at least, but nowhere near match the selection and service of APMEX in my opinion.
Also, if you're not taking physical delivery, you're a chump. Buy physical. The end. If you don't hold it, you don't own it; furthermore, it may not even exist. There are many reasons for this. Concisely, backwardation for precious metals typically doesn't come out of nowhere. Also, depending on how much you plan on purchasing, don't buy in units larger than 10oz. I stick to 1oz. coins like Maple Leafs and various private coins.
There is alot to say here, but I won't prattle on unless you have any more questions. Good luck!
How about the coins available through Campaign for Liberty?
If you are going to buy coins or bars, make sure you buy bullion and not numismatic. Buying numismatic as an investment or hedge against inflation is the equivalent of buying a Duesenberg for the scrap metal. Yes, technically, you are getting the metal, but you are overpaying by a large margin.
Yeah, that sounds about right, but I would still like to know more. Why is it that buying precious metals should be any different than investing in any other commodity? I am very new to this, and I need some help, but let's say I was investing in coffee or sugar or some other good that is available on the market... those things aren't typically delivered to the investors, right? Investors hold a stake in the commodity they have invested in, facilitated through some type of commodity investment service provider. I'm a n00b, okay, I don't really understand how this all works. I guess accepting delivery makes sense, for piece of mind, and it is not like I'm going to buy all that much so it shouldn't be a problem to have it around... just want to know more before I put money down, so prattle on if you've got some good advice.
Thanks again.
InFactWeTrust: Yeah, that sounds about right, but I would still like to know more. Why is it that buying precious metals should be any different than investing in any other commodity? I am very new to this, and I need some help, but let's say I was investing in coffee or sugar or some other good that is available on the market... those things aren't typically delivered to the investors, right? Investors hold a stake in the commodity they have invested in, facilitated through some type of commodity investment service provider. I'm a n00b, okay, I don't really understand how this all works. I guess accepting delivery makes sense, for piece of mind, and it is not like I'm going to buy all that much so it shouldn't be a problem to have it around... just want to know more before I put money down, so prattle on if you've got some good advice. Thanks again.
Thank you for the feedback, Clayton. Rest assured, I won't be flushing any money down the toilet. I have some books that might help me, but I will visit the links you have provided as well. I have stated up front that I don't know much about this stuff, so I'm not rushing into anything.
For the record, I am skeptical about all of this and I'm sure there are plenty of ways to lose money.
I recall we had a similar thread about this early in the year. If you search I'm sure you can find it.
I personally enjoy dealing with Provident Metals and Northwestern myself for buying physical silver. Like others I strongly discourage not buying physical silve, and I'm actually quite skeptical about entering the market this late. Silver hasn't had a proper correction and I'm starting to think we're entering a real bubble. It might be time to change into gold I think, but who knows?
http://www.providentmetals.com/ http://bullion.nwtmint.com/
Economic analysts that I follow: Peter Schiff (Euro Pacific Capital), Jim Rogers (Rogers Holdings), Marc Faber (Gloom, Boom and Doom), James Grant (Interest Rate Observer), Gerald Celente (Trends Research), Doug Casey (Casey Research), Max Keiser. There are plenty of videos of these guys on YouTube.
A good book to read is Schiff's Crash Proof 2.0. The first half is about the economy, and the second half is how to invest. Schiff also has a free monthly precious metals report (email) that you can subscribe to here. It features articles from various experts, including Casey Research.
Since silver is both a precious metal and industrial metal, it has the best chance of going up in price. If the economy improves, more industries will be using silver. If the economy gets worse, governments will keep printing money, destroying the value of their currencies.
Other than a few silver coins, I don't own any silver. But I do own shares in precious and base metal mining companies, gas & oil companies, a couple of agriculture companies, and a few other companies in different sectors.
*I am a client of Schiff's brokerage firm, so I tend to favor his analysis over other analysts. I hope you guys don't think I'm spamming for him.
Why the companies and not the commodities?
To paraphrase Marc Faber: We're all doomed, but that doesn't mean that we can't make money in the process. Rabbi Lapin: "Let's make bricks!" Stephan Kinsella: "Say you and I both want to make a German chocolate cake."
Some of the mining companies pay dividends, so it's not all speculative.
Though I've only dabbled in it myself I've read quite a bit about buying what they call "junk silver", which is old coins that have no collectible value but have a high silver content (pre-1960s dimes, etc.). This is convenient because you can find them locally in coin shops and shows or you can buy them in bulk on eBay and still come out looking pretty good on cost.
Freshly minted silver coins or bullion are fine if you're just looking for a long-term investment (and I definitely agree on the need to hold them physically), but you pay for the minting in the price and it's kindof unnecessary. I personally prefer junk silver because all I'm concerned with is the silver content and the ease of divisibillity, I'm buying them as a safeguard for any future situations where the dollar is useless and I need to trade. I guess overall it's probably a good idea to diversify what kinds of silver you buy so that you'll be prepared for anything.
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Clayton is very correct in that you should really take your time with this sort of thing. I would also agree that right now is a poor time to enter the silver market. It could hit $108 USD by December, it could go back to $30 two weeks from now--there is a great deal of confusion, misinformation, and worst of all, manipulation.
Right now I am only so jubilant because I was buying the shiny metal years before it took off, so I'm phenominally covered. For the past week I've been getting very itchy, with this Wednesday in mind particularly. I even made a thread regarding it. After a long day of being more or less aloof I see today that silver has dropped by $1.81 USD today--yikes.
You should ask yourself a series of questions:
By no means, is this list complete. The point is, understand your desires, reasons, and scope of knowledge.
I'll be curt and say that if you're looking to ride the silver train and are for most intesive purposes competely new to the silver trade--stay away unless you love extreme volatility and probability of sustaining overall loses. I have been obsessively watching the silver market for over three years now and only within the last year have I been able to get a good grasp on the reality of the market. I tend to be a bit early on my predictions, but have typically been able to call moves by the month about 5 months before they occur. Right now traditional influences are no longer the dominant force, and my crystal ball is very very murky.
If you're looking for inflation protection with the potential for earnings, you're too late to use Silver for that. I also deal with Palladium. I find it to be a wonderful investment. It has nearly all of the positives of both silver and gold with nearly none of the negatives.
However, if you're insistant on playing with silver (see: fire or matches), then predominantly buy 1oz coins (non-numismatic) or 10oz. bars if you plan to spend 6 figures or more. Private products are my preference, but Canadian Maple Leafs are my favorite soverign print. They aren't quite as marked up as US coins and have every bit as much confidence and reputation as the yankee coins. Whether the market is high or low, they tend to get respectable yet fair premiums. Also, read. I tend to read and analyze the most current details probably about....15-21 hours weekly. That is a conservative estimate.
Be careful.
Why is it that buying precious metals should be any different than investing in any other commodity?
My guess is because other commodities are going to be consumed sooner or later, so the seller is afraid to sell the same barrel of oil, say, to twenty different people.
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Bohemian:If you're looking for inflation protection with the potential for earnings, you're too late to use Silver for that.
The only reason I'd buy silver and gold right now is if hyperinflation were imminent. As for the bull market, it started over 10 years ago, so I would look for whatever is depressed right now (i.e. rhodium). Although, I'm wating for a correction in silver.