Silver shortage hits home

[timmus0382]

So for the first time since I have been buying silver I hit a road block. Went to two of my local dealers today who always have tons of silver to thumb through. To my suprise each store only had a little box of rounds one store had 19 and the other 41. No bars, no eagles..... I dont mind generic 999 but I like to buy stuff with a name that is recognizable so I dont have to worry about someone accusing me of trying to offload a fake. These guys have always had hundreds and hundreds of ounces to choose from but today they said they just can't keep up with the demand. The assured me that they had orders in place and I should check back in a week.... Could they be hoarding it in the back room, building their stashes? Or has the time come where the demand is so high that stores are going through hundreds even thousands of ounces a week? I figured with the high spot i would see all kinds of new goodies in the boxes from people selling for profit, but its just the opposite up here people are buying and holding like crazy! One of the store owners told me he had multiple people come in who just liquidated their 401k's and have monster boxes on order.

[Delawhere Jack]

Maybe Blythe was there before you?

[whatsnext]

Maybe they are hordeing it and will just fake a shortage. That works for me.

Why would they not?

Thats Money Money Money boy- Mr Crab

[Know Common Cents]

I attended a coin show today (Milwaukee) and had a couple of interesting chats with the dealers there. Silver is there and available, but with a hefty price. Silver rounds (including Happy Valentine's Day 1974, Christmas 1988 and the like) were being sold for a minimum of $43/oz. Buy price was about $40.50/oz in quantity.

Silver rounds (1 oz) are in short supply and getting shorter. Also was told, though, that there's a growing surplus of 100 oz bars as they're now out of the price range of Joe or Josephine Blow who may be wandering into the coin shop for the very first time. US 90% as well as 10 oz bars are also apparently hot items. People (and especially dealers) have been trying to swap their 100 oz bars for 100 one ounce rounds. One ouncers are much more likely to be sold in small quantity and at a higher markup than the permium over a 100 oz bar.

Also heard that US 90% silver is being melted in hugh quantities. One dealer told me "It's like 1980 all over again except that I'm 30 years older." Seems to be a true statement as the price continues to rise.

With deliveries from APMEX and others running several weeks into the future, dealers now feel that they have better control of what's sold, by whom and at what price. They seem to agree it's not going to stay that way forever, but they intend to make the most of it.

[tn-dave]

Maybe they are hordeing it and will just fake a shortage. That works for me.

Last year I was buying a good chunk of silver each week from the local "grumpy old man" at my hometown pawn shop and he was acting like he was doing me a favor selling it to me at 12.5-14X face (which was a little high at the time). He told me more than once that he was probably "gonna regret letting me clean him out like this - I should pull all my silver out of the case 'till the 1st of the year."

I couldn't understand his attitude at the time but it sure turns out he was right. I haven't been back in there for a while.

[AgCollector]

Maybe they are hordeing it and will just fake a shortage. That works for me.

Last year I was buying a good chunk of silver each week from the local "grumpy old man" at my hometown pawn shop and he was acting like he was doing me a favor selling it to me at 12.5-14X face (which was a little high at the time). He told me more than once that he was probably "gonna regret letting me clean him out like this - I should pull all my silver out of the case 'till the 1st of the year."

I couldn't understand his attitude at the time but it sure turns out he was right. I haven't been back in there for a while.

Of course, had the price gone down I doubt he would have apologized charging so much!

I'm really tired of that "doing you a favor" attitude- seems to be unique to coin dealers...

[tn-dave]

I'm really tired of that "doing you a favor" attitude- seems to be unique to coin dealers

Yeh, After 4 or 5 transactions I had cleaned him out of the coins I was looking for and was over his attitude for sure. Did a lot of buying at the 1st Saturday of the month coin show after that. Sure wish I would have spent all my budget on silver at those shows though. I bet I could still get those Indian Head Cents I picked up then for the same price now...

[whatsnext]

I've only bought from nice people at spot for the most. Local regular people.

The flea market stand guy skinned me though. I got the last laugh b/c th 34$ proof is paid for.