Silver for kids

[SamsonDD]

I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction of supplier of 1/2 silver coins?  Ideally, I'm looking for a tube or two to act as a float within the household for an education project.

I'm currently trying to teach my children about 'money' and as part of this, I am encouraging them to keep their wealth in precious metals.  The theory is that, as they create value/generate revenue through household tasks etc., I will pay them in silver.  They can accumulate their silver (money) and then, at a given time, if they choose to purchase something (which Daddy doesn't consider a complete waste of money 😂) they can convert to debt-based fiat I owe you nothing rubbish to make the purchase.

My objective is to teach them the difference between something with value and a currency and hopefully sow seeds which will help them in the future.  They will also hopefully see the amount of fiat rubbish they get back for their silver coins increase over time.

Anyway, I'm struggling to find suppliers and 1 oz is a bit rich for me (the kids are 8, 7 and 3 🤣).  I know they will carry a bigger premium but...

TIA

[Tn21]

Just an idea maybe consider just buying the milky, unloved silver which is sometimes up for sale on here at £25/£26 per Oz. 

The 1/2oz premiums are huge and they are are to get hold of in this current climate. 

 

 

[SamsonDD]

11 minutes ago, Tn21 said:

Just an idea maybe consider just buying the milky, unloved silver which is sometimes up for sale on here at £25/£26 per Oz. 

The 1/2oz premiums are huge and they are are to get hold of in this current climate. 

 

 

Makes sense, but that would mean I'd be paying them £25/£26 oz each time so therefore less frequently.  However, I suppose paying them once a month would be another little life lesson too.

I don't know what the rate of pocket money is these days but I couldn't hold out to £25 x 3 each week!  😀

[BullionBob]

21 minutes ago, SamsonDD said:

Makes sense, but that would mean I'd be paying them £25/£26 oz each time so therefore less frequently.  However, I suppose paying them once a month would be another little life lesson too.

I don't know what the rate of pocket money is these days but I couldn't hold out to £25 x 3 each week!  😀

Don't make the same mistake as me and start off with 1 oz marvel coins.............I've ran out of excuses to my 7yr old son, as to why he hasn't received the Spiderman coin yet, lol.

[Roy]

Pay them in sterling sixpences and shillings!

Great idea SDD

[Pete]

Definitely avoid the half ounce coins as they can often cost about as much as some 1 ounce.
I suggest you hand your kids £2 ordinary coins then they can convert say 12-15 of these to a one ounce silver bullion coin.
Having a mix of these would be akin to having a £50 and a £5 note in your wallet.
If your kids needed to sell a silver coin you could swap for £2 coins and keep the silver until the next exchange the other way.

[stackerp5]

What about pre 1947, or pre 1920 UK silver? They might have higher premiums now than 6 months back. Plus you'll pay a larger premiums on denominations under 1ozt.

Which leads me to this: or buy couple hundred grams of silver casting grain online or in the forum. If you go with this or need more info I can send you some links or recommend vendors on here  

Plus, casting grain is very fun to play with at large amounts. Just be careful not to spill or make a mess! Lol

[SamsonDD]

53 minutes ago, BullionBob said:

Don't make the same mistake as me and start off with 1 oz marvel coins.............I've ran out of excuses to my 7yr old son, as to why he hasn't received the Spiderman coin yet, lol.

Will focus on the bullion element initially rather than numismatics!  Thanks for the tip!  😂

[SamsonDD]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

I suggest you hand your kids £2 ordinary coins then they can convert say 12-15 of these to a one ounce silver bullion coin.
Having a mix of these would be akin to having a £50 and a £5 note in your wallet.
If your kids needed to sell a silver coin you could swap for £2 coins and keep the silver until the next exchange the other way.

Yes, the silver will definitely being staying in the 'Family Bank' or 'Family Economy'.

My issue is that I want to pay them with silver and then trigger the switch to fiat.  

I want them thinking in ounces/value rather than £s/fiat/debt or at least have the ability to view their purposes and values correctly.

What I was thinking was while it will be hard to swallow the initial extortionate premium, technically, I don't need that many high premium coins.

For example, at a minimum, I could get away with three quarters, three half ounces and then a few ounces.  I could start by paying a quarter ounce for good behaviour, then at the next interval, simply replace their quarter with a half ounce and so forth.  In reality, a few extras would be handy but that might get around the eye watering premiums (which I have observed)!

[SamsonDD]

3 hours ago, stackerp5 said:

What about pre 1947, or pre 1920 UK silver? They might have higher premiums now than 6 months back. Plus you'll pay a larger premiums on denominations under 1ozt.

Which leads me to this: or buy couple hundred grams of silver casting grain online or in the forum. If you go with this or need more info I can send you some links or recommend vendors on here  

Plus, casting grain is very fun to play with at large amounts. Just be careful not to spill or make a mess! Lol

The casting grain shall be investigated just for the pure novelty factor!  😃

My daughter(s) are really creative and who knows, that and the casting grain could lead to something really cool in the future!

[Pete]

1 hour ago, SamsonDD said:

Yes, the silver will definitely being staying in the 'Family Bank' or 'Family Economy'.

My issue is that I want to pay them with silver and then trigger the switch to fiat.  

I want them thinking in ounces/value rather than £s/fiat/debt or at least have the ability to view their purposes and values correctly.

What I was thinking was while it will be hard to swallow the initial extortionate premium, technically, I don't need that many high premium coins.

For example, at a minimum, I could get away with three quarters, three half ounces and then a few ounces.  I could start by paying a quarter ounce for good behaviour, then at the next interval, simply replace their quarter with a half ounce and so forth.  In reality, a few extras would be handy but that might get around the eye watering premiums (which I have observed)!

How about buying some small silver bars that are e.g. 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 gram ?

[SamsonDD]

Yes, I like the idea of that.  The bonus is it gives them a bit of variety.

I'm also thinking of getting them some interesting 1 ounce coins to encourage them to keep them rather than just spending on rubbish.  Might even get a little coin collector out of it!  😀

[27carrots]

As you only need a few ounces as a one off, it might be worth getting a tube of 19 quarter ounces from europeanmint in estonia. It works out at £29 an ounce before shipping customs vat etc.

[SamsonDD]

6 minutes ago, 27carrots said:

As you only need a few ounces as a one off, it might be worth getting a tube of 19 quarter ounces from europeanmint in estonia. It works out at £29 an ounce before shipping customs vat etc.

Is that for real?  1/4 oz silver Brits?  I thought we could only get them in 1 oz?

[27carrots]

https://www.europeanmint.com/2021-1-4oz-uk-quarter-ounce-silver-britannia-coin/

[Bigmarc]

Maybe cooks on gold, you can buy silver sheet for jewelry making. You can make it what ever weight you like then. Maybe buy some stamps as well to keep them more engaged. I think it goes up to 4mm thick. Not sure how much it would cost tho.

 

 

[SamsonDD]

Okay guys you are fuelling my addiction here!  Too many ideas 😂

[TutoredSoup232]

Valcambi combi bars maybe? Premiums are higher but then you have tear away pieces of silver

[Bigmarc]

5 minutes ago, TutoredSoup232 said:

Valcambi combi bars maybe? Premiums are higher but then you have tear away pieces of silver

Probably the best shout yet.

 

[Groundup]

First lesson I'd teach the little sh*ts.... er I mean children is to keep quiet at school that daddy pays me in silver coins and he has loads of them at home in the safe...

[SamsonDD]

12 minutes ago, Groundup said:

First lesson I'd teach the little sh*ts.... er I mean children is to keep quiet at school that daddy pays me in silver coins and he has loads of them at home in the safe...

Excellent point, probably as big a deal as any I've heard actually.  To get around that I'd thought about having the family safe which will consist of a pretty pathetic cash box with a key.  Within, there will be circa 30 ounces in various sizes.  Anything else is stored at various locations for security reasons and won't be known the kids.  Thanks for making the comment and suggestion - food for us all and always good to be reminded to keep stacking/collecting on the downlow.

[SamsonDD]

8 hours ago, TutoredSoup232 said:

Valcambi combi bars maybe? Premiums are higher but then you have tear away pieces of silver

Wow!  Didn't know about these little guys before!  They are definitely on my radar now!  Good way to get them ready for 100ozers in the future!  

[papi1980]

Just sharing my experience. I bought pre47 British coins, different years and denominations and my kids are really interested in them-learning history, weighing them to calculate the silver content and intrinsic value, and just exploring them for oddities

i think is an excellent way to learn something more and introduce them to numismatics (if that is the goal of course) 

I have only 1920-1947 (50%), but now they ask me to get pre-1919 and older  

[Arganto]

I second the old currency as an idea, especially as there's masses of choice in weight/cost and the benefit of other world silver to use. The tooth fairy has been using good condition British .925 and .500 in my house for example. Rewards requiring payment are the same, the idea being if it's saved it's likely to gain in value the longer they hold onto it, plus the history of the thing theoretically helps them relate to the past. Like when we used actual money to exchange for things...

The other thing is if you've got scrappy bullion silver and are a dab hand with a cutting tool you could cut a 1 oz coin or bar in four 😁 Just lubricate as you cut so you don't have flecks of silver getting wasted! 🤣

[MrFreezerrr]

On 17/04/2021 at 23:03, Liam84 said:

The tooth fairy

used actual money to exchange for things...

dab hand  

Just lubricate

flecks

wasted

This is getting way out of hand 😂