Pros and Cons of scrap

[rebelsilver]

I would be interested to know whether anyone on this site buys scrap silver for investment purposes?  

From my limited knowledge it works out at least 1£/oz cheaper than the lowest premium rounds from the cheapest European dealers.

I have dabbled in scrap from a certain dealer at heart of hatton garden, and he said that scrap was a better investment than 9999 bullion since one is less likely to become attached to it and therefore become more hesitant to sell when the price is high.  Any thoughts on this?

nb I am a medium to long term investor.

[Coincollector]

If you can buy sterling silver flatware at a good price then in my opinion it's a good investment purely on the metal content. Each piece has a full UK hallmark, and can easily test an item without worrying about losing any value to the item.

what percent over do you pay for your scrap and what kind of items do you buy?

 

[HawkHybrid]

not being attached to it also means that there's less to

say about it on forums. you end up talking about price/oz

and then it becomes purely for investment. also consider

when selling you might not get spot for it?

scrap silver makes sense for the 'be all and end all'.

coins are more fun for the journey and it could be a long

journey.

 

HH

[rebelsilver]

2 hours ago, Coincollector said:

If you can buy sterling silver flatware at a good price then in my opinion it's a good investment purely on the metal content. Each piece has a full UK hallmark, and can easily test an item without worrying about losing any value to the item.

what percent over do you pay for your scrap and what kind of items do you buy?

 

I have never paid more than 10%.

It is mainly flatware, some engraved and badly tarnished, some vg condition - it varies.

[watchesandwhisky]

Personaly I like scrap silver, and have invested in it, but if you want it to shift you have to sell it just below spot price. 

[rebelsilver]

1 hour ago, Madstacks said:

Personaly I like scrap silver, and have invested in it, but if you want it to shift you have to sell it just below spot price. 

It seems to me you have to either be into numismatics and know what you are doing or go to the other extreme and buy as low as possible which means scrap.  

i.e. there is no point buying generic or low premium minted rounds.

[HelpingHands]

I suppose if you were to buy the cheapest coins/rounds available you would likely find a buyer if you need to sell quickly.

You probably wouldn't need to settle for scrap. If you are prepared to sell slightly under the STG price at the given time then I'm pretty sure you'd find buyers.

[Paul]

People ALWAYS seem to totally disregard TIME, and you also have associated costs involved with sourcing your scrap.

Do you really want to waste half a day of your weekend off to save, 25p-50p on an oz of scrap silver.  I certainly don't want to.

Searching around in your leisure time looking on ebay, visiting antique fairs, collectors fairs, pawing through junk boxes, car boot fairs, haggling, calling around on phone, petrol to get you there in the car, parking costs, tube fair, the coffee you buy at the drafty fair, the £1 or £2 entrance fee just to stalls, the pegs you have to buy for your nose to counter the hygiene challenged who frequent such fairs etc

Time and additional costs sharp add to your bargain scrap

To each there own, if you can get scrap silver easily locally great.  But the one or two times i buy a month, it is a 5-10 mins job done, from the cheapest place i have found HGM for certain gold and STG here on the forum for silver.

 

 

 

[rebelsilver]

3 hours ago, Paul said:

People ALWAYS seem to totally disregard TIME, and you also have associated costs involved with sourcing your scrap.

Do you really want to waste half a day of your weekend off to save, 25p-50p on an oz of scrap silver.  I certainly don't want to.

Searching around in your leisure time looking on ebay, visiting antique fairs, collectors fairs, pawing through junk boxes, car boot fairs, haggling, calling around on phone, petrol to get you there in the car, parking costs, tube fair, the coffee you buy at the drafty fair, the £1 or £2 entrance fee just to stalls, the pegs you have to buy for your nose to counter the hygiene challenged who frequent such fairs etc

Time and additional costs sharp add to your bargain scrap

To each there own, if you can get scrap silver easily locally great.  But the one or two times i buy a month, it is a 5-10 mins job done, from the cheapest place i have found HGM for certain gold and STG here on the forum for silver.

 

 

 

Fair point - time is money!  

I suppose not everyone has access to a local dealer they can call, and if you are buying 100oz a month then you can make a substantial yearly saving with scrap over bullion.