Expert: Ronald Fern - 11/23/2009

Question
I am looking to purchase a few hundred silver dimes and quarters as an investment.  Where is the cheapest place to go to get them?

Thanks,

Kelly

Answer
Hi Kelly:

That's a tough question. You don't indicate if you live in a large enough city/town where there may be a coin shop. If you purchase from a local shop, or one in your state, and buy less than $1000, there is sales tax to consider, if your state collects it. If you have to drive a large distance, there is the cost of gas to consider. If you are interested in purchasing via mail, there is shipping, handling and insurance costs to consider. Some folks choose to remain  "silent", and purchase through the mails. Consider having someone at home to receive the package, or better yet, have it delivered to your work place, after checking with your immediate supervision to determine if they allow this.

Most dealers offer bullion coins at close to their cost, and it fluctuates daily based on the troy ounce of silver. Silver closed today at the $18.50 range, so a dime has $1.34 in it, and a quarter, $3.35. You'd probably pay around 14X to 15X face for what is termed "junk" silver coins. See link to calculate the value of the coins you want to buy: http://www.silverrecyclers.com/Calculators/Calc_Main/coin_main.html

I'd suggest dealing with professional coin dealers (PNG). I've listed a link for you to find them in your area. Link: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

You may want to check eBay listings in the bullion category under US coins from time to time to see if coins you want to purchase are listed and what they are going for.

Local coin shops carry coin newspapers like "Coin World" or "Numismatic News". They are full of ads from dealers across the US. You may also want to check the Internet under "buying silver coins" for listings.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.