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What do you prefer to buy? American Silver Eagle (or Canadian maple leaf) or just plain 1oz generic rounds?

You pay a premium to buy ASE's. You usually get a premium when you sell. They are VERY easy to sell and are desired by most bullion collectors. The generics are just that...generic. You might have to sell at at spot or a discount of spot to move them. They are easy to move, but probably not the 1st choice to a buyer. I try to stick with well known companies. Engelhard, J&M , Academy, and others.

What slickeast said. My expectation, no experience yet.

Down in Miami I am paying $5.50 over spot price for ASE's. Do you think it's a fair price?

personally i prefer generics because of all the various designs on them
my lcs knows if he sees any holiday rounds to set them aside for me haha i'll buy those all day

I third what slick said. My rationale mainly has to with brand recognition and trade potential in a hypothetical SHTF situation. "Coins of the Realm" like an ASE, or any silver coin minted by a government, will likely get a lot more in barter than a shiny metal "Happy New Year 1987" round with no maker's mark. Now, a bottle of Maker's Mark, on the other hand, might net you a couple extra handfuls of magic beans...

i bought some ASE's when silver was $7. premium was a 1.89. i know i shouldn't complain but i wish i had put that premium into silver rather than premium. sure, i get the premium back but i made 5X on the silver but not on the premium.

I go with some of each. Nothing wrong with a little diversification. They both have positives and negatives to me. I'm spread out from ASEs down to War nickels.

Even though our government is a bunch of lying SOBs, a coin like an ASE is backed by a sovereign nation thus what you read on it (1 ounce of 0.999 silver) is 'guaranteed'. When the rest of the world catches on to silver and its value, selling a 'Bon Voyage Gus' silver round will probably be tougher than when the sheeple see U.S. government and the heraldic eagle. This has been stated in various forms above by a couple of our fine members.

silverflake wrote:Even though our government is a bunch of lying SOBs, a coin like an ASE is backed by a sovereign nation thus what you read on it (1 ounce of 0.999 silver) is 'guaranteed'. When the rest of the world catches on to silver and its value, selling a 'Bon Voyage Gus' silver round will probably be tougher than when the sheeple see U.S. government and the heraldic eagle. This has been stated in various forms above by a couple of our fine members.

It's not the current backing of the coin that is good about the ASE. It is the FORMER backing. In other words, because it was Government minted it is known to be X% pure and have other set dimensions.

So even if the US goes belly up, the ASEs still maintain that "backing" forever.

Similar to coins minted in the 1800's. They are all "known quantities and purities" and therefore can be authenticated by those that know what attributes to look for.

slickeast wrote:You pay a premium to buy ASE's. You usually get a premium when you sell. They are VERY easy to sell and are desired by most bullion collectors. The generics are just that...generic. You might have to sell at at spot or a discount of spot to move them. They are easy to move, but probably not the 1st choice to a buyer. I try to stick with well known companies. Engelhard, J&M , Academy, and others.

Was about to write the same things. The ASE's are official 'governminted' coins.

You cannot go wrong buying ASE's or Canadian Maples. They are the most sought after silver bullion coins out there. I've been buying ASE's since 1986 and CML's since 1990. Those were the good old days... every dealer had plenty of them, they were not in high demand. I was buying them by the hundreds. People hated gold and silver back then. Funny how times have changed since then.

I just bought 10 eagles 2011 for $35 a piece I thought I got a fair deal. The dealer sold all he had at that price.

I don't see any reluctance on buyers' parts to purchase some rounds. Silver Buffalo rounds are currently closing for around $37 each on Ebay, free shiipping or not. You could have picked them up for $1.29 over spot last week and this week from some of the big outlets, total per coin around $31 each when getting 100 or so. It beats the 4-5 buck premium on ASEs. Just my opinion.

They all melt the same.

As always, my choice is the ASE, but - in this downturn, I have softened my stance on ONLY ASEs in my stack. With the cheaper prices, I bought what was available, which ended up being Prospectors and some Buffalo rounds. Chances are, I will trade those for ASEs though. There is no rationale to my ASE fetish though, it's purely a quirk of my own, and just how I like my silver.

silverflake wrote: When the rest of the world catches on to silver and its value, selling a 'Bon Voyage Gus' silver round will probably be tougher than when the sheeple see U.S. government and the heraldic eagle. This has been stated in various forms above by a couple of our fine members.

True, but many popular generics will be recognized by the likes of members on this forum and other locales. All you need is continuum of recognition from one forum/hoarder site to others and as one post here stated elegantly, it all melts the same.

I like silver Philharmonics. For a time the premium on this round was lower than ASEs and Maples, not so much now with the lower spot prices. I don't do generics, just me tho' ya know. Still need to get some Grizzlies and Cougars just to accompany the Wolves.

In reading the replies here is a summation for the OP:

1. Everyone will buy ASEs, perhaps not for a healthy premium, but everyone will take them for AT LEAST spot.

2. Some people won't buy generic at all.

3. Others will only buy certain "name brand" generics.

4. Those that do buy generic will always pay less than or equal to the amount they would pay for ASEs. I.e. generics are worth less in general.


So if you want super liquidity buy ASEs. The generics aren't bad, but just not quite the "symbol of silver" that ASEs are.


When silver was $10 a $3 premium was a lot. Now it's not so much. So keep that in mind also.

i agree with Barry. however, there are generics that are nearly as well known and nearly as liquid. it one big trade off.

frankly, 90% is almost as good as ASE's as long as it weighs enough. its got the same 'backing' that barry talks about, but no premium (for now).

Heh, my preference is splitting the difference and going with the Maple Leaf. Its perhaps a moot point to some, but it amuses my sensibilities that they have a built in stop loss of $5 canadian.

I prefer Engelhard (even got some of the fractionals from '85), Johnson Matthey and some of the other names. I like Crab Tree Mint 'cuz they had fractional rounds and bars.

ASEs and Maples are great. don't get me wrong. it's just crazy to pay $8 over spot (or worse) for one ounce of silver.

beachbum999 wrote:I prefer Engelhard (even got some of the fractionals from '85), Johnson Matthey and some of the other names. I like Crab Tree Mint 'cuz they had fractional rounds and bars.

ASEs and Maples are great. don't get me wrong. it's just crazy to pay $8 over spot (or worse) for one ounce of silver.

Tulving has them for $2.69 over spot