precious metals – American Coin Stash

US Mint Begins Release of 2021 Morgan And Peace Silver Dollars

Today was the first day of pre-ordering for the 2021 Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars. At 12PM Eastern Time, the US Mint opened two of the 2021 Morgan Dollars.

The first one to sell out was the 2021 Morgan with a “CC” Privy Mark honoring the Carson City Mint. This Morgan Dollar was not minted in Carson City, but in Philadelphia.

The other coin released today was another Morgan Silver Dollar with an “O” Privy Mark to honor the New Orleans Mint.

Why did the Carson City Mint Dollar Coin sell out first?

Carson City coins are especially rare since the mint was only sporadically open for operation. The mint produced coins from 1870-1885 and from 1889-1893. The Carson City Morgan silver dollar is the first coin minted with a “CC” mark in 128 years.

Keep in mind though, this coin was not minted in Carson City, but minted in Philadelphia and has a privy mark for Carson City. (Also remember that most coins made in Philadelphia have no mint mark.)

Can I still get 2021 Morgan Silver Dollars?

~~Yes! Here is the release schedule for 2021 Morgan Dollars:~~ Here was the intended release of the 2021 Dollar coins:

2021 Morgan Dollar “O” Privy Mark	May 24, 2021
2021 Morgan Dollar “CC” Privy Mark	May 24, 2021
2021 Morgan Dollar “S” Mint	June 1, 2021
2021 Morgan Dollar “D” Mint	June 1, 2021
2021 Morgan Dollar (No Mint Mark, Philadelphia P)	June 7, 2021
2021 Peace Dollar (No Mint Mark, Philadelphia P)	June 7, 2021

Release Schedule for 2021 Morgan and Peace Dollar Coins

*UPDATE*: Read the update below! The US Mint has delayed the pre-orders for the upcoming Morgan and Peace silver dollars!

If you missed the release, don’t worry because you can always try on eBay or another third party seller. Check in with your local coin store to see if they managed to get some to sell.

I expect the two most popular of the series will be the “CC” mint mark and the “S” mint. If you want to order either of those, make sure to be on the website as soon as pre-ordering becomes available to ensure you can grab one.

What is the difference between a mint mark and a privy mark?

A mint mark indicates where a coin was minted, meaning where the coin was produced. A privy mark is meant to honor a certain time or place in history. We call these different names because mint marks help keep track of where coins were from and potential errors.

Privy marks, on the other hand, hold sentimental value and can increase the value of the coin. They do not tell you where a coin was produced or when.

US Mint website keep crashing when trying to buy or pre-order?

If you have tried to buy coins from the US Mint the day they are released you have probably felt the frustration of trying to checkout and having the session timeout due to problems connecting or a “bad gateway” error. These are due to the US Mint website servers not being able to handle the number of people ordering all at once.

Here are my tips to ensure a successful pre-order from USMint.gov:

Be ready on time.
- Coins sell out fast so make sure to be ready as soon as they become available.
Have your payment information saved.
- By creating an account and saving your payment information, you can save time by not having to input your full address and credit card whenever the server times out.
Ask friends to help.
- More people trying increases your odds of getting a coin from pre-ordering. Of course, you may end up with more than one, so make sure you can afford to buy more than one if both you and your friend make it to checkout.
Keep trying!
- It took me 23 minutes before I could get my order into the United States Mint to order the 2021 “O” Morgan Silver Dollar. Thankfully I kept trying, because I was very worried after 15 minutes. Keep refreshing until it says they are sold out!

Other than that, it is mostly luck! Keep your lucky penny or pocket piece handy!

Will 2021 Silver Dollars Increase in Value?

Who knows!?

Unfortunately, this will depend not only on the price of silver, but investor interest and scarcity. The mint made 175,000 of each Morgan Silver Dollar and 200,000 of the 2021 Peace Dollars. Although a fairly low mintage, it is nowhere near the scarcest the mint has produced.

Many numismatists I have seen have predicted a short term price increase ranging from $100-$400, and then a stabilizing over the next 3 years as the collector frenzy wanes.

Overall, I wouldn’t purchase a 2021 Silver Dollar if your goal is to profit in a time frame greater than one year. Buy one because you enjoy them and want to be part of the first people to get one!

Those who buy directly from the mint and resell on eBay immediately will probably make a decent profit as collectors experience FOMO due to the perceived scarcity.

Why is there a charge of $4.95 from the US Mint on my card?

You may be surprised to see a charge on your bank statement for $4.95 from the US Mint. Don’t be alarmed!

It will say “Purchase US Min Coin Washington DC Card####” Merchant Name: US Mint Sales-DR.

The US Mint is not charging you extra nor did they charge you the wrong price for the Silver dollars. $4.95 is simply the cost of the US Mint’s budget shipping option. You may see a larger charge from the US Mint depending on what type of shipping you selected at checkout.

Remember, the coins are currently being listed for pre-order, meaning they are not being purchased when you complete your payment. You have simply ordered one from the mint to be shipped to your address once the coins become available.

Update May 27th:

The US mint released an email today announcing that they would delay future pre-orders in order to improve their website. Read the full email here:

Dear Valued Customer,

The United States Mint is committed to providing the best possible online experience to its customers. The global silver shortage has driven demand for many of our bullion and numismatic products to record heights. This level of demand is felt most acutely by the Mint during the initial product release of numismatic items. Most recently in the pre-order window for 2021 Morgan Dollar with Carson City privy mark (21XC) and New Orleans privy mark (21XD), the extraordinary volume of web traffic caused significant numbers of Mint customers to experience website anomalies that resulted in their inability to complete transactions.

In the interest of properly rectifying the situation, the Mint is postponing the pre-order windows for the remaining 2021 Morgan and Peace silver dollars that were originally scheduled for June 1 (Morgan Dollars struck at Denver (21XG) and San Francisco (21XF)) and June 7 (Morgan Dollar struck at Philadelphia (21XE) and the Peace Dollar (21XH)). While inconvenient to many, this deliberate delay will give the Mint the time necessary to obtain web traffic management tools to enhance the user experience. As the demand for silver remains greater than the supply, the reality is such that not everyone will be able to purchase a coin. However, we are confident that during the postponement, we will be able to greatly improve on our ability to deliver the utmost positive U.S. Mint experience that our customers deserve. We will announce revised pre-order launch dates as soon as possible.

Thank you for a being a United States Mint customer.

Did you manage to get one? Share your story of the US Mint website crashing in the comments below!

May 24, 2021May 28, 2021

Coreen2 Comments

Bars vs. Rounds: What is the Best Way to Buy Bullion?

Some precious metal collectors prefer rounds and others swear by bars, but what makes one better than the other?

Rounds got their name from their round shape. They look like coins, but are usually bigger depending on the weight. (Coins usually refers to metal backed by a government for circulation.)

Bars are rectangular blocks of precious metals. Picture the classic image of bars of gold, although bars are made for copper, silver, and palladium as well.

Rounds

2018 Silver American Eagle – 1 Troy Ounce, .999 Pure
from: Money Metals Exchange

Pros of Buying Rounds:

Rounds often come with attractive and intricate designs. These designs and to the eye-appeal of the metal, and also add to the security of the coin. It is harder for forgers to replicate intricate designs.

Cons of Buying Rounds:

Although rounds are attractive, the extra work needed to design and polish the coins makes rounds more expensive to produce than bars. Rounds usually carry a premium over the spot price, thankfully, they will also sell for above spot.

Bars

100 Oz Silver Bars
from: Money Metals Exchange

Pros of Buying Bars:

The best part about bars is that it is a much cheaper way to buy silver in bulk (usually). The premiums on silver rounds drive the price up when buying in bulk.

Cons of Buying Rounds:

Rounds are fake fairly often. Since they are so expensive, I would make sure to purchase from reputable dealers.

Silver Bar – 1 Kilo (32.151 troy ozs), .999 Pure
from: Money Metals Exchange

Buyers Guide:

I would recommend choosing between bars and rounds based on how many ounces you are looking to buy. If you are buying a couple ounces of silver at a time, then I would buy rounds. For larger purchases, I would buy bars.

Here is what I would recommend for each weight:

Less Than 1/2 Oz: Bars

1 Gram Gold Bars
from: Money Metals Exchange

These are just adorable little bars. They are really cute, but carry huge premiums!

1/2 to 5 Oz: Rounds

Silver Round – Random Design – 1 Oz .999 fine silver
from: Money Metals Exchange

5 ounces is the cut off point for where I would decide between bars or rounds. A 5 ounce round is a very satisfying and hefty coin, whereas a 5oz bar feels lacking.

Greater than 5 Oz: Bars

10 Oz Gold Bars
from: Money Metals Exchange

Larger bars have a really satisfying feel and can be cheaper than buying that many ounces of rounds. Plus, bars are more compact for storing.

Final Thoughts

Of course, like any hobby, there is no right or wrong answer. Many people prefer one or the other just for the looks. Most people have a mix of both. Personally, I buy whatever is cheapest!

Interested in becoming a silver stacker? Read “What Is A Silverbug? How To Start Silver Stacking!”

Buy Bargain Bin Silver (Best Place to Purchase Low Premium Silver)
from: Money Metals Exchange

How do you prefer to buy bullion, bars or rounds? Add a comment and vote in the poll below!

I’m an affiliate with Money Metals Exchange through Share-a-Sale. Any purchases made through links help support my site. Thanks!

April 10, 2021April 10, 2021

CoreenLeave a comment

Ranking of The Best Places to Sell Your Coins, Silver, and Gold

Selling coins can be difficult and tedious. After sorting through your coins and deciding which to sell there is the daunting task of deciding how to sell.

This is a ranking I would recommend, but it may depend on your circumstances and what you plan to sell. In this article I will refer mostly to ‘coins’ but I think this ranking works well for gold and silver bullion as well.

1.) A trusted coin dealer

There is a reason I differentiate between a coin dealer and a trusted coin dealer. A coin dealer is someone who makes money by buying and selling coins. They may have a brick and mortar shop, an online store, or work by word of mouth.

A trusted coin dealer is someone you know and have done business with before. You trust that they have your best interest at heart as well as their own. They can help you find deals you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get.

Even if a coin dealer can’t get you the top price for a specific purchase or sale, it may be worth it to do business with them to build rapport in hopes of better future deals. They may also alert you if a coin comes in that you are looking for.

If you have inherited a collection and do not know the value of your coins, definitely go to a coin store if you do not want to learn how to value coins yourself. There are many tiny details that can make a coin more or less valuable. If you try to sell the coins yourself online you will not know how to describe the coins in the best way to sell them.

2.) Ebay

Ebay has been my go-to for selling coins. The benefit of eBay is that there is the potential of your coin being seen by millions of people.

Auctions can drive the price of the coin up to well beyond what you thought it was worth. The problem with selling on eBay, is that you are dependent on eBay algorithms for who your post gets shown to.

You can get around this by adding descriptive keywords into your eBay post, but even that may not be enough. I have sold coins on eBay that sold for less than they were worth simply due to eBay not showing my listing to enough people.

If you plan to sell on eBay, do not start by selling valuable coins immediately. Buyers are very suspicious of buying fakes from online dealers with few reviews. Start by selling other items or low-valued coins. Watch out for eBay fees and shipping costs as they can eat into your profit!

3.) A coin dealer

Not everyone has a local coin dealer they see regularly. It is no surprise given the ease of shopping online. It is worth going into your local dealer and asking what they would offer you for your coins.

Even if you don’t think they are giving you the best deal it may be worth it to sell to them to build rapport, or avoid the hassle of selling yourself. Many people looking to sell online forget the added cost of shipping.

Some online dealers will pay your shipping costs. If you want to know more about buying and selling from large online distributors, Money Metals Exchange has a good article on it here: “Selling Gold, Silver, Platinum & Palladium to Money Metals Exchange”

If you haven’t been to a coin store much and have some anxiety about what to expect, check out “What to Know Your First Time in a Coin Store”.

4.) Reddit

Reddit has a great community of coin collectors, coin dealers, and precious metal enthusiasts. There is a dedicated subreddit called r/PMsforsale where redditors sell precious metals and r/Coins4Sale where redditors sell coins.

I have used reddit to buy coins and have a lot of trust in many of the sellers on Reddit. Here are things to be aware of if you are selling coins on Reddit.

Age of your account
- Currently, neither sub has explicit rules on how old an account must be, but Redditors are less likely to trust new accounts.
Trustworthiness of the buyer
- People aren’t scammed on these subs often, but it has happened. Some Redditors do not pay, or request a refund after the items are received. All of the responsibility is on the buyer and seller to complete a transaction.
Shipping Cost
- You should discuss the cost of the item and shipping before you sell someone your coins or precious metals. Make sure you have an idea before you post on the maximum shipping could cost you and how much you are willing to spend.

5.) Pawn Shops

A pawn shop is my least-preferred place to sell coins. Most pawn shops know a little about coins, but not often enough to give detailed prices. Usually, pawn shops are looking to turn a profit on items as fast as possible, so a pawn shop will rarely offer above the spot price for precious metals and coins.

This isn’t true for all pawn shops however, and it may be worth it to go in and ask what they would offer you for coins or precious metals. The benefit of a pawn shop is that they are easy to find, have lots of connections, and will give you a price quickly.

What is your preferred way to sell coins, silver, gold, and copper? Vote in our poll and share a comment below!

March 4, 2021May 23, 2021

CoreenLeave a comment

Bargain Bins: One of the Best Ways to Buy Silver Online

There are many different types of silver stackers just as there are many different reasons to start silver stacking. Many collectors spend a premium to buy higher quality bars. The premium is the price of a piece of silver above the spot price.

While buying attractive silver can be a fun way to get valuable art, if you want to have lots of silver, the premium adds up to a lot of money. If you buy silver with a 10% premium and spend $100, that means you will have only $90 worth of silver.

Now, some silver with high premiums retain their value, but not all of them do. Buying silver with high premiums is speculation because you are guessing that the silver will still retain the value above the spot price.

Someone looking to invest in silver should buy silver close to spot as well as nicer rounds. One of the best ways to buy silver is to look for silver in spare change or bargain prices online.

Bargain Bins

Money Metals exchange has a great bargain bin to attract customers. These aren’t the prettiest rounds or bars, they may have milk spots or patina’s, but it is a great way to get cheap silver.

Buy Bargain Bin Silver (Best Place to Purchase Low Premium Silver)
from: Money Metals Exchange

Even a bar with a patina still retains its spot price. The spots do not affect the metal content.

In fact, some collectors look for older bars when purchasing. That older Engelhard bar in the featured image for the silver bargain bin deal would probably command a premium if sold online. Engelhard bars are very desirable to silver stackers.

The reason most online dealers like Money Metals Exchange can sell these items for cheaper is because it saves them time. Instead of creating a page to sell each bar of gold or silver they buy, they can sell them in lots for a small discount.

If you are a gold stacker, you are in luck, because there is also a bargain bin for gold! This could be gold that has been melted, holed, or scratched.

Bargain Bin Gold – .999+ Pure
from: Money Metals Exchange

Random Design Lots

Another great way to buy cheap silver online is to buy “random designs”. This is usually where companies get rid of overstock silver. I have used random lots to buy cheap silver and I received 6 beautiful looking Scottsdale Silver Lion rounds! (See the featured image at the top!)

Silver Round – Random Design – 1 Oz .999 fine silver
from: Money Metals Exchange

Another fun aspect of buying silver this way is that it’s exciting to open the package when it comes in! It feels like Christmas getting a package and not knowing it’s contents.

Just looking at all this silver makes me want to put more in my stack!

How do you find cheap silver? Have you had good luck with these bargain lots before? Share your experience!

I am an affiliate of Money Metals Exchange, so I make a commission on any products purchased through links on my site. This helps keep my site updated regularly. Thank you for the support!

February 17, 2021

Coreen3 Comments

Should You Buy Copper Bars and Rounds?

As far as precious metals go, copper is one of the least sought after. It is worth only a fraction of the value of gold and silver by weight and has high premiums. With all that should you be purchasing silver?

Is copper a good long term purchase? Probably not. Buying copper is very speculative, if you are buying rounds of copper, you are paying almost double the spot price for each troy ounce of copper.

In order to make a profit, you would need a large enough copper shortage for the copper price to rise past the premium you paid and net a profit.

Here are the pros and cons of purchasing copper.

Pro: Cheaper By Weight.

For the current price of gold at $1,815 an ounce, for one troy ounce of gold, you could buy about 1,406 troy ounces of copper bullion. That’s 96 pounds of copper!

Con: High Premiums.

The cheapest copper rounds are currently trading for about $1.29 an ounce. The actual spot price of copper is 23 cents. That means you are paying 5.6x more per ounce!

Compare that to gold, which currently has a premium of about 10% per ounce. If copper had the same relative premiums as gold, an ounce of copper would cost about 26 cents!

Pro: Great for Sampling Rounds.

If you are interested in buying an expensive silver or gold round, but aren’t sure about how the design will look in person, buying a copper round may be a good way to test how you feel about the design.

It is certainly cheaper to spend a few dollars on copper rounds to look at designs than to buy silver rounds and decide you don’t like them. Keep in mind that copper can tarnish faster and has less shine than silver and gold.

2nd Amendment Second Copper Obverse — Second Amendment Copper Round

Con: Weird Copper Smell.

I was excited when I bought my first copper round to have a dense piece of metal to twiddle around my hands as I sat at my desk. What I did not account for was the infamous copper smell.

Copper has a very distinct scent that sticks to hands easily. If you like to touch your metal, copper is not a good precious metal for handling.

Pro: Better for Displaying.

Copper can be better for displaying because it is less valuable. You can leave a 10 oz bar of copper out as decoration and know that you spent less than $15 on it. If a thief mistook your copper for a more valuable metal you would be out very little money compared to the risk of displaying gold and silver.

Of course, the con here is that copper is not as attractive. Guests probably wouldn’t be interested in a regular copper bar unless it is particularly large or has an especially intricate design.

Con: Not as Dense.

Here is a comparison of the densities of copper, silver, and gold.

Copper: 8.96 g/cm^3
Silver: 10.49 g/cm^3
Gold: 19.3 g/cm^3

Holding an ounce of silver or gold has the initial wow factor where it is heavier than you expect. Copper, however, is only a bit heavier than steel.

Of course, you can buy a huge amount of copper for cheaper than a large amount of silver/gold, but remember, you will still have to pay high premiums.

Copper Pennies

If you are interested in investing in copper, it may be more in your advantage to look for pre 1982 pennies which are made of 95% copper and 5% zinc. The benefit is that you are technically already making a profit in copper by having a 1982 penny.

95% Copper Pennies (Price Per Pound)
from: Money Metals Exchange

Unfortunately, it is currently illegal to melt down pennies for their metal content. That means you will either need to sit on the pennies and hope the law changes, or sell the pennies to someone else who is hoarding pennies in hopes that the penny melting law changes.

Do you buy copper bullion? Share a comment with your tips and tricks! And, as always, vote in our poll below!

I am an affiliate with SD Bullion and Money Metals Exchange. Any purchases made through links from my site help keep my website running and updated. Thanks for the support!

February 7, 2021November 3, 2021

Coreen4 Comments

What Is A Silverbug? How To Start Silver Stacking!

A silverbug is someone who collects silver usually in the form of bullion or old coins, but they may also collect silverware or jewelry.

There is a thriving “silverbug” community online where people like to post their silver stacks and recent purchases. Most silverbugs prefer to talk online for anonymity, since large amounts of silver would make them good targets for burglars.

How to become a silverbug?

Start buying silver! Here are some tips to be smart about buying silver when you are getting started.

No one knows how silver prices will change on any given day, but we can use historical data and confidence intervals to help make smarter silver purchases.

Sunshine Mint 5 Ounce Bar, .999 Pure Silver
from: Money Metals Exchange

The best way to buy silver is to dollar cost average. This means that you buy a bit of silver on a consistent basis with little thought to the price. This means you may pay more sometimes, but you are not stuck waiting for lows or trying to time the market.

What counts as a good price for you may be different than what someone else considers a reasonable price. Personally, silver under $20 feels like a great buy for me, and silver over $26 seems overpriced. How I feel may change with time.

A great way to get started is to look at deals for new customers. Many of these deals offer silver at spot! Here is a link to SD Bullion’s spot silver deal where you can get a 5 oz silver bar.

You can also buy bulk silver from Money Metals Exchange’s bargain bin where silver is offered with low premiums:

Buy Bargain Bin Silver (Best Place to Purchase Low Premium Silver)
from: Money Metals Exchange

If you want to learn more about bargain silver bins, you can go to this article: “Bargain Bins: One of the Best Ways to Buy Silver Online”. In this article I discuss bargain bins and similar ways to buy cheaper silver online.

What silver do silverbugs buy?

There are many different ways of buying silver. A silverbug may collect bullion, old coins, silverware, jewelry, or anything else that contains silver.

Most silver collectors stick to bullion, because you can usually get more silver for a cheaper price. However, bullion is not just silver melted down into bars anymore. Many bars feature art on them!

These bars are very pretty, but usually sell for a premium over the spot price of silver. (Spot price is the current selling price of an ounce of silver. Getting silver at spot means it is a good deal.)

There are even silver bars meant to attract silver bugs! Here is the 2 oz Stag Beetle Silver Round from the Intaglio Mint that will be available in Spring 2021.

Silverbug Round 1oz Obverse — “All Hail The SilverBug”

silverbug Round 1oz Reverse — “All Hail The SilverBug”

SD Bullion has a whole section of silver marketed towards self proclaimed ‘silverbugs’ you can check out that collection by clicking here.

Most silverbugs get started by buying silver close to spot price. For your first silver purchase, I would buy one to ten ounces and see how it makes you feel when you get the chance to hold it. I knew I loved silver once I got my first silver rounds in my hand.

What do silver collectors do with their silver?

Nothing!

Well, that’s not completely true. Silver is not a toy, so there is nothing to really do with it. Some people have what they call “fondle pieces” of silver which is silver they touch and play with in their hand. Much like Gollum with the one ring.

Silver gives many people a sense of safety, knowing that silver is historically a good store of value and a good hedge against inflation. Some silver stackers worry about the complete economic collapse of the dollar.

Is there a wrong way to invest in silver?

Some people may disagree with me, but there are definitely wrong ways to invest in silver. Unless you have no trust in the US dollar and global financial economy, you should be careful not to put too much money in silver.

Buying silver can be addicting! It is fun to watch your stack grow. But, it can start to take away from other more profitable investments. Make sure you are still investing into 401k’s and retirement accounts. Cryptocurrency is another way to diversify if you are worried about the stability of the US dollar.

British Silver Britannia Coin – 1 Troy Oz, .999 Pure
from: Money Metals Exchange

Have good hiding spaces for your silver. You do not need a high end safe, even a diversion stash can will do. Find somewhere it is unlikely to be stolen from thieves, family, or friends.

Silver Terms And Definitions To Know:

Bullion – Gold, silver, or other precious metals kept for their value.
Bars – Silver melted into a bar shape. Think of a candy bar.
Rounds – Silver melted in the shape of a circle, similar to a coin.
Troy Ounce – A measurement used for precious metals. A troy ounce is 2.75 grams heavier than a regular ounce.
Spot – Refers to the “Spot Price”. This is the current buying price of silver.
Sterling Silver – A less pure form of silver. Contains 92.5% silver by weight.

Share a comment and vote in our poll below!

I’m an affiliate with SDBullion and Money Metals Exchange through Share-a-Sale. Any purchases made through links help support my site. Thanks!

February 3, 2021February 23, 2021

Coreen2 Comments