Why not 40% silver?
 

Hello everyone, this is my first post here! It is a rather strange post, and might not be for the faint hearted, and I apologize if this is a dumb question, but I've been wondering about this for awhile. So here it is:

I think that it is very, very likely that the dollar price of silver will stay steady or increase. But there's the possibility (no matter how unpleasant) that the price of silver will drop drastically. Some vast new silver resources might be discovered, or maybe someone will invent a cheap way to harvest minerals from the seafloor. Stranger things have happened.

That being the case, it seems odd that nobody prefers 40% silver. Right now, APMex sells 40% silver for almost 4x face value. It sells 90% silver for almost 9x face value. If, for some odd reason, the bottom falls out of the silver market, there's always the face value of the coin to fall back on, and 40% silver has the advantage.

Why doesn't anyone love 40% junk silver?

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

You draw a good conclusion that no one can or will argue with, and 40% is a good way to diversify.

A lot of folks prefer 90% because refineries will not buy 40% until they have no 90% to melt. It costs them just as much to melt 40 and is does 90 and in the end they have more than twice as much silver to resell.

A lot of folks also don't choose 40% because there are a number of other Ag forms that they can diversify into (rounds, bars, modern bullion coins, and 80% Canadian pre-1967), and because they fear in a shtf environment nobody will know or will be confused about what date Kennedy's are 40%, and thus will be reluctant to buy/trade or barter for them.

This all said, a person is a fool not to pick up 40% halves when s/he can get them cheap, just as they would be a fool not to pickup old Morgan and Peace type silver dollars if they can get them near their silver value.

In the end, everybody is different and had different situations. Develop your long-range trade-in and trade-out plan that fits you and your families situation and what you believe will be important for you to have in the future, and go for it. If 40% is what you prefer get 'em. There is no right or wrong...only different for different folks. If someone disagrees with you about 40%, hey, that's their perspective. It's good they have one. Let it go.
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Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

Nothing wrong with 40% but if you are limited on storage space if you buy 40% you hav less silver for the storage space you are using - did that make sense??:cheerful:

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

I think the "floor price" for 40% is about $3.50 per ounce of silver.

A good insurance policy when silver was $5-$6 but not now.

Otherwise, I think they trade at a higher discount to 90%, however, I think that discount spread will decrease as silver becomes higher in demand, so may be a good buy?

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

I am bringing back this thread in the hope that we can discuss 40% silver halves. My 1st question is this: If you sell them to a refiner can you get paid for the copper content or do you get only the silver?

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

This issue comes up periodically but infrequently around here.

I don't have anything against 40%. If I see some available at a discount, I buy it.

The only disadvantage is the bulk, and that local dealers may pay you less for it because they have trouble selling it. Chicken -> egg -> chicken: it's harder to sell, because it's unloved, because, in turn, it's harder to sell.

If you're willing to go through bigger dealers, then there is no problem. It's possibly the smallest-priced item available from Tulving: one bag of 40%.

I'm from the buy-and-hold -- then hold it some more, then hold even longer, then hold-hold-hold, then bury it in a deep well and hold for even longer -- school of silver investment, so I figure that by the time I sell, in the year 62,488, there should be plenty of interest in any sort of silver, and the smaller amount in 40% coinage might be an advantage.

For huge amounts, you may not want to go there. 4 bags of 90% is equivalent to 9 bags of 40%. I suggest you try lifting a bag of 90% before you go all-in with 40%.

The bulk 40% is an advantage in the sense that it takes more than twice the amount of back injury to steal the same amount of value from your stash.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

From what I have heard, "refiner" = "crook." If you give them an object of platinum-gold alloy, they will pay you for the platinum content only. It's a point of pride, evidently, that the value of anything brought to the smelter is the value of only it's most precious constituent metal.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

I happen to be very fond of 40% halves. I keep me eyes open for it, and grab all I can when the price is right. Storage space is not a problem for me. Don't ask why, cause I'm not telling...

If anybody ever wants to move any 40%, PM me.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

Here is a link to an old post.

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=22415


What is interesting is that Cu has doubled since then and I have not seen an increase in price due to Cu of the bag. Now a 4 bag melt of 40% has $390 worth of Cu in it.

65GT350

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

They seem to be easy and cheap to acquire through other means, as well. I just wonder if their cheapness will keep them from ever being valued at spot for silver. Notice the price that APMEX pays for them, it's below spot.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

pm sent......

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

Depends on what kind of a deal you cut with them. But remember this, the cupronickel that makes up the other 60% of the coin requires a lot more refining and thus more expense.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

I thought that the other 60% is only Cu. That should not make a difference on the refining should it?

65GT350

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

No, it's copper-nickel in the same ratio as the current coins.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

Yeah, you're right. That was detailed in the LBJ thread from the last week. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

Here's an old thread about 40%.

http://goldismoney.info/forums/showt...ghlight=halves


Also check out the link on my last post at the bottom. Interesting article from BarnacleBob.

MT Silver

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

40% is what I'm most likely to find while "bank prospecting", and it'd be what I'd sell first when silver rises. $100 in 40% sold to a dealer means 200 half-dollars I can go through on my next trip to the bank!

Re: Why not 40% silver?
 

I too stand corrected about this. Copper alone, of course, would not require the same amount of refining as cupronickel.