European constitutional (junk) silver

[StevenDS]

What do you guys feel is a good price currently for European junk silver. No special dates or condition. Just coins for silver value.

I used to think melt value was 80% of spot price. Nowadays with high premiums on silver I feel spot price is already a good deal.

Do you consider spot price for junk silver a good deal in current climate?

[Robbin]

I was just wondering what can I get for my Dutch 1 guldens and 2,5 guldens if i want to sell it now without much effort. I looked up some professional buyers.

Holland Gold offers spot - 5 % fix

Dawson Gold offers 10 - 12% under spot

Nederlandse Goudhandel is trying to steal to silver from the unknown and offers 59 - 62% under spot.

So for my it didn't make any sense to sell my silver to any random guy on the internet for less then 95% of spot. Maybe someone who inherit some silver and only knows the prices of the Nederlandse Goudhandel is happy to sell at 75% of spot.

 

But in general I think  95 - 100% is a good price considering what professional buyers are offering. And Maybe prices are a little better when there is less demand. For example France silver in Hungary.   

[StevenDS]

Thanks for sharing. I have been seeing Belgian 90% LMU silver appearing around spot +5%. Trying to get them down to spot, but no luck so far.

I was wondering whether my spot offer was so outrageous.

[StevenDS]

I have found and bought a nice lot just below silver spot price. Will post some pics here next week, when I have received them.

[StevenDS]

On 04/09/2020 at 21:28, StevenDS said:

I have found and bought a nice lot just below silver spot price. Will post some pics here next week, when I have received them.

Herewith the pictures of the first lot. Second lot will arrive on Thursday or Friday. Everything was bought below spot.

The 3 big ones are sterling silver (92,5%) medals, once proof. They don't fit into my strategy of makes tubes and will be sold soon. Nice and big to hold though.

 

[Arganto]

For 'junk' currency silver that isn't total scrap (has some decent detail, maybe even equivalent to fine/very fine) in the current climate I reckon spot price is a decent deal. You'll always get lowball offers (when compared to the private market) from dealers because they look at it with an eye on the cost required to process it.

For coins that are nice but not rare or super sought after I personally don't think a seller asking a bit of a premium is unfair. Currently even common coins can garner a decent base valuation from Numista or Allcoinvalues etc, always to be taken with a pinch of salt but they can often be a good guide for helping find a value.

If you consider that if you sell a 99.99% bullion coin to a dealer you'll either get current spot or just under but you paid a 20%+ premium when you bought it then currency coins start to look like a good buy at much lower premiums.

I wouldn't sell to a dealer though unless your exit strategy is based on bulk sales to bail out quickly. It's nicer to keep the coins in the hands of people who will likely appreciate them, plus you'll usually make more back in the transaction.

Just my 2 cents though as the Muricans say, doesn't mean I'm right.

[StevenDS]

And herewith the pictures of the second lot.

 

[StevenDS]

And herewith the final product. I have decided to only focus on these sizes, because they match best with the available tubes on the market (mostly used for US constitutional silver).

 

[Divmad]

On 11/09/2020 at 14:58, StevenDS said:

And herewith the final product. I have decided to only focus on these sizes, because they match best with the available tubes on the market (mostly used for US constitutional silver).

 

Was this a private sale in TSF or online auction, or what? I would like to buy something similar .

[StevenDS]

1 hour ago, Divmad said:

Was this a private sale in TSF or online auction, or what? I would like to buy something similar .

This is a small project of mine. Scroll up to find more info. I have been buying Belgian and French constitutional silver on a Belgian 'second hand' online market.

I have bought the tubes separately. My intention is to sell them as full tubes of European constitutional 'junk' silver around spot when spot price increases. It's a gamble, because I don't know where there is any interest in such a product, like there is in US constitutional silver stacking.

I have been surprised of the quality of the coins I am able to find though. Of course it's not the best quality collector coins and there are many cleaned ones. But also some nice quality ones with nice patina.

Some of what I have bought, shown in previous posts, I will already be selling because they don't fit my tube strategy. My focus now, as seen in above picture are.

The small tubes are 50 Frank Mercury (Belgium) 83,5% silver (about 220 gram pure silver).

The big tubes are all 5 Frank: Leopold II (Belgium), Louis Philippe (France), Hercules (France), all 90% silver (about 495 gram pure silver).

 

It's nice to read that it's something you might be interested in. When times comes to sell, I will be offering them on TSF as well.

In total I will be selling 10 large and 10 small tubes.

 

I just bought a new lot, which puts me at 7 complete large tubes and 4 complete small tubes.

[Divmad]

Steven, You're fortunate in that you live in Belgium so that you can access a local online dealer (in English?) and pay only local postage. I'm wondering also if this "constitutional" silver stacking is as prevalent in some Eu countries as it is in the USA and UK. Every Eu country has its historic silver circulated coinage but are they all aware of the investment potential, assuming of course, a long term silver price appreciation?

[StevenDS]

1 minute ago, Divmad said:

Steven, You're fortunate in that you live in Belgium so that you can access a local online dealer (in English?) and pay only local postage. I'm wondering also if this "constitutional" silver stacking is as prevalent in some Eu countries as it is in the USA and UK. Every Eu country has its historic silver circulated coinage but are they all aware of the investment potential, assuming of course, a long term silver price appreciation?

I'm actually buying from private persons. The online site allows free listings, which makes it quite popular and it's used to sell everything. There is a nice amount of silver offered there due to the higher spot price. These coins previously were not possible to buy under spot. Increased spot price however has made many people holding these coins want to cash out.

For me it's a gamble, because I don't know whether there is any interest on TSF for example, in Belgian and French constitutional silver at spot which isn't UK constitutional silver. The 5 frank might do very well though, all being from the 18 hundreds (Latin Monetary Union era).

Anyway, it's silver at/below spot. I still expect silver to appreciate over time. If there is another run on BU silver, increasing premiums again. These 'junk' silver tubes might provide a nice opportunity.

[StevenDS]

I already completed the project I was pursuing in filling my tubes with European constitutional silver.

10 large tubes and 10 small tubes have been completed. In total 7,28 kg of pure silver.

Just need to label the tubes and all will be done.

 

 

[StevenDS]

And now it's finished. On to the next project.

[Divmad]

9 hours ago, StevenDS said:

And now it's finished. On to the next project.

Well done! I'm impressed at the speed with which you have amassed your complete tubes. It shows that there is a decent private market in old circulated silver coins in Belgium, at least. 

I have been buying the 10Fr Hercules coins recently. I really like that design. But I haven't been able to pick up any below spot yet, here in the UK. 

Out of interest, where did you buy your empty tubes from? And for how much?

ATB.

Tony

 

[StevenDS]

31 minutes ago, Divmad said:

Well done! I'm impressed at the speed with which you have amassed your complete tubes. It shows that there is a decent private market in old circulated silver coins in Belgium, at least. 

I have been buying the 10Fr Hercules coins recently. I really like that design. But I haven't been able to pick up any below spot yet, here in the UK. 

Out of interest, where did you buy your empty tubes from? And for how much?

ATB.

Tony

 

I found a collector who was willing to sell me his 'double' years. Price was important, because I saw it as a 'junk' silver project. Just stacking weight, not for quality numismatics. I was pleasantly surprised about the quality I got for the price I paid.

It was a win/win, because the collector was able to take profit of the higher silver price to free up cash.

The tubes I used are made for the US constitutional dollar (large) and half dollar (small). They were a god fit with the 5 Francs and 50 francs. I bought them on Amazon from a US seller. Price was decent, but shipping makes it more expensive. There are cheaper types of tubes, but I really liked the quality, size and square shape of these tubes. Herewith below what I paid for the 20 tubes and shipping.