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I have read the logic of: many people ascribe to buying silver now, to wait until the gold/silver ratio decreases, to say 1 to 12, or better, to then sell their silver to buy gold. What is the best form of silver (if any) to purchase now for this purpose? Or doesn't is it matter. I'm guessing it is not junk silver? Maybe American Eagle ounces?

I don't think it matters what kind you buy, as long as it's for the right price. Make sure to pay under spot for 40%, and well under spot (at least 10-20) for war nickels.

Who do you plan to sell to? Here? A national dealer? Locally?

The answer to that question will help to determine your exit strategy. How long you plan to hold also makes a difference.
Eagles are easy to sell nearly any place and time, so they have a lot going for them.

90% is good too, but it's hard to get a good price selling to local shops.

You can use craigslist to buy any silver for 90% of spot. The profit is made when you buy, not so much when you sell. I've recently been running my CL ad at 80% of spot, as a test. Very few inquires compared to offering 90%.

Having lived in both Medford and Eugene Oregon over the past three years I asked the owners of the four local coin shops which form of silver was most in demand by customers. All four owners gave me the same answer and that was their biggest seller (by far) is 1 oz generic silver rounds.

I also regularly sell bullion silver on Craigslist during silver peaks and I've similarly found that 1 oz generic rounds at .50 cents over spot receive more calls than 90% or bar form. ASE's come in a strong second if priced a $2 above spot and no higher.

pennypicker wrote:Having lived in both Medford and Eugene Oregon over the past three years I asked the owners of the four local coin shops which form of silver was most in demand by customers. All four owners gave me the same answer and that was their biggest seller (by far) is 1 oz generic silver rounds.

I also regularly sell bullion silver on Craigslist during silver peaks and I've similarly found that 1 oz generic rounds at .50 cents over spot receive more calls than 90% or bar form. ASE's come in a strong second if priced a $2 above spot and no higher.

That's kind of surprising to me. I would have thought AEs or some form of 90%. Maybe I'll have to look more closely at generic rounds when I'm looking to buy. Good information to have.

wouldn't coins be easiest to flip? I would think a 100oz engelhard is just to heavy to flip

Unusual to hear generic ounces do so well. Guess I could understand. My thoughts always were number of ounces acquired at cheapest entry point. 90% U.S. coins have always had a strong demand in my area. Most of the shops in my area buy based on weight unless there is numismatic value.

wheeler_dealer wrote:Unusual to hear generic ounces do so well. Guess I could understand. My thoughts always were number of ounces acquired at cheapest entry point. 90% U.S. coins have always had a strong demand in my area. Most of the shops in my area buy based on weight unless there is numismatic value.

Out in my neck of the woods, western Oregon, there are a lot of "flippers" who simply come into the coin shops and buy 1 oz generic rounds on the dips and then bring them back and sell them for a profit on the peaks. Coin shops out here have roughly a $2 buy/sell spread on 1 oz generic silver rounds so this makes them very popular with flippers. The smallest buy/sell spread is $1.75 on the 100 oz bar but this of course requires a bigger chunk of cash than most flippers involve themselves with. The $2 spread is small when you take into consideration Oregon has no sales tax and because there is no sales tax this opens the door for many flippers, myself included, to make small amounts of profit on a regular basis provided there is continued price volatility.

TXBullion wrote:wouldn't coins be easiest to flip? I would think a 100oz engelhard is just to heavy to flip

Unless your name is Adam Youngs, yeah, that would probably be impossible...

I think the 90% silver quarters are best for flipping. Easier than a dime for telling heads vs. tails when it lands.