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Silver Quote

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Current price of silver on the market is shown here for your convenience. Take the spot price of silver into account when you buy silver bullion and junk silver. The silver content of any silver bar or silver round that you buy should be prominently stated by the seller, along with the purity of the silver. Based on the weight of the bar or round or coins, multiplied by the percentage of pure slver, then multiplied by the spot price quote of silver, will tell you what the current value of the silver in the irem is. Based on that value, you can know how much premium you’re being asked to pay to the dealer. The lower the premium, the better the deal you’re getting.

Silver Dollar Prices

When buying coins you’ll likely want to know silver dollar prices. Based on the size, silver content, year of mintage, rarity, and condition of the coin, these prices vary drastically. For instance, a common silver dollar coin in poor condition is usually sold for a price near its “melt value” (just the value of the silver in the coin, if it were melted down). However, an old and rare coin in excellent condition could be sold for thousands of times the value of the silver in it. This increased price, over the melt value, is called numismatic value. It is the collector’s value based on the desirability of the coin. When collecting coins as a collector, it is okay to pay this price. However, if you are investing in silver for the sake of investing in precious metals, you’ll want to avoid collectors’ items and instead buy silver bullion or junk silver coins.

The most common silver dollar coins are the Morgan silver dollars, Peace dollar, Seated Liberty dollar, and Eisenhower dollar. The price of silver dollars varies depending on several factors, as described above. The numismatic value of each silver dollar can be determined by a good silver coin dealer, or if you have the desire and time, you can can use a coin grading guide to grade the dollar yourself. If you plan to buy silver dollars for collecting, always “do your homework” and make sure you know what you’re buying, and that you’re getting a fair price on your purchase. This website offers a general feel for silver dollar values, but you must use other sources of information to make a truly informed decision before buying. One way to safely buy collectors silver dollar coins is to buy from a silver coin dealer that is established for many years and has a good reputation.

Coins for sale at auction will almost always fetch a price fairly near the market value of the coin. There are exceptions to this and these are the rare finds that can make you happy, finding a coin that you have been looking for or finding one that your bid wins, and at well below its value. Bidding at auction for silver coins can net you great deals, but also be careful not to bid yourself too high for the item. Always make sure you know the value of an item if it has numismatic value. On the other hand, of the coin is not collectible then one would only need to know the silver content of the coin. For this purpose, knowing the year and mark of the coin would allow the look-up of the silver content of that coin, and then based on current silver prices the melt value would be where your bid should stop. Auction houses like eBay allow for the bidder to take the time to research the value of a coin before the bidding ends, which is a two-edged sword, because everyone else also has that luxury. Try a pawn shop that doesn’t specialize in silver coins, fantastic finds can be had this way. But for the ease of use, Internet bidding and buying from specialty silver coin websites can’t be beat. From the comfort of home you can learn silver dollar prices or the price of any silver coin, or at least what a reasonable price should be, and then you can go find that coin, or an even better deal along the way. Always keep your “eyes peeled” for new and unexpected opportunities, like estate sales or “lots” of old coins sold for little cash.

Check out some current silver dollar prices at these auctions:

(Coning soon: table, current prices of US silver dollar coins, collectors items at auction.)

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What *really* is inflation, anyway? Why does inflation happen? How can I protect against inflation? If inflation hits me, what will it do to me? These are all questions that each and every one of us MUST ask ourselves today. With the ruthless banking practices that are commonplace, the use of our US dollar that it now fully fiat money, and a centralized bank, we are in a position of dire peril when it comes to our financial future and personal wealth.

So, what is inflation, really? The symptom of inflation is rising prices. This is simple enough, and we can all see it happening, so there’s not too much mystery about it. As time passes, the cost of things goes up. For example, many years ago a loaf of bread cost a nickel. Today it costs three dollars or so. Gasoline prices rise, along with housing prices, automobile prices, utility prices, food prices, and everything else. This slow upward creep of prices is the symptom of inflation. It seems to happen as a natural process, all by itself, and we are all accepting of it and don’t give it too much thought. But we should be giving it thought, because we need to understand that it is not just the natural order of things; it is an intentional and insidious, and it is a theft being perpetrated against all Americans by a ruthless banking cartel. You need to protect against inflation, and the explanation of why will follow.

Why does inflation happen? A common myth is that inflation happens because of greediness on the part of merchants. The myth holds that when a greedy merchant raises prices, then all other prices must go up to compensate for the higher inflated prices that merchant. In other words, everyone must charge more for what they sell (their goods or their labor) so that they are able to pay the inflated prices of the greedy merchants. But this process is a myth!

The real cause of inflation is not greedy merchants or greedy citizens. The law of supply and demand in a free market will compensate for that rise in price automatically, without raising prices for everything (like inflation does). It does this naturally through increasing competition (more supply), or people learning to do without that greedy-priced item (reduced demand). In either case, the price returns to an acceptable amount on its own, or the greedy merchant goes out of business. To reiterate, the law of supply and demand makes it impossible for greedy merchants to cause inflation; it is simply impossible for inflation to happen this way.

The true root cause of inflation is an increase in the supply of printed money, without a matching increase in real goods and services. And this money must be fiat money, which is the type of money that the US uses, along with almost every other country in the world. Fiat money has no value in itself, it is usually just paper (the US dollar is cotton and linen, to be exact). Its value comes from people’s faith in it, and their trust in the government that backs it. And the law of supply and demand applies to this fiat money, just like any other item like bread or gasoline. The more of it there is, the less value it has. Think about that. The more money that is printed and put into circulation, the less value each dollar has. And the less each dollar is worth, the more dollars it takes to buy an item. This is the one and only cause of inflation.

The upside of this truth is that inflation is avoidable for those that know how. The process of inflation has turned $1.00 in 1913 into $0.04 today. And to the detriment and cost of ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS. But this degrade in value is only for the fiat money. Precious metals like silver and gold have held their value through it all. So, to protect against inflation, you need to have some real money, the type of money that has intrinsic value, and can’t be “inflated” thereby losing value. Real money is made from precious metals like silver and gold.

When it comes down to the bare truth of things, we all must use the same money that everyone else uses, there is little we can do to avoid it. It is the common means of exchange that we all agree upon, so without it, we can’t easily buy what we need. Therefore we are essentially forced to use the intrinsically worthless fiat money. And as long as we hold a fiat dollar in our hand or bank account, it slowly decays in value due to inflation. Some experts call it the “hidden tax”. But you can protect against inflation and largely save yourself from this hidden tax…

Protect against inflation buy owning silver. (Owning gold also works, but silver is preferred for various reasons.) When you own a precious metal like silver, it cannot be inflated! No one can print more silver out of thin air, it has to be mined. And the cost of mining an ounce of silver ends up to be just about what an ounce of silver is worth, in current dollars. And that fact makes it a very safe investment, in that it can’t lose value, even from that crazy inflation process.

Silver holds its value through time, and has been a medium of exchange and money for thousands of years for this reason. An ounce of silver today, converted to cash, will but the same amount of goods that an ounce of silver could buy 100 years ago. Try that with a paper dollar! You’d have to work a couple days to earn a paper dollar 100 years ago, and spending that same paper dollar today you’d get next to noting for those 2 days of work. However you can protect against inflation by using your own brain and initiative to learn and act, then to know that you must own real money: silver coins and bullion.

The US dollar is destined to lose even more value in the near future because more and more fiat money is being produces in an effort to avoid a collapse of some kind. You must protect against inflation by converting as much worthless paper money into real valuable money, preferably in the form of silver. Again, you must protect against inflation or you stand to lose all the dollars you have in savings!

When (not IF) the US dollar loses so much value that everyone loses faith in it, it could become “wheelbarrow money”. If that becomes the case then it will be so worthless that people will need a wheelbarrow to carry enough of it to buy daily necessities, like food. It has happened twice in the young United States, and it is likely to happen again. When you own silver or gold it will keep its value, and it will become the real money, the ONLY money, that people will accept when that takes place. And silver is preferable because the denominations of gold are too high for daily transactions, and using gold can cause you to overpay. Silver can be spent in more exact amounts, and it is just as save a store of value as gold.

The bottom line: convert the dollar to silver, this will protect against inflation.

Future Silver Prices

Introduction

Wouldn’t it be great to know what the true future silver prices will be? Armed with such knowledge you could easily gain fantastic wealth, secure your financial future and that of your kin as well. But no one possesses such insight into the future prices of silver or any other commodity, however we do have historical data on silver prices and knowledge of how to analyze markets. Using these tools we may observe the current silver price trends and charts, then project the likely price of silver in the future.

Historical Silver Prices

In the past decades silver has had some very interesting and drastic price changes. The metal itself is valuable not only as a store of wealth, but also as a material used in industry, health care, science and electronics, just to name a few. This broad usefulness of silver may account for its constant value over time, and perhaps may even explain the drastic rises in value that have occurred in recent years.

The precious metals like gold and silver are commonly considered a safe-house type of investment, and investors may at times flee from stocks or other commodities into these metals when the other devices appear to be unstable or even toxic. The gains that stand to be made in precious metals are typically low, as compared to stocks, because of their safety. But when the stock market becomes scary then people like to get their money into those safe places like silver and gold. Just take a look at the historical silver prices in a chart showing silver’s skyrocket in 1982, and again but to a lesser extent just this month (May 2011).

Silver spot price remains fairly tame most of the time, but when demand becomes high because of a mass exodus of capital from stocks into safer things then the price can rise rapidly. So why do investors look to silver when the markets get shaky and uncertain?

Silver as a Safe-house

Savvy investors, professional asset managers, and just about anyone who puts money into investments, typically believe that purchasing precious metals is a safe way to go. This begs the question “why is silver considered safe?” Most people, even though they agree with the rationale, cannot answer this question. Let us take a look at why silver might be viewed in this way.

The first aspect of silver that helps it feel safe is that it has been used for thousands of years as a medium of exchange, real money throughout the centuries. The intrinsic value of silver virtually guarantees that it cannot ever lose permanently its purchasing power relative to other goods, and for this reason it has been used as money, a store of value, all this time. This history seems to have ingrained in the thinking of today’s modern investor a sense of silver as a real investment with a long and solid history of reliable savings and purchasing power.

Silver is also useful as an ingredient in creation of some medicines, in the making of electronics and of course in jewelry and household items such as flatware and dishes. These easily identifiable valuable uses of silver help to maintain its importance and significance. This might tend to create the psychological perception of heightened value in the minds of most people, thus keeping the relative price of silver in strong correlation with its actual intrinsic value.

Silver Price vs. Paper

Being that silver coins and bullion have their own built-in value their price will vary in relation to items that do not have this built-in value, things like stocks and paper money (a.k.a. fiat currency). For instance, a single share of stock in a company represents partial ownership of that company, and that share’s value is tied directly to the value of the company and that company’s percieved ability to earn profits. That company’s reputation, financial health and other factors will affect the value of the company and its ability to pay out profits as dividends to the owner of that share of stock. This value can, in certain circumstances, drop to near-zero and become virtually worthless, and in some extreme cases it can actually become completely worthless. Therefore stocks have no true intrinsic value, unlike silver and other precious metals. The “Dow in Gold Dollars” or DiG$ is an index of the current DJIA versus it’s real value in gold, but more about that later.

Another more disturbing example of this comparison of value is silver vs. paper fiat currency. Since all major currencies in the world are now fiat, we are holding and using unbacked paper notes as the primary store of value when holding cash “in the bank” or otherwise keeping money in savings. This paper money actually can lose its value, and when it does you’ll see the “price” of silver rise. This is because silver’s value remains effectually constant, while the value of the paper money rises and falls. This was not the case in the days when the US dollar was backed by actual silver, but once that backing was removed the dollar was allowed to fluctuate in value versus silver. If any fiat currency becomes widely untrusted by overprinting or other travesty then it can lose much or all of its value (see: Zimbabwe)

Silver’s Future

The price of silver stands to remain constant in relation to any currency that is properly managed by the government or central bank that controls the printing and issuance of that currency. However, the future silver prices will rise when that currency is over-printed or otherwise mismanaged, or if people’s faith in the currency is degraded. When this happens, the relative value of silver rises in relation to that currency. This scenario can happen in any part of the world and to any fiat currency including the US Dollar, the Euro, the Yen, the British Pound, and every other major currency in the world today. And with almost all nations dealing as debt as part of their financial strategy, these currency notes have become nothing more that a virtual “stock share” in that nation’s ability to repay its debt.

In light of all this, and the general atmosphere of financial uncertainty across the globe, the future silver prices stand to rise, and rise quite significantly in some cases. Holding silver that is purchased now while silver is relatively low-priced compared to its true intrinsic value is a recommended strategy. Don’t buy when silver is peaking in price like it did in at the end of April this year when it rose to challenge the $50 mark. It was just $15 a year earlier.

Conclusion

Future silver prices stand to rise, significantly. The best advice we can give you is to buy right now, unless there is a frenzy like late-April, and hold on to that silver. If you’re considering buying when prices are rising rapidly and to record-highs, please consider whether-or-not the future silver prices will stay at or above that mark forever. Anyone who bought during this last frenzy anywhere around $35 are still happy and have a solid investment today.

So, in our opinion it is always a good idea to buy and hold silver. The more you own, the better. And don’t sell when prices take a dip, because they stand to recover because of all the paper money out there. Keep in mind that future silver prices are almost guaranteed to rise in the long run.

References

Zimbabwe and its $100-trillion note

Resources

Silver charts:

February 2010

April 2011

May 2011

 

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Let us begin by defining what a “silver dollar” is, and the different meanings of the term “dollar”. The particular meaning of “dollar” that you use has a great big effect on the actual “silver dollar” values. First, there is the original and centuries-old definition of “dollar” which means a very specific weight of almost-pure silver. Second, the newer “silver dollar” is a US-minted silver alloy coin that is intended to be used as currency and legal tender in the United States. The latter contain silver, but not nearly the amount that is specified by the old-world definition of a dollar of silver.

So, a minted and (likely) circulated US coin with silver in it, and having a face value of $1, contains silver but NOT a dollar’s-weight of silver.

And, a minted but uncirculated (but perhaps worn otherwise) round of silver, resembling a coin, that is NOT legal tender, is silver bullion and contains a specific amount of silver in it.

Another diffference is that the circulated US coins will have the familiar look and markings of other US currency, while silver bullion rounds can have any variety of markings, and most will have their weight in troy ounces and silver putiry in number that are minted on the coin faces somewhere.

Silver dollar values and prices, for coins and certificates, vary widely. A silver dollar coin value can range from from a low of melt value, to an extremely high price because it is collectible and rare. Silver certificate dollars no not have a melt value, because linen burns, but these silver certificates are collectors items, and ones that are in excellent condition are prized by collectors because of their numismatic value.

The value of silver dollars is almost always above their melt value. Melt value simply means the sell price of the precious metals in the coin, if you were to melt it down and sell it as metal rather than a coin. Even silver coins that are common, worn, and minted in the past few decades are worth more than their melt value. For example, a Morgan Silver Dollar value, minted in the US in the 1920’s, even if it is circulated and worn and not in a great “collectible” condition, is worth more than the silver that is in it. By the way, this type of worn and non-collectible coin is called junk silver , but don’t let the name fool you, it is not junk! A Morgan dollar value will include not only the value of the silver content of the coin, but also a numismatic value relating to the condition and rarity of the coin. Peace silver dolar values are also of interest, check out a chart of Peace silver dollar values.

The silver dollar prices when you buy silver coins are usually a bit higher than the price that you can sell yours at. This is because the silver coin dealers must have a way to earn money by providing their services. The difference between selling price and buying price is normal, and part of the “cost of doing business” in the silver trade. You’re not getting ripped off, you’re simply paying a reasonable amount for the valuable service that an honest silver coin dealer is providing. They are making sure that you are paying a reasonable price when you buy, and that you are getting paid a reasonable price when you sell silver coins.

Silver Bullion Coins

What are silver bullion coins? Perhaps the best way to describe them are as half coin, half bullion… all value.

These items are not truly coins because they can’t be used (realistically) as money for their face value. They are not exactly bullion, because they have a face value denomination, and *could* therefore be used as money.

No matter what they are called in the the terminology of coin dealers, one thing is certain: silver is a solid and secure investment.

This precious metal never loses its value. For example, and ounce of silver today, if converted into today’s cash, could buy the same value of goods that an ounce of silver could buy 100 years ago. Try that with a penny! Today a penny buys virtually nothing, but 100 years ago you could buy a loaf of bread… you won’t get one slice of that loaf for a penny now.

The US dollar stands to lose even more value in the upcoming years, and the Fed prints more money and inflates the money supply. To avoid the devaluation of the dollars that one holds in cash or in a bank account, converting that cash into silver now is a sure way of doing it. You can buy bullion coins, produced by government mints in the US, Canada, and many countries across the globe, coin-like bullion rounds, such as the Canadian silver coins produces as the maple leaf.

Beat the system, save yourself from being robbed by inflation. Your safe haven in owning precious metals, and silver bullion coins are an excellent vehicle for that ownership of real money. Learn more and buy silver coins or buy silver bullion. When using it as a store of value and to protect your savings, try to avoid buying rare or collectible coins. Stick with bullion in the form of bars and coins that are standard issue and not valued much higher than their precious metal content. Another good buy is junk silver coins which are available at a reasonably small premium, and make for a nice investment that will hold value against inflation and such. The nice thing about junk silver coins is that many people recognize them and know that “in the good old days” the coins were made of real silver, so if you are ever forced to barter with them, their small size and widely recognized value makes them an excellent choice.

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We all know that investing in precious metals, specifically investing in silver, has not always been popular. Many have scoffed at the “safe-haven” of , saying that its returns are not high enough.

By “taking delivery” of a quantity of precious metal bullion you are placing actual portable value in your very hand. The security of actually owning your own true “bank” of cash, than at any time can be converted into paper money “notes” for the purpose of spending. (Silver and gold coins, excepting US “junk” silver coins, are not US “legal tender”). To our knowledge there is no country in the world that mints, or even allows for the direct usage of, precious metal coins for day-to-day use of the people. Therefore, owning the precious metal does require some amount of extra effort when converting it back into currency for spending, but we recommend to avoid that step at all costs, and only do so according to your long-term plan for investing in precious metals. What!? You don’t have one!? Well, you should, and you can get started by educuating yourself on what to plan for, why to plan for it, what is needed, how to execute the plan, and most of all, how to take the first step in getting started with the entire grand process: making your first investment plan for buying precious metals. By creating a plan, you have done more than 99.99% of people do. Don’t delay, begin today on it, because the sooner you “see the light” of silver investing, and taking delivery of said investments, the better off you are. We’re here to help you do that, but NOT just because-we-said-so. We want to educate you on what it is all about, give you a real and unbiased information on what we feel and know to be true, so that you can make your own decision, using the education that you have given yourself by reading here, and abroad, about what it means to invest in silver coins and bullion. You owe it to yourself to do what is right for YOUR future. We’re here to help. Silver coin values, per-coin and for the benefit of your financial future, is what we’re all about.

Here is some community info about investing in silver that can get your appetite whet, if nothing else. But come back here, we are just beginning to divulge our excellent curriculum surrounding the investment in the precious metals markets and the necessity of physical delivery and ownership of the silver (or whatever precious metal you buy).

Setting goals for investment is important. Here’s a tip for investing in silver: imagine what you want to achieve with your investment, and write it down on paper. You need to imagine, in your mind and with as much clarity and detail as possible, exactly how much silver you want to own, and how your like will feel when owning that amount of silver. Get into the details of your final goal and how it looks/feels/smells/etc… What does your house look like? Are you wearing your favorite clothes? What is your occupation? And what does that silver look like, sitting in your safe or in your hands? So, how much are you going to have? Write it down. Another fun and creative goal-setting activity is to decide on a dollar amount of silver that you want to have in your posession. Divide that amount by the current price of an ounce of silver, you’ll get the number of ounce-size silver coins or bullion bars that you’ll have. Imagine this pile, imagine it fulfilling all your plans for it, satisfying all your investment goals. See the pile, see its size and feel the weight. Now multiply it times six! This is what that pile stands to do in the near future. The value of silver in dollars stands to skyrocket in the future of the US economy.

Silver Spot Price

The current silver spot price, per troy ounce:
Silver current spot price

The numbers that follow the word “Silver” indicate the immediate spot price, then the starting price today, then the high and low prices today, and then the change in price today, from base, as a dollar amount then as a percentage, respectively.

 

Silver spot price is the current silver price on the commodity market. This is the price if one were to buy and pay immediately, and this price fluctuates during the day as active trading happens.

When actively trading silver it is imperative that you know the spot prices throughout the day. Active traders can view the price here, as well as see a history of the price for 24 hours and longer at our silver charts page.

Buying silver for a store of value, it is still important to know the current spot price because you want to be sure to pay as little premium as possible (premium is the cost you pay, above the actual value of the metal in the bullion, coin, or bar that you intend to buy).

To calculate premium above spot price as a percentage, use this method:

  1. If necessary, calculate the weight of the silver into troy ounces (this only need be done if one is buying in grams or pounds, rather than ounces).
  2. Multiply the number of ounces to be purchased by the current spot price shown on this page.
  3. Record this number as the spot value of the silver being purchased.
  4. Subtract this spot value from the same price, the difference is the premium.
  5. Divide the premium amount by the spot value, and that quotient is the percentage, over spot, that the premium represents. (This number will be less than 1, e.g. “.155” is fifteen point five percent, written as 15.5%)
  6. (You can multiply that quotient by 100, and the product is an easier to read percentage that can be read as a simple percentage, e.g. 15.5 is fifteen point five percent, written as 15.5%)

 

Buy silver as close to spot price (or below spot if one is very lucky) as possible. The lower the premium paid, the more metal can be purchased per dollar.

Silver Coin Dealers

Purchasing silver from silver coin dealers is the most common way to buy silver for decades and indeed centuries past. Today there are an ever-increasing number of ways to purchase precious metals thanks to telephones, the Internet, and global shipping offering services to consumers. Regardless of how one chooses to buy silver, it is essential that the seller be scrutinized before any money changed hands or any contracts are signed. But once that relationship is made with a reputable and trustworthy source the buying process becomes simple and quick.

An informed buyer makes better decisions, this is common sense. And any good dealer will prefer to work with an educated buyer, so always beware if any seller appears to discourage your interest in the details of transactions and the metals buying process in general. Ask your silver dealer, once one is secured, for guidance in educating yourself further in the subject of ownership and management of hard assets in precious metals, along with the tax implications of purchasing and method of purchase, and this is just to name a few and scratch the surface. There is a lot of information that can be absorbed and used to the advantage of you, the buyer, and every dollar saved in a transaction is one more dollar of precious metal that can be held in your hand.

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In order to buy silver bullion below spot price you have to know how to get it for that price and who to buy it from. You won’t find silver for sale under spot price from any place that deals primarily in precious metals. One place you can find deals below spot price is your local pawn shop. They can often times have silver coins or bullion coins for sale, and not know the current worth of those items. In this case, you can get them for below spot price, but you have to be informed and educated before you go in to make a purchase.

For investing in silver as a precious metal commodity, you don’t want to be paying numismatic value on any coins or bullion items that you purchase. You only want to pay for the melt value of the items, and not more. If you do pay more than melt value, this is called a premium, and it should be as small as possible, of course. You can buy silver online or through local dealers at a premium, so knowing what premium you pay elsewhere will help you to know if the pawn shop find is a deal or not.

We have a resource that tells how to buy silver in its various forms, mainly silver coins and silver bullion bars and silver bullion rounds.