Calculating the spot price of .925

[DrDave]

Possibly a bit of a newbie question, but is it that simple to work out the price of .925 and .500 silver?

My guess is that is's 92.5% of the spot value of .9999, but i'm assuming there's a cost to consider for smelting etc. 

I can look at the price that BBP will buy scrap for, but thats not its spot value.

Thank you for entertaining my stupidity 🤔

[sixgun]

On TSF, sellers will usually give the weight of pure silver and charge according to that weight. From my experience they expect to get at least spot. It depends on what is being sold. If it is some old tatt then spot is what it is. If it is a nice piece of silver which is either very decorative or has a utility then you might well expect to pay more than spot. 

Old silver circulating coins are another example - UK 50% silver coins generally sell for around spot on TSF. The 92.5 coins go for a premium to spot these days, unless of course they are badly worn and battered.

Remember spot isn't really a proper price. It is a value given to bits of paper, the value of a dot on the screen. If you wanted to take delivery and could actually take delivery you will be paying more than spot. Spot is a phony price and the price dealers want to pay so they can sell on for a higher price.

Edited August 18, 2022 by sixgun

[erv]

0.925 (silver content of coin) multiplied by the spot price (quoted in troy ounces) multiplied by the weight of coin in troy ounces equals the silver value of the coin.

[LawrenceChard]

16 hours ago, DrDave said:

Possibly a bit of a newbie question, but is it that simple to work out the price of .925 and .500 silver?

My guess is that is's 92.5% of the spot value of .9999, but i'm assuming there's a cost to consider for smelting etc. 

I can look at the price that BBP will buy scrap for, but thats not its spot value.

Thank you for entertaining my stupidity 🤔

Just assume fine silver = 1 or 100% or 1.000

Silver is not often .9999 (four nines fine), it is much more commonly .999 (three nines), but forget all of these.

So for .925 silver, calculate as .925 or 92.5%

For .500 silver, calculate as .500 or 50.0%

Do similar for any other finenesses.

You could also do it for .999, but this approach is not 99.9% reliable.

Does this help?

😎

[DrDave]

2 minutes ago, LawrenceChard said:

Just assume fine silver = 1 or 100% or 1.000

Silver is not often .9999 (four nines fine), it is much more commonly .999 (three nines), but forget all of these.

So for .925 silver, calculate as .925 or 92.5%

For .500 silver, calculate as .500 or 50.0%

Do similar for any other finenesses.

You could also do it for .999, but this approach is not 99.9% reliable.

Does this help?

😎

Yes thats great. Just as i thought.

I did wonder if there was an adjustment for smelting the .925 back to .999 but i think i'm just overcomplicating it

[LawrenceChard]

4 minutes ago, DrDave said:

Yes thats great. Just as i thought.

I did wonder if there was an adjustment for smelting the .925 back to .999 but i think i'm just overcomplicating it

Yes!

😎

[Bigmarc]

I created a spread sheet to add up multiple lots on eBay. Works pretty well but doesn't account for worn coins. 

[Uksilverstackers]

edit - just realised Silver not Gold, so deleted ooops,

Edited August 19, 2022 by Uksilverstackers