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Went into the local shop for the first time today. I'm still learning, but the guy seemed cool and I thought he was shooting me straight. I was mainly just looking around at the coins in the case. Too many of the same coins priced differently seems real confusing. I want to get some silver, but not too interested in regular coin collecting. Thats pretty normal?

The prices on item's I asked about seemed firm. I asked about american silver eagles and silver bars. He said:
- American eagles are $40.30 something. Close to 5 bucks over spot
-Sliver bars are spot price plus $1.49 per once. Those come in once or twice a week, and he said he could save me some.
-I then asked about junk silver. He had a small bucket of dimes, quarters, and halves. He said these cost 25.5 times face

He was out of bars, so I cherry picked 22 quarters for a total of $148 tax included. Do most cash buyers avoid paying sales tax? Those prices seem pretty fair? The bars seem like the best bet to me. Does paying a premium for ase's make sense? Whats the smartest form of silver to buy?

Thx for any advice, one more question for ya, might seem dumb. Is there easy math to figure out the 25.5x multiplier? I don't get how it can be the same for quarters and dimes. Say silver is exactly $50, what would the face value multiplier be, and how did u get it.

If I took these 22 quarters for 25.5x, if I took these to another coin shop, how much do you think they would buy them for? Thx, gl

Spot +$5 is OK for ASE. When you're ready to sell, they'll carry that same premium (as long as you're not selling to a dealer/coin shop).

Coinflation has 22 quarters priced at $140.45 right now. You can sometimes find junk under spot, but you gotta hunt around.

Check out Coinflation.com for the quarter and other US coin's silver content value.

25.5 X face is not a bad price bad at this time. Also 1.49 over spot for .999 bars is pretty good too. Sounds like a good shop.

The face multiplier is usually compared to "melt value per dollar face". "Melt" is roughly .72 times spot for the 90% coins, other than silver dollars. Not exactly, but it's easy to remember and close enough for small amounts, unless you really get into it, then you don't need to ask.

"What would another store buy them for?" Probably less than you paid. He has to make a living off these deals. Some of the regulars are really keyed in on good deals so they recognize a chance to make money selling elsewhere, but they've been at it for years. You can tell what the best deals used to be by how fast some of these characters jump on them.

Go here and play with numbers for a while:

http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver ... lator.html

yo guys, thx for the tips. I overviewed that conflation site before but missed the good stuff.

You said " He was out of bars, so I cherry picked 22 quarters for a total of $148 tax included. " I'm not questioning you at all but, there is no tax on U.S. coins, or at least in Florida, but I thought that was throughout the country. I know there is on rounds, but I thought not on coins...I never really knew 100% the actual law. I just never get charged tax...

ffej wrote:You said " He was out of bars, so I cherry picked 22 quarters for a total of $148 tax included. " I'm not questioning you at all but, there is no tax on U.S. coins, or at least in Florida, but I thought that was throughout the country. I know there is on rounds, but I thought not on coins...I never really knew 100% the actual law. I just never get charged tax...

Depends entirely on the state. In PA there is no tax on coins or bullion (two different things, so if one is taxed in your state but not the other, the question is whether 90% are considered collectible coins or bullion...)

ffej wrote:You said " He was out of bars, so I cherry picked 22 quarters for a total of $148 tax included. " I'm not questioning you at all but, there is no tax on U.S. coins, or at least in Florida, but I thought that was throughout the country. I know there is on rounds, but I thought not on coins...I never really knew 100% the actual law. I just never get charged tax...

You need to move to Oregon no sales tax. We are one of five with out sales tax.

Didn't know there were sales tax free states. I know when I lived in Nevada there was no state income tax. Nice to have the extra $$$ on the pay check every week. Sales tax was 7 1/4% though. Give and take I guess.

re Sales Tax in Alaska: We have sales taxes in some towns and boroughs, but not at the state level.

Washington State here. No income tax, but a very high sales tax in most localities (state, county and local taxing districts).
My area is currently 9.2% but there is no sales tax on bullion including 90%. I believe there are old state laws that treat gold and silver as another form of money (something we all know) and therefore can't be taxed again in another form of currency. I think our tax loving governor tried to get it repealed last year without success.

I've never paid any sales tax on junk, bullion, bars, coins, etc. in Georgia.

No sales tax on 90% as long as the total purchase is more than $1000 in FRNs, not $1000 in face value.

8.25% sales tax on coins in NY, no tax if buying over $1000.00 worth at a time. I have a no idea why the difference.
The coin shop I go to sells ASE and Maples at $3.50 over spot and $1 over spot on rounds and bars.

IMHO, eBay is the best place to buy pre-1965 silver dimes and quarters, which is what I stick with. It takes a little bit of searching, but by using www.justsnipe.com to bid at the last minute, I've been able to get almost all my silver coins at spot price or just below.

That includes shipping cost too. Coinflation.com is an indispensable tool!

premiums on ASE's have ranged from about 1.50 several years ago to $4-5. about a year ago you could get them for 2 bucks over if you bought in quantity.

when you sell, you will recover some premium but dealers buy at a discount and the premium changes from time to time.

premiums on ASE's right now are higher than normal. 1.49 for 1 oz bars is closer to normal.

90% right now is a good value in terms of premium but you bear a discount when you sell.