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I see that APMEX is heralding their one-tenth troy oz silver rounds. It's resembles a Mercury dime.

Presently, if you buy 2500 or more, the price per round is $4.72. Otherwise, it's substantially higher. It begs the question about how many actual Mercury dimes gave their life to make these knock-offs. I suppose you could argue that these would be perfect in a bartering world arena where a full troy oz is too much, but isn't that what junk silver is for?

Here's a link. Take a look.

http://www.apmex.com/Product/60933/1_10_oz_APMEX_Mercury_Dime_Silver_Round_999_Fine.aspx

I'm all for the silver bullion thing, but this just hit me the wrong way.

There are many people out there (with an iced glass of Kool-Aid in hand) who will tell you that when the dollar crashes and the whole world turns upside down, an ounce of silver will be faaaaar too valuable to use as trade for a couple of chickens or whatnot. I'm sure APMEX knows this better than anyone. While I'm not exactly sure what advantages a 1/10 oz silver round holds over a 90% silver dime or quarter, as long as those people can put their Kool-Aid down long enough to buy some, APMEX comes out ahead, and I'm sure that's all they care about.

1) I think Apmex is overpriced. I buy my 1/10 oz from Provident.
http://www.providentmetals.com/1-10-oz-999-silver-round-incuse-indian.html

2) I must love kool-aid.
I am one of those that believes in fractional silver. They laughed when gold started trading 1/2 and 1/4 oz. They guffawed when it traded in grams. Now it trades in 0.1 gram and grains.

"Those that refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."


I get the impression you guys have forgotten how hard it is to build up a stash of a precious metal when you aren't making $1000/wk.

Corsair wrote:There are many people out there (with an iced glass of Kool-Aid in hand) who will tell you that when the dollar crashes and the whole world turns upside down, an ounce of silver will be faaaaar too valuable to use as trade for a couple of chickens or whatnot. I'm sure APMEX knows this better than anyone. While I'm not exactly sure what advantages a 1/10 oz silver round holds over a 90% silver dime or quarter, as long as those people can put their Kool-Aid down long enough to buy some, APMEX comes out ahead, and I'm sure that's all they care about.

The one advantage the .999 rounds would have over the pre-1965 (90%) coins is purity (better for investment). Of course if the the .999 coins are actually used in commerce they might were down pretty quickly. I believe one reason the mint added copper to its silver coins was to limit wear.

However, I think the the main reason apmex and other private mints are doing this is to (as Wizard suggested) attract smaller investors. The higher premiums they can charge doesn't hurt either.

I think junk is better for investment because you can leave the country with it and declare the face value.

There are kits that let you repair the gold plated wipes on a circuit board. Is there something similar for silver?

Ifso, then someone could plate the rim of some clad dimes and pass them as 90% to the gullible.

WizardTN wrote:1) I think Apmex is overpriced. I buy my 1/10 oz from Provident.
http://www.providentmetals.com/1-10-oz-999-silver-round-incuse-indian.html

If you can afford to buy in bulk... Provident gets their rounds from Golden State Mint:
http://www.goldenstatemint.com/price-list.html

For smaller purchases (less than 100 ounces) Provident IS the cheapest source of fractionals.

beauanderos wrote:For smaller purchases (less than 100 ounces) Provident IS the cheapest source of fractionals.

Ya, I keep eyeing the Silver Strike tokens they carry. But I am too busy cherry picking them off the bay at 75-80% of spot SHIPPED. Was really stressed when I watched 4 of them (2.4oz) go for $56 plus $5 shipping after I ran out of money the night before last.
I get the distinct impression that many (incl. some on here) don't know what they are.

Perhaps there s/b a thread (in the members only section) with following heading:

**BUYING ALERT** Look at this NOW!!

I am buying both silver dimes and rounds but it seems to me the rounds are actually more economical to buy than the dimes. By the time you add shipping to the dimes they cost as much as the 1/10 oz. round. Besides, if the economy falls apart and we go back to bartering, I don't think anyone will refuse to take rounds as money. Look at the coin shortages of the civil war. Yes, I know if silver falls, the rounds will be worth less than you paid and a dime will always be worth 10 cents but I don't see the price of silver falling back to $5.00 an ounce. I appreciate the lead to Provedent, I will check into them some more. I also have some of those 1 gram rounds. They are almost the size of a dime. If I had to barter with silver I believe I could find someone to trade me food for them.

Do you know if you can get 1/10oz in Canada.. or shipped to Canada?

On the Provident website, they say they have recently started shipping to Canada. You might want to try them.

Given a choice (equal total amount of silver) between US 90% dimes and tenth-oz silver rounds, I'd opt for the dimes every time. In a time of need, give me a pocketful of Mercury dimes to barter with. While many teenagers may not have seen them before, they can still be convinced...even in a Red Dawn scenario.

I like rounds that have the weight and purity stamped right on. If somebody isn't familiar with US 90%, all the talking in the world may not convince them. I think they're much more likely to believe me if the hunk of metal is marked...

Rob72830 wrote:On the Provident website, they say they have recently started shipping to Canada. You might want to try them.

Thanks I will ask them... Do you know if you have to pay duty for silver?

natsb88 wrote:I like rounds that have the weight and purity stamped right on. If somebody isn't familiar with US 90%, all the talking in the world may not convince them. I think they're much more likely to believe me if the hunk of metal is marked...

I guess I see it exactly the opposite. I think people will likely be more convinced of content by something that came from the US Mint rather than something stamped by GoldenStateWhoever. Let's face it, outside of people in the hobby, who is going to know that AMPEX/PanAm/JohnsonMatthey /Etc. marked bullion is legit? Sure it may say 1/10 oz .999% fine silver on it - but so would a counterfeit.

warthog wrote:

natsb88 wrote:I like rounds that have the weight and purity stamped right on. If somebody isn't familiar with US 90%, all the talking in the world may not convince them. I think they're much more likely to believe me if the hunk of metal is marked...

I guess I see it exactly the opposite. I think people will likely be more convinced of content by something that came from the US Mint rather than something stamped by GoldenStateWhoever. Let's face it, outside of people in the hobby, who is going to know that AMPEX/PanAm/JohnsonMatthey /Etc. marked bullion is legit? Sure it may say 1/10 oz .999% fine silver on it - but so would a counterfeit.

But outside of people in the hobby, how many happen to know the weight and purity of a Mercury dime, or for that matter, how many people know what a Mercury dime is? In my generation, not many.

It doesn't hurt to have some of both. It's called diversification

beauanderos wrote:It doesn't hurt to have some of both. It's called diversification

Or a lot of both.

I have some of both. By the way, the round has more silver than the dime does. A silver dime weighs 2.5 grams compared to the round which contains 3.1 grams of silver. Also you can take into consideration a worn dime will have lost metal during circulation. I really like the looks of the rounds, all fresh and minty looking and clean. I check ebay for deals and if I can't get a good deal on dimes, I look for the silver rounds. I think when the bad times come, you won't have a hard time using the rounds as money. Gold miners did it.

natsb88 wrote:I like rounds that have the weight and purity stamped right on. If somebody isn't familiar with US 90%, all the talking in the world may not convince them. I think they're much more likely to believe me if the hunk of metal is marked...

I think if the dollar becomes the non-trading unit, I think everyone will be educated in junk silver worth for old US Coinage. That being said I see more value in having weight and purity stamped right on them, But their is also value in something being "rare" and collectible, and the value of something being rare and collectible holds even if we are still trading FRNs.

heh, i was going to say I have some of both as well - but I really dont anymore. When silver spiked earlier this year I traded/sold off all my generic rounds for "nice " junk silver (mostly common franklins in VF-XF, some culls and some AU thrown in). The prices of numis weren't adjusting as rapidly as the bullion market was, so I ended up with buying more actual silver weight than what I sold and turned a profit in doing so. There are valid arguements to be made for both sides of owning bullion vs 90% debate, but to me silver is still silver in any form.. it's more a matter of personal preference.

I guess I feel if we were every really in a situation where it was necessary to try and exchange gold and silver coins for bread, the arguement would be largely moot because the most valuable metals at the time are going to be brass and lead in 12gauge, 7.62 and 9MM configurations.