If you were lucky enough to be collecting proof sets back in 1999, you probably stumbled into a goldmine. The 1999 set, which contained the first series of the silver-minted state quarters, exploded onto eBay and collector’s circles with hype-induced prices spiking to $400 for the set. Not a bad trade for someone that bought these from the mint for $31.95. While some other sets appreciated (namely the 2001 set), none of them came close to the frenzy the 1999 set created. Boneheads like me that loaded up on the 2000 set in a knee-jerk investment decision were basically left with a whole lot of sets that routinely sell at (or sometimes below) their issue price. Ouch. If only I had the foresight to order a few dozen of the 1999 set straight from the mint on the cheap, I’d be sitting pretty.
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Is the 2010 silver proof set worth it?
Bing! Cancels Cashback; eBay Silver Rush May Ensue
I was disappointed to see that Microsoft announced a few days ago they’re ending the Bing! Cashback program. I loved the program, which effectively subsidized my silver purchases in exchange for.. well… I’m not sure what exactly. Perhaps the 30 times I used the 8-35% discount on eBay gave marginally more traffic to Bing!, which helped Microsoft make some statistical point to their shareholders about its adoption and dreams to out-google-Google. Hey, that’s a pretty fair trade to me. The big question for eBay buyers and sellers will be the impact, if any, it has on the market prices of gold and silver.
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Hey America, Buy Canadian
Every couple of months, I get an itch to buy physical silver. The form isn’t entirely important; junk silver, government bullion, or refiners rounds/bars all work well. I have all of them, but I’ve always had a bias towards government bullion because in a crisis situation I think I’d have an easier time proving the authenticity/content of the coin if it was originally backed by a government. For example, let’s say you’re a vendor who sells food and water. Two buyers come up, almost simultaneously, looking to get the last of your stock. One has a handful of art rounds, each a full ounce of silver, depicting Santa Claus, Elvis Presley, or maybe the hilarious anti-CTFC rounds. The other, though, has a stack of Eagles, Maples, or Philharmonics. It shouldn’t really matter which silver you take as they’re all silver, but maybe you’re just not as confident about the Elvis Presley rounds as you are about an American Eagle, right? Even though in such a scenario the underlying governments may have little, if any, remaining authority, we’re programmed to still see something with the US Government stamped on it and presume it is official. After all, it seems less likely that a nefarious entity would counterfeit what would still be US legal tender, risking the extreme penalties for being caught, when it would seem far easier to stamp a ‘.999 silver’ brand on a silver-plated non-legal-tender copper coin without comparable penalties even if they were caught. You might be able to find a mint mark for a respectable refiner, but wouldn’t it be safer just to take the government bullion? That’s always been my thinking behind weighting them more in my physical silver holdings.
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Kitco’s Nadler Problem
Imagine you’re in the market for a new car. You decide one day to drive into the dealership fully expecting to leave with a new automobile – feeling excited about the upcoming purchase. You walk into the dealer, scout the shimmering, shining new cars, and grab a sales person to discuss one in particular. Imagine, then, the sales person tells you that the cars they sell are probably going to drop in value, that many experts think it’s a bad time to buy cars, and cautioned that the local weather is only going to destroy the finish and ultimately reduce the life of the vehicle. But, if you’re still interested, you’re more than welcome to purchase the vehicle anyway.
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Enthusiasts