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Buying Silver Bullion Coins More and more financial advisors are beginning to advise investors to buy precious metals. Silver and gold provide investors with a means to convert their wealth into something concrete, valuable, and stable, thereby helping them to preserve their finances in a form that can actually increase in value over time. Silver has traditionally shown the most growth during precious metal bull markets. The silver market provides investors with several options for buying silver bullion: bars, coins, or medallions. Buying silver coins is, perhaps, the most interesting way of accruing silver, simply because of the vast range of silver coins available. Silver coins also carry the possibility of increasing in value above the worth of their silver content because of their collectability. Many rare coins carry high premiums. In a lot of ways, investing in silver coins blends investment marketing with elements of hobby collecting and can be as rewarding intellectually as it is financially. American Silver Coins In the United States, prior to 1965, all silver coins were minted out of 10% copper and 90% silver. From 1965-1969 the amount of silver dropped to 40%. Today the amount of actual silver in minted "silver" money is negligible. However, there are still quite a lot of pre-1965 coins in circulation. Bags of pre-1965 silver American coins can be bought from a number of silver deals, too. A bag of silver coins is equal to $1,000 face value of the particular denomination of coin. So, a bag of dimes contains 10,000 dimes, a bag of quarters contains 4,000 coins, and a bag of 50-cent pieces contains 2,000 half-dollars. When first minted, $1,000 of pre-1965 coins (any denomination) contained 723.4 ounce of pure silver. However, wear over time causes coins to lose some of their mass. So, a bag of circulated pre-1965 silver coins, today, would contain closer to 715 ounces of silver. Bags of uncirculated pre-1965 coins can fetch a premium among collectors for more than their value as 723.4-oz. of silver. Certain American coins can also be worth more than the value of their silver content because of their rarity. Rare dimes include the Mercury (or Winged Head), Barber, Seated Liberty, Draped Bust, and Capped Bust dimes. Seated Liberty and Barber quarters are less common types of quarters. Half-dollars tend to carry higher premiums because they are more rare in general; of these the Seated Liberty and Barber half-dollars are less common. Silver dollars are even more uncommon these days and almost always command premiums above their value in silver. Pre-1921 Morgan silver dollars, for instance, are worth quite a bit more than the nominal value of the silver they represent. Foreign Silver Coins Silver has been a staple medium of exchange for almost 3000 years. Many countries produce, and have produced through the centuries, silver coins. Dealing in such coins, either as an investor or simply as a collector, requires an extensive knowledge of the intricacies of coin trade and should not be undertaken casually. Privately Minted Coins Privately minted silver coins (often referred to as a round) are popular amongst both collectors and investors. Most commonly, these coins are minted from 1-oz. of .999 fine silver. Many are minted with quality and weight stamped into the coin itself. Silver Eagles are common and very popular example of this type of coin. Silver eagles have a face value of one dollar but carry an actual value equal to the price of one ounce of 99.9% pure silver. Silver rounds are very useful for those wishing to invest in silver a little at a time or who may need to convert small amounts of silver into fiat money at any time. Find out more options concerning silver as an investment or watch this short video on using silver as an investment to hedge against inflation.
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