1oz Maples for £19.28, Should I buy?

[FullMetalJacket]

Hey Everyone,

Wanted to get some advice. I'm thinking to pull the trigger on some 1oz 2020 Maples for £19.25 each (inc. tax + p&p).

The spot is basically £12 right now so that's a £7.25 premium.

I currently have zero silver and very new to this. Main reason to buy is wealth preservation so won't be looking to sell as long as possible (maybe 10 years+).

Should I buy? Is it too high of a premium? Should I wait and see?

I have some money not doing anything. Spending some won't make a difference in my life but having physical asset like this could in the long term. 

Any suggestions, opinions or ideas would be greatly appreciated! 

[KevjustKev]

That's not too bad over all when taking in the P&P. May be worth asking here before you go for that deal

[Arganto]

Including tax and postage that's not a bad price for silver Maple Leaf coins right now. If you're not set on that particular coin though you can get the per oz cost down buying other coins or cheaper still silver bars, can go as low as £16.xx per oz on smaller bars (~500gram) and better still for the big bois.

Maples seem to hold their premiums better than some other coins, especially as they age for whatever reason. Not saying this will always be true but there's a good chance, so whatever spot does (in my opinion) you'll likely be set to preserve what you paid or even have it appreciate. 

Have a look at premium membership to get in on the trade section as the adverts go up, plenty of good prices if you stay sharp and have a blisteringly quick mouse clicking/phone tapping finger...😉

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

Its a really tough one to advise you on because of where we are at the moment. In normal times I would tell you the last thing you should be doing is paying that much for something as generic as a standard maple. We of course aren't in normal times so this is the best I can think of advice wise for you:

If you believe strongly that silver is going to go up in value fairly quickly and you'll be able to make up for the massive premium - make the purchase.

If you believe things will get back to normal in the future and what we're currently going through around the world is just a blip - don't make that purchase.

There is no science or future telling here. Its all down to what you believe will happen. Personally I wouldn't buy a standard generic maple for that high a premium. That being said I'm not really buying any silver at the moment since the premiums on all of it are pretty stupid right now. My advice would be to wait. If you don't want to wait though then I'd suggest you made a purchase for something which has a better chance of holding its premium. @arshimo2012 has a listing currently for 2oz queens beast bulls @ £37.30 each. If you buy a couple you should be able to get them shipped for a similar price to those maples you are looking at but IMO they have a better chance at holding that value than the maple does long term.

[Arganto]

@Derv is selling 2015 Maples for £19 plus post. Not sure how many they have but they've got a cool little leaf privy thing going on, maybe more collectible?

You'll need at least silver premium to see the listing unless you wait until it's past day three.

From BBP:

An additional small maple leaf is stamped at the bottom of the coin, which indicates that the coin now features the Royal Canadian Mint's new 'Mintshield surface protection' - a new technology that makes the silver more resistant to white spotting on the coin's surface.

ahhhhhh

[KitboyE17]

5 hours ago, FullMetalJacket said:

1oz 2020 Maples for £19.25 each (inc. tax + p&p).

This is a very good price at the moment.

General retail in Canada is currently above £20 per oz. And the Royal Canadian Mint has been closed due to Covid19 so RCM silver is hard to come by at moment.

If you want them - get them - prices will change quickly up/down. 

[OriginalS]

It depends how many you're planning to buy also, £19.25 each isn't a bad price at current times, but if it's a large purchase the price could be better

[Melon]

My 2 cents - it's too much. Hold out for a lower premium. 

[FullMetalJacket]

58 minutes ago, Liam84 said:

Including tax and postage that's not a bad price for silver Maple Leaf coins right now. If you're not set on that particular coin though you can get the per oz cost down buying other coins or cheaper still silver bars, can go as low as £16.xx per oz on smaller bars (~500gram) and better still for the big bois.

😉

I'm not set on it but can't find any bars available. Any pointers where I could look would be appreciated.

Not getting premium right now but will probably very soon.

[FullMetalJacket]

1 hour ago, AppleZippoandMetronome said:

Its a really tough one to advise you on because of where we are at the moment. In normal times I would tell you the last thing you should be doing is paying that much for something as generic as a standard maple. We of course aren't in normal times so this is the best I can think of advice wise for you:

If you believe strongly that silver is going to go up in value fairly quickly and you'll be able to make up for the massive premium - make the purchase.

If you believe things will get back to normal in the future and what we're currently going through around the world is just a blip - don't make that purchase.

There is no science or future telling here. Its all down to what you believe will happen. Personally I wouldn't buy a standard generic maple for that high a premium. That being said I'm not really buying any silver at the moment since the premiums on all of it are pretty stupid right now. My advice would be to wait. If you don't want to wait though then I'd suggest you made a purchase for something which has a better chance of holding its premium. @arshimo2012 has a listing currently for 2oz queens beast bulls @ £37.30 each. If you buy a couple you should be able to get them shipped for a similar price to those maples you are looking at but IMO they have a better chance at holding that value than the maple does long term.

Thanks for the advise. Really helpful. I've been feeling the same so wanted to check with people in the know.

[Arganto]

https://www.bairdmint.com/silver/silver-bars

There are likely others available but these seem to be the cheapest on the market right now even when considering VAT. I bought a 500g the other day and it worked out at £16.38 p/oz including VAT. Delivery is on top but that's the same for most things. That still represents a premium that veterans on the forum would likely consider very high for a bar, but in today's climate works out okay. Cheapest I've managed to buy silver was £15.xx p/oz for royal mint bullion coins late Feb/early March which is when I started buying silver. That was VAT free from the continent.

[FullMetalJacket]

17 minutes ago, OriginalS said:

It depends how many you're planning to buy also, £19.25 each isn't a bad price at current times, but if it's a large purchase the price could be better

It's a tube of 25. I could get some Krugerrand which drops the price to £19. Not much difference but everything is pricey everywhere right now

[FullMetalJacket]

37 minutes ago, KitboyE17 said:

This is a very good price at the moment.

General retail in Canada is currently above £20 per oz. And the Royal Canadian Mint has been closed due to Covid19 so RCM silver is hard to come by at moment.

If you want them - get them - prices will change quickly up/down. 

What's your opinion on Krugerrands? I can get them for cheaper but not sure how they compare to Maples in the long-term 

[OriginalS]

In my opinion theirs no difference, their both bullion coins in a tube so won't have much numismatic value, they may both have a small premium in the future.

 

But I believe a lot of 2020 coins are going to be selling for a premium in a few years because of the limited production

[Abyss]

August 2018 bought I bought 5 Maples with other items from European Mint as part group order and paid 15.21 Euros / £13.50 (current exchange rate).

Spot price for Silver is the same as August 2018 except the premiums gone crazy due to mine/refiner/mint temporary closures. Wait these temporary closures to re-open back for business and you should see premiums return back to normal over several months.

[FullMetalJacket]

19 minutes ago, Liam84 said:

https://www.bairdmint.com/silver/silver-bars

There are likely others available but these seem to be the cheapest on the market right now even when considering VAT. I bought a 500g the other day and it worked out at £16.38 p/oz including VAT. Delivery is on top but that's the same for most things. That still represents a premium that veterans on the forum would likely consider very high for a bar, but in today's climate works out okay. Cheapest I've managed to buy silver was £15.xx p/oz for royal mint bullion coins late Feb/early March which is when I started buying silver. That was VAT free from the continent.

Thanks for this. Baird has suspended trading right now but will check back later.

[Arganto]

That's just because it's outside business hours, they'll be back at it Monday morning 👍

[FullMetalJacket]

3 minutes ago, Abyss said:

August 2018 bought I bought 5 Maples with other items from European Mint as part group order and paid 15.21 Euros / £13.50 (current exchange rate).

Spot price for Silver is the same as August 2018 except the premiums gone crazy due to mine/refiner/mint temporary closures. Wait these temporary closures to re-open back for business and you should see premiums return back to normal over several months.

Thanks for this. Was wondering how the current situation has affected the pricing compared to other times. I might change tact and buy bars now and coins later.

[FullMetalJacket]

1 minute ago, Liam84 said:

That's just because it's outside business hours, they'll be back at it Monday morning 👍

Oh. That's weird. I thought the point of websites was to work on weekends 😅

[OriginalS]

12 minutes ago, Abyss said:

August 2018 bought I bought 5 Maples with other items from European Mint as part group order and paid 15.21 Euros / £13.50 (current exchange rate).

Spot price for Silver is the same as August 2018 except the premiums gone crazy due to mine/refiner/mint temporary closures. Wait these temporary closures to re-open back for business and you should see premiums return back to normal over several months.

While that's a very good price, it was at near a bottom low, a year later spot was over £15, I can't see spot price staying low when mints and manufacturing start reopening.

 

But I guess no one knows which direction it's going to go

[SilverCalligrapher]

2 hours ago, AppleZippoandMetronome said:

If you believe strongly that silver is going to go up in value fairly quickly and you'll be able to make up for the massive premium - make the purchase.

If you believe things will get back to normal in the future and what we're currently going through around the world is just a blip - don't make that purchase.

It seems like a decent price to me. If things go back to normal, then wouldn't maples still be $17-21? It's just the premium in relation to paper silver that would be lower, not necessarily the cost. From what I've seen, the price of maples hasn't changed much through all this.

I must also kindly disagree with your comment about "something as generic as maples." There's nothing generic about CSMs: four 9s fine, extra weight, great security features, high FV, what's not to like? I'd take a milky maple over a generic any day.

[Arganto]

1 hour ago, FullMetalJacket said:

Oh. That's weird. I thought the point of websites was to work on weekends 😅

Started happening with the quasi-lock down scenario we're in right now. When Boris&Co pull their collective finger out the trading hours thing should revert...

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

Just now, SilverCalligrapher said:

It seems like a decent price to me. If things go back to normal, then wouldn't maples still be $17-21? It's just the premium in relation to paper silver that would be lower, not necessarily the cost. From what I've seen, the price of maples hasn't changed much through all this.

I must also kindly disagree with your comment about "something as generic as maples." There's nothing generic about CSMs: four 9s fine, extra weight, great security features, high FV, what's not to like? I'd take a milky maple over a generic any day.

I think one thing to consider here is that you may be seeing a different reality based upon your location. Over here in the UK premiums have gone up massively in the last couple of months. I have no knowledge of US markets as its never been practical to buy from there and ship here. What happened over here seemed to be a perfect storm of mints stopping production of bullion products just as demand really kicked off. Supply and demand dictates that prices rise so thats where we are over here.

I love the silver maple. My own stack and collection includes several hundred ozs worth of silver maples. Its always been a favourite of mine because it has always traditionally been one of the cheaper ones to buy. With a spot price of £12 I would expect to be paying something like £14 to a max of £15 for silver maples. Most of mine have been acquired at this price and below. It is generic because it is one of the cheapest and most mass produced silver bullion products out there. Simple realities.

To give you an idea of how premiums have changed over here I purchased 42oz from the European Mint on the 16th of March. Spot price at the time I ordered was £10.25/oz. My order total came to £587.47. That gives a price per oz of £13.99. If I wanted to place a similar order now it would come to £796.81 or £18.97/oz. That is an increase per oz of nearly £5 despite the fact spot has only gone up £1.72. It is currently artifically overpriced.

But again as I said in my original post for those who think silver will rise in value fast enough the current premiums may not matter. To me it does matter though. Paying more for artifically high premiums just seems very wasteful and unnecessary.

[silvernewbie]

I would wait till production starts these were £15oz just months back and spot has gone lower, you need silver to double to break even!  I am waiting for a few months before buying again and buying Gold in meantime

[SilverCalligrapher]

18 minutes ago, AppleZippoandMetronome said:

But again as I said in my original post for those who think silver will rise in value fast enough the current premiums may not matter. To me it does matter though. Paying more for artifically high premiums just seems very wasteful and unnecessary.

I understand that the premiums have increased, but have the prices increased? Or is it just that the paper silver price bottomed out and the coins continued to be traded at market value? It seems like you got lucky when an automated system priced silver based on "normal premiums" when the spot price bottomed out. You make some good points, but it's the premiums that seem artificial to me. Do we think the RCM somehow got tonnes of silver at $12/ozt for the coins it already made before March? They likely got their silver around the spot prices from months to years ago, so it only appears that the premiums on maples are super high.