Comments on: Silver Bullion Coins http://www.spot-silver.com Spot silver price anlaysis for silver trading Thu, 05 May 2011 19:55:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Steve Spencer http://www.spot-silver.com/silver-bullion-coins/comment-page-1/#comment-4275 Steve Spencer Sun, 08 Aug 2010 02:10:06 +0000 http://www.spot-silver.com/?page_id=22#comment-4275 Hi Anna: Just a note - take it for what you will, but please believe that I am only wishing to help with the dissemination of accurate information. The ASE is not 4 nines fine, it is .99925, or 99.925% pure silver, the balance being copper - similar to the AGE which has a similar fineness to the Kruggerand, the added copper to provide hardness and longevity. Of course both Eagles contain a full Troy oz. of thier respective PM. Only the Maple is .9999 in silver and gold, and in gold the US mint's pure offering is the Buffalo at 24K, the AGE being 22K. For tax and investment purposes, any PM over 99.9% is considered pure, so it is a small point, but true none the less. Also, any year or series of Maple with a Privy mark commands a premium over the standard, and most are Proofed. My experience has been that come selling time as bullion, you will lose that Proof premium paid - only when sold to a numismatist will a Proof coin retain it's premium - my point being that as an investment, bullion coins should only be purchased in standard issue at lowest premium. Proofing / Privy marking is for collectors, not for validation of purity or origin. That being said, both the ASE and SM had their lowest standard mintings in 1996 and even though it is a bullion coin, those years are culled by collectors for their rarity - they are still coins after all and some collect bullion /:^) Don't forget that the SM has a $5 CDN Face Value as compared to the ASE's $1 USD and is legal tender which also enhances the attractiveness of the Maple as it has a built-in "bottom" value in a commodities based sovereign economy. "Junk" silver coin is also considered by some investment analysts as an excellent, low premium and very trusted form of bullion. (e.g.; a dime cannot be profitably counterfeited) I hope that you find this helpful. Please let me know if you would like additional information on any silver subject. Cheers, Steve. Hi Anna:
Just a note – take it for what you will, but please believe that I am only wishing to help with the dissemination of accurate information. The ASE is not 4 nines fine, it is .99925, or 99.925% pure silver, the balance being copper – similar to the AGE which has a similar fineness to the Kruggerand, the added copper to provide hardness and longevity. Of course both Eagles contain a full Troy oz. of thier respective PM. Only the Maple is .9999 in silver and gold, and in gold the US mint’s pure offering is the Buffalo at 24K, the AGE being 22K. For tax and investment purposes, any PM over 99.9% is considered pure, so it is a small point, but true none the less.

Also, any year or series of Maple with a Privy mark commands a premium over the standard, and most are Proofed. My experience has been that come selling time as bullion, you will lose that Proof premium paid – only when sold to a numismatist will a Proof coin retain it’s premium – my point being that as an investment, bullion coins should only be purchased in standard issue at lowest premium. Proofing / Privy marking is for collectors, not for validation of purity or origin. That being said, both the ASE and SM had their lowest standard mintings in 1996 and even though it is a bullion coin, those years are culled by collectors for their rarity – they are still coins after all and some collect bullion /:^) Don’t forget that the SM has a $5 CDN Face Value as compared to the ASE’s $1 USD and is legal tender which also enhances the attractiveness of the Maple as it has a built-in “bottom” value in a commodities based sovereign economy.
“Junk” silver coin is also considered by some investment analysts as an excellent, low premium and very trusted form of bullion. (e.g.; a dime cannot be profitably counterfeited)
I hope that you find this helpful. Please let me know if you would like additional information on any silver subject.
Cheers,
Steve.

]]>