Gold bug / silver bug / numismatic / metals thread

[Armybrat 40851]

2 hours ago, Mr. Drummond said:

Agreed.    There is real movement up only when Fed shows they are going to hold /lower rates.      Crazy that with other currencies they are all breaking highs, but the dollar is so strong its keeping prices down.    I guess we are the best horse at the glue factory. 

 

Krugerrands are great, low premiums, any place will take them.   Nothing wrong with stacking them at all.  Its still a top seller world wide.    And the 50 peso coins are great, and in Texas can also sell them anywhere.    Plus they look really cool. 

 

Yes they do…

It was my Mom’s, who left it to Mrs. Brat. 
But she says I don’t take her anywhere fancy enough for for her to wear it.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Armybrat

[Guest]

Agreed, the look is fantastic. 

[Superhero 8830]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:42 AM, Shaggy3.0 said:

@ $2032 rn.  Now is NOT the time to buy. 

My nieces and nephews don't believe their uncle is crazy anymore.  They all have several gold buffalos (my favorite) I gifted over the years. 

 

I bought a bunch of gold and silver in the early 2010s when there was a rush on silver. In retrospect I should have bought more gold because it has gone up 20% since then, and also because the value to weight ratio is a lot higher.

Now I’m sitting on almost 700 ounces of silver with an average buy price of almost $30/oz. Debating whether I should just take the loss on silver and trade it in for more gold.

 

 

[bernorange 8362]

Gold and silver both will likely be under pressure for the rest of the year as the Fed is signalling that they want to raise rates a couple of more times.  Once the Fed informs that they are done with the rate hikes, precious metals should start to rise again IMO.  Whether or not silver catches fire and outperforms gold (bringing the gold-silver ratio down a bit) remains to be seen, but it's currently sitting at 83 and it has ranged anywhere from ~30 to 115 since 2000 with an average closer to the 60-70 range:

https://www.macrotrends.net/1441/gold-to-silver-ratio

It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that silver could outperform gold at some point in the next couple of years (providing a better opportunity for trading silver for gold).

[RDCanecutter 26453]

21 hours ago, Superhero said:

 

I bought a bunch of gold and silver in the early 2010s when there was a rush on silver. In retrospect I should have bought more gold because it has gone up 20% since then, and also because the value to weight ratio is a lot higher.

Now I’m sitting on almost 700 ounces of silver with an average buy price of almost $30/oz. Debating whether I should just take the loss on silver and trade it in for more gold.

Me personally I would not sell at a loss unless I needed an organ transplant, or if I had a sweet deal on something else that I thought would do much better. Even then, I would think about it a good bit, which you appear to have done for several years.

A few years back I sold small lots of silver to finance printing up tshirts that I could sell for 3x as much. That was cool for a while, until I got sick of being in the tshirt business. But it's just widgets either way.

If you want more gold, I say just keep the silver and get more gold, but in smaller quantities on a regular basis, so you don't find yourself buying a short-lived price spike for a big amount of metal.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

I did not expect to scroll through my Instagram feed and see precious metals ads from Walmart.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/1-oz-American-Gold-Eagle-BU-Random-Year-Walmart/898663465?athbdg=L1600

The prices range from good to What Are You Thinking. The fun starts when somebody doesn't know that the 20 gram Hobbit coin for 23 bucks isn't gold-- Yeah it's 23 bucks, but it's listed in "Gold Coins" with no disclaimer. Seems like any profit would be offset dealing with crazy people complaints.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2013-20-gram-The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-BU/1653023319

Looks like Walmart is serving as a second online storefront for Apmex and others.

Ah-- turns out that on Apmex's own site, they put the Hobbit coin in its "Base Metal" category, and asks 13 bucks for it.

Edited July 20, 2023 by RDCanecutter

[Armybrat 40851]

Smaug sneers at that shit.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

On the Walmart site, you can buy an ounce of gold with monthly payments of $110 or so. Wonder what will happen with actual real gold available in the Pay-Day-Loan-o-sphere. 

[Not that Bob 739]

On 4/24/2023 at 4:11 PM, Not that Bob said:

Came last week, signature required, which I suppose is understandable, but I'm never home when the mail is delivered, so it requires a trip to the post office...which makes me cranky. 

Looks exactly like the photo on the web page, which is pretty spare. If the wife turns her nose up at birthday time I'll give her some other trinket with a fraction of the gold. At least I'll have another oz.  I'll get out my gram scale at some point and post again.

If anyone is still interested. She wears it. Was not ecstatic when I gave it to  her, but she can be droll. It's pretty soft, as would be expected, and has to be bent slightly for her to get it on her wrist so I worry about metal fatigue/breakage. At least we have another oz. in the house, so I'm happy enough with that. 

[52-80 19180]

On 6/29/2023 at 10:18 AM, Superhero said:

 

I bought a bunch of gold and silver in the early 2010s when there was a rush on silver. In retrospect I should have bought more gold because it has gone up 20% since then, and also because the value to weight ratio is a lot higher.

Now I’m sitting on almost 700 ounces of silver with an average buy price of almost $30/oz. Debating whether I should just take the loss on silver and trade it in for more gold.

 

 

ill give you 3 fiddy for it

[RDCanecutter 26453]

Stopped by the coin shop with the largest inventory around here, they sometimes have my addictions (gold pesos, 20 francs, sovereigns) at low premiums. The visit was recon-- just paid off the credit card, still looking to save some cash by month's end.

That was all unnecessary. They asked me to do some paintings for them, I'm to be paid a handful of gold pesos. Goblin Time y'all.

[crash_davis 23113]

So this pops up on Slickdeals every now and then. People are saying it's a good buy if you are exec and Visa cash back means it's 4% off. Even so, where can a person sell this physical good and make that 4% margin?

https://slickdeals.net/f/16839371-costco-members-1oz-9999-pamp-fine-gold-suisse-lady-fortuna-veriscan-bar-1929-99?src=frontpage_recombee&prop=rcmid-51d9d671efe5900d1ef2db99c68e678f

No, I am not buying this. Just trying to understand who this would make any financial sense/

[gsoda3 3263]

26 minutes ago, crash_davis said:

So this pops up on Slickdeals every now and then. People are saying it's a good buy if you are exec and Visa cash back means it's 4% off. Even so, where can a person sell this physical good and make that 4% margin?

https://slickdeals.net/f/16839371-costco-members-1oz-9999-pamp-fine-gold-suisse-lady-fortuna-veriscan-bar-1929-99?src=frontpage_recombee&prop=rcmid-51d9d671efe5900d1ef2db99c68e678f

No, I am not buying this. Just trying to understand who this would make any financial sense/

you could sell to any precious metals dealer.  if you're in austin capital coin and bullion is where i'd recommend.  other than that it's a great way to buy gold under spot AND you get the costco cash back benefit along with CC points.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

1 hour ago, crash_davis said:

So this pops up on Slickdeals every now and then. People are saying it's a good buy if you are exec and Visa cash back means it's 4% off. Even so, where can a person sell this physical good and make that 4% margin?

https://slickdeals.net/f/16839371-costco-members-1oz-9999-pamp-fine-gold-suisse-lady-fortuna-veriscan-bar-1929-99?src=frontpage_recombee&prop=rcmid-51d9d671efe5900d1ef2db99c68e678f

No, I am not buying this. Just trying to understand who this would make any financial sense/

First question-- does this seller charge you 3% more for using a credit card? If not, I figure you could turn around and make about $40 profit selling to a good local dealer IF the price of gold stayed about the same. 

CSB/Back when eBay didn't suck, and I had a store there selling all kinds of things, about once every three months I'd accumulate enough eBay bucks to get gold under spot, and there were no sales taxes on it. (There aren't supposed to be sales taxes on bullion in many states, but the eBay algorithm tries to slap in there now, blah.)

So it'd go like this: first you'd see something you needed in bulk, whatever kind of widgets, so you'd stock that up and get the eBay Bucks, say 20 dollars.

They activate at some point, then you go gold hunting on a day when you get more eBay bucks if you buy stuff. So say you see a $200 gold coin, it's marked up a little to say 215. You use your $20 eBay Bucks as part of the purchase price, and only had to pay 195 real dollars for the 200 worth of gold. Shweet. But wait-- you are a savvy shopper so you bought an auction that also gave you more eBay Bucks, and in a few months they activate and you can do it again.

I went most of a year buying a little this and that a smidge under spot. I guess I could have run down to the coin shop and made 5 or ten bucks back over what I paid, but the only things Goblins swap gold for is swords./CSB

[Knoxtnhorn 6059]

For those of y'all doing this more as a hobby (like me), the Whatnot app seems to be a good tool.  It's kind of like a live eBay.  My wife has a store from which she sells Disney and Harry Potter stuff.  With shipping, which is usually a couple of bucks, one will sometimes hit on something that can be found a tad cheaper on normal venues; however, there are a couple of advantages.  First, it is an auction, so you don't have to pay more than what you think it's worth.  Secondly, the hosts have giveaways throughout the show.  You don't have to buy anything to enter a giveaway.  The rooms I peruse usually have less than 100 people, so the odds aren't bad.  Thus far I've purchased 3, 1-oz silver coins for $96 (includes shipping).  This is close to what it would cost at JM Bullion, assuming you're not buying in bulk.  

Lol.  After rereading, it sounds like I'm trying to sell some scam.  I promise it's legit.

[Fudge Nuggets 19206]

15 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

so you don't have to pay more than what you think it's worth.

Unless it's a necessity, you never have to pay more than what you think something is worth; auction or no auction.

[Knoxtnhorn 6059]

4 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Unless it's a necessity, you never have to pay more than what you think something is worth; auction or no auction.

I get that, hence the 'hobby" part.  

[Pimphand 5764]

On 8/4/2023 at 1:41 PM, gsoda3 said:

you could sell to any precious metals dealer.  if you're in austin capital coin and bullion is where i'd recommend.  other than that it's a great way to buy gold under spot AND you get the costco cash back benefit along with CC points.

Chase & Mel are good people I am usually in there twice a month.

Silver keeps testing it's early breakout line

[RDCanecutter 26453]

I'd pay him money to put his camera on a tripod.

[CleverNickname 1320]

Fourth batch of 10 silver buffalos has come in (actually 11 this time). So that's two full tubes since I started the $100/mo plan. 

[RDCanecutter 26453]

1 hour ago, CleverNickname said:

Fourth batch of 10 silver buffalos has come in (actually 11 this time). So that's two full tubes since I started the $100/mo plan. 

Funny you should name that figure. I have a miniscule pension due to kick in in December for a smidge more than 100/month, I figured I'd use it as happy metal fun money.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

So as I said, I decided to get a little gold each month starting in December.

Well, it's December somewhere.

I like to bathe new gold coins in some sunshine, after they've probably been locked away for decades.

[Knoxtnhorn 6059]

3 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

So as I said, I decided to get a little gold each month starting in December.

Well, it's December somewhere.

 

No idea why, but I'm still laughing at this 5 mins later.

I'm doing the "buy some gold/silver" each month plan as well.  Right now, I'm mainly stacking 1 oz silver coins.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

3 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Right now, I'm mainly stacking 1 oz silver coins.

I'll probably do that too. Or the occasional stock buy. The main thing is not to drank it up.

 

Funny thing today, I was toddling on foot to an art gallery a few blocks from home where they sold some of my stuff, and I had a fat 84 dollar check waiting. Took a short-cut past the coin shop, where I haven't really been since he went "appointment only."

Coin dealer dude is out in the parking lot. He's like "RD!" I'm like "Coin Dealer Dude!" He's like "come on in and visit!" So I do.

He's got all my favorite Mexican gold. A big Centenario. "Grab you one RD!" "I brought the wrong wallet, but I could do 2 Pesos." Coin Dealer Dude names a price. By random chance, I have it in cash.

Fished in.

Edited November 8, 2023 by RDCanecutter
no so good the englisch

[bernorange 8362]

7 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

"... but I could do 2 Pesos." Coin Dealer Dude names a price. By random chance, I have it in cash.

Fished in.

phrasing?

[Guest]

11 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Coin Dealer Dude names a price. By random chance, I have it in cash.

Fished in.

Tobias: Well, I want to be. Without the proper training, I'm afraid I'm doomed to be a doctor.
Carl Weathers: Well, hell, I can train you.
Tobias: Oh, well, I'm afraid all I have is $1,100 and that's for this plane ticket, so...
Carl Weathers: Check this out. $1,100 is exactly what I charge for acting classes.
Tobias: No, it isn't!
Carl Weathers: Yeah.
Tobias: Well, what are the chance... [chuckles] Universe, you've done it again.

[Pimphand 5764]

The time bomb is set to go off next year.... Every time the yield curve inverts when it finally breaks back above 0 it rockets back up in correction which brings about all the recession fun.  You would be wise to notice that this yield curve inversion ran far deeper and longer than any of the previous 3 you get to mix in inflation, a horrific debt/GDP ratio, multi-polar wars, stagnation on top of the mortgage backed security bonanza of 2008 and we are going to break things like never before seen.

Palladium always leads the precious metals charge and it is now down over 2/3rds from 20 months ago so it is primed for a recovery this spring.

What is coming is going to be the worlds greatest game of hot potato as the derivatives start to collapse and debt starts to be called in.  They have a choice print money into "Bolivian" [Tyson joke] to try to paper over it or let the market play out.  Either way you wind up with a dead dollar which leads to a dead banking system or a dead banking system.

Exter's Pyramid is your friend (note the amounts are from ages ago we are in the many quadrillions of derivatives by now)



All of the value above will collapse into the purchasing power of bullion and crypto currencies (only in your own custody if you have it in an exchange say goodbye).
 

Normies buy on price action which causes the above chart across every asset class we know....

Hint: Precious metals are chilling about to head into the bear trap while the all everything bubble (stocks, real estate, etc) are headed to the return to "normal" part of chart right before the fear and capitulation game goes down.  There is a reason Warren Buffet has sold more stock and loaded up "dry powder" to load up during the despair phase.   Just remember we are on the verge of the banking system seizing up this round so simply putting it in your checking account is not good I would put it in precious metals if you can afford to not need it for the long term and I would put it in short term (3 month) treasuries if you do need it in the short term.

To all the branch covidians who cheered on lockdowns, masks, and forced inoculations this collapse is for you!  And if you did any of those things please keep your money only in checking, savings, stock market, etc and do not heed any of this advice you need to suffer the consequences of being a useful idiot on behalf of your corrupt horrific government so that perhaps you never do that dumbass shit again.  Good luck to the rest!

[Pimphand 5764]

Eventually this info will bubble up to the normies and then it will be too late too late

[Pimphand 5764]

Rob will be up at the Lone Star Gun Show in Fort Worth this weekend for anyone making the roach game.

[Pimphand 5764]

I hope this chart helps you understand where we are at and where we are headed.... You can either exit stage left while you still can or you will get wiped out ala 1929.  The choice is yours and yours alone just know you were warned unlike your ancestors almost 100 years ago.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

My resale plan is for unborn grandchildren to sell my stuff when they're old and wise.

Or when they're young, if they turn out to be crackheads.

[Pimphand 5764]

We keep teetering on the edge

[B00M 6420]

On 11/15/2023 at 11:11 AM, Pimphand said:

We keep teetering on the edge

On the edge of what? A technical threshold? 

[Pimphand 5764]

40 minutes ago, B00M said:

On the edge of what? A technical threshold? 

Breakout or breakdown haha. I expect when the liquidity crunch sets in the metals will fall too before they start climbing the walls

[bernorange 8362]

[bernorange 8362]

BTW, if you own physical metal, there is a guy/company in Ireland that is developing a nifty looking metal tester and hopes to start selling them maybe by Christmas time:

https://www.pmbug.com/threads/eon-coin-cradle-gold-and-silver-coin-testing-update.6270/

[Pimphand 5764]

Gold's 1st monthly close above the $2,000 level in the history of human civilization. Good luck to all.

[Pimphand 5764]

Banks can run, but they can't hide! Still weak when priced in Silver.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

Went on a precious metals safari today.

First stop was in a mall, just to look at it because I like to hang out with non-internet shoppers. I glanced at the kiosks full of questionable plated jewelry, when a batch of fake Mexican coins caught my eye. They were like smaller versions of Libertads, "plata pura" and all that, but had a 1947 date.

Now, I don't remember what I ate yesterday, but I am idiot-savant on Mexican silver. There wasn't any such coin in 1947.

"Everything is half price today." he said. I just nodded. I bet it was. Dude had two more legit-looking ingots, 100 grams and 5 ounces. I could just see myself drilling into them and seeing brass curl up.

Instead I went to a real coin shop. Bunch of 90% Half Dollars at 20 x face, and an American Silver Eagle, only 4 over spot because grottily toned.

Tree Fiddy.

[bernorange 8362]

Gold was fast out of the gate tonight...

[bernorange 8362]

Cool story:

 

Quote

A "very rare" ancient gold coin found recently in the mountains of central Norway could be lost cash that once belonged to an early monarch, according to Norwegian officials.

The gold coin was discovered by a metal detectorist in Vestre Slidre, a rural city known for skiing, in Norway's south-central Innlandet County. Technically called "histamenon nomisma," the coin was first introduced around 960 C.E. and used as standard Byzantine currency, the Innlandet County Municipality said in a news release. That means the artifact would have traveled more than 1,600 miles from its origin site to the spot where it was found.

"It has held up exceptionally well. The coin appears largely unchanged from when it was lost, perhaps a thousand years ago," the news release said.
...

More:

https://news.yahoo.com/rare-ancient-gold-coin-found-170123798.html

 

[bernorange 8362]

Quote

...
In the company’s earnings call on Thursday, CFO Richard Galanti said that Costco sold $100 million in one-ounce gold bars between July and September.

According to media reports, during the call Galanti was asked what consumer trends Costco was seeing this holiday season; he answered: "They're buying gold."

In 2020, Costco started selling gold to its U.K. members and added it to North American stores earlier this year. Members are limited to two bars from the same supplier each and according to Galanti, the gold sells out in hours.
...

https://www.kitco.com/news/2023-12-15/Costco-sold-100-million-in-one-ounce-gold-bars-in-Q3.html

[RDCanecutter 26453]

19 hours ago, bernorange said:

https://www.kitco.com/news/2023-12-15/Costco-sold-100-million-in-one-ounce-gold-bars-in-Q3.html

50,000 bars spread out over the US and UK doesn't seem excessive. I guess the story is that people are getting it from a retail giant instead of small shops or traditional online vendors? I couldn't find any Costco listings online to check prices. I keep getting Walmart precious metal offerings online, it's usually something from Apmex with a jacked-up price.

 

[bernorange 8362]

Costco only sold the Pamp 1toz ingots via the website here in the USA and they would always sell out within an hour of the bars being available (the one time I tried, they sold out in less than 5 minutes).  They limited sales to 2 bars per Costco membership account.  The $100m sales figure is just for 3 months.

[RDCanecutter 26453]

7 hours ago, bernorange said:

Costco only sold the Pamp 1toz ingots via the website here in the USA and they would always sell out within an hour of the bars being available (the one time I tried, they sold out in less than 5 minutes).  They limited sales to 2 bars per Costco membership account.  The $100m sales figure is just for 3 months.

What strikes me is not the amount or speed of sales, I see that in local shops who have a manic turnover, it's that people are buying bullion from a big retailer. Costco must attract all sorts of people who'd never darken the door of a coin shop. Let's be honest, the friendly LCS can be friendly, or not, and it can be intimidating to the noob. Plus of course everybody wants to do everything on their phone.

Their customers probably don't even know there are online bullion dealers with better prices, or maybe they just trust Costco.

Kinda reminds me of buying Libertads inside Electra hardware stores at the little Banco Azteca window in the back.

[bernorange 8362]

The prices were close to spot when I checked.  Factor in the costco membership cash back and CC rewards on top (Costco doesn't charge extra for CC purchases) and it was a good deal.

[DrunkTshirt 9]

Have a kilo of silver if anyone's looking to buy at spot. Can meet anywhere in Austin to Waco to Lampasas. Know your metal before contacting. Could use the Christmas funds, and cheaper than any seller. Won't go below spot. 

Or 1.5 gram batches of gold. Spot. One per. 

Trying to raise funds for this. It's me. It has my name on it.

https://kylecavan.com/collections/university-of-texas/products/ut-vintage-bevo-necklace?variant=39448902467686

Would do a straight trade, the silver Kilo bar + 1.5 gram gold for it.

Link shows w/necklace. Change it to without.

Edited December 17, 2023 by DrunkTshirt

[Mr. Drummond 2199]

Gold seems to be ready for a run.  I didn't buy my normal monthly number in Nov or Dec.  I think the next dip (anywhere near 1950-1975) I'm going to load up   If it seems like the floor is now going to be 2050, then will just go back to buying my normal monthly buy.   I hit my 2023 goal in Oct, so dont feel the need to chase.     

This run could be fun.

[3adays 454]

I have a bunch of these I need to sell in Austin. Any recommendations and what should I expect? Spot price of silver? 

 

[bernorange 8362]

Silver spot seems to be bouncing around between $23 and $24 per troy ounce lately.  America The Beautiful coins were made with many different designs (series).  I don't know the mintages of the various designs, but some *might* have collector value above the bullion value.  You should find out what series are in your stack.

From what I've been hearing, coin shops are seeing more sellers than buyers right now, so any given shop might have cash flow issues impacting their interest in buying from you.  You should definitely shop around more than one place.  You might also try calling a national dealer like Apmex to explore a mail order sale.  YMMV and good luck!