How to ID a Junk Silver Coin

Finding out whether your US coin is 90% silver or not is easy.

1. The first test is to check the date. If your dime, quarter, or half dollar is dated prior to 1965 your coin is 90% silver.

2. Another test is check the reeded edges for the "copper/nickel sandwich". If you see a band of copper around your coin that means it's made of about 92% copper sandwiched in by 8% nickel. Be careful! You have a fake zombie coin on your hands!

On the other hand, if the reeded edges are all silver colored, then you're 90% silver and all good!

3. If you got good ears and a lot of patience, you can try the "ring test". A silver coin when hit makes a clear ringing sound, while base coins make more of a short plink. Sometimes it worked for me, but most often I just ended up dropping the coins all over the floor!

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies:

Rick

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The Best Junk Silver to Buy!

Now's the time to stock up your silver holdings before the price of silver and gold start skyrocketing soon in response to growing inflation and hyperinflation.

My goal is always to buy as much junk silver (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves) at or preferably below melt. I enjoy using ebay for the excitement factor, and Apmex.com if I'm in a hurry to buy a large amount. I use the following criteria to select my coin purchases on ebay:

1. Buy boring Roosevelt Dimes, Washington Quarters, and 1964 Kennedy halves. When possible, I prefer coins from 1960 - 1964 as they circulated less than the older coinage and are in better condition. They tend to have slightly more silver content as well, since less fingers had a chance to rub off silver before they were mason-jarred when the government discontinued the silver coin program at the end of 1964.

2. Another reason I prefer the early 60's coins is that there is less numismatic interest in these more common coins than in the Franklin Halves, Walking Liberty Halves, Mercury & Barber dimes, and the Standing Liberty Quarters. Keeping coin collectors out of auctions leads to lower prices and therefore more 90% silver in the vault!

3. I make sure and check coinflation.com to get the updated silver melt value before bidding to ensure I'm not bidding too high.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

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How Rare is Junk Silver Really?

How rare is junk silver today? Probably a lot more than you think! The best collective guess today is that only $500 million dollars (face value) of "junk silver" (pre-1965 90% silver dimes, quarters, halves) are still in existence today. The rest was melted down in the "Great Melt" of 1979 and 1980 when silver reached $50 an ounce. The tales from coin dealers in business during those tumultuous times speak of thousands and thousands of bags of junk silver lost to the refinery cauldrons. If we divided the existing silver coins among the 307 million Americans alive today, we'd have only about $1.63 available per person.

To put these numbers into perspective, let's look at just the US mint production of the base metal "State Quarters" for 2009. Over 2.4 billion quarters were minted which translates into $609 million dollars in face value. That's over $2.00 worth or 8 quarters per US citizen! Moreover, I've read that about 145 million Americans are wasting their time and scarce resources to hoard these worthless base metal slugs destined for the scrap heap of history. It's been so long since "real money" was in circulation that the average American no longer has any conception of good from fake money.

The moral to this little story? Buy as much junk silver from Apmex.com and ebay as you can afford and hold onto it as a hedge against future inflation and hyperinflation. When the final economic descent happens, it'll be too late to buy real money at any cost in paper money FRN's.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Junk Silver & Eagles vs. Silver Rounds!

Objectively speaking, an American Silver Eagle (ASE) coin, one oz. of 90% junk silver coins ($1.40 face value), and a one troy ounce silver round are exactly the same. Silver is, after all, silver. However, I recommend buying ASE's and 90% junk (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, dollars) rather than privately minted silver rounds, even though the former two are a bit more expensive than the latter.

Why?

Should an economic collapse occur (and assuming basic law & order is maintained or at least locally reestablished), Americans will go through a crash course in trading and real money. Initially, I expect FRN's (paper dollars) will still be exchanged due to long habit even though they have all reverted to their inherently worthless state. Next, the 90% junk silver (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves, and dollars) as well as the ASE's will make an appearance in trade. US minted coins will matter and their value more readily recognizable and universal.

Privately minted money in the form of rounds is an alien concept to Americans, and to the citizens of the world today. I expect this prejudice to be around a long time despite the inherent logic of the silver is silver argument.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):


Rick

CLICK ADS BELOW FOR FREE DISCOUNT!

Best Places to Buy Survival Gold & Silver!

There are many pitfalls to face when deciding what and where to buy your silver and gold for investment or survival purposes. It's easy to fall prey to fast-talking sales people and radio, tv, and internet hustlers. Based on my personal buying experiences, and thousands of hours spent researching the topic, I can offer some easy and quick advice to avoid getting cheated out of your valuable precious metal funds.

1. Gainesville Coins www.gainesvillecoins.com
The National Inflation Association (NIA) http://inflation.us/ has rated this vendor number #1 for bullion sales. I've bought gold and silver American Eagles from them by wire at very competitive prices and received a flawless product promptly. Rick's Recommendation: Stick with the Gold and Silver American Eagle coins. Avoid foreign coins like the plague. Americans don't like foreign languages and the precious metal content isn't always indicated.

2. APMEX APMEX Gold and Silver
I like APMEX for their "junk silver" pre-1965 90% silver coin selection. Rick's Recommendation: Stock up on the 90% junk silver. Avoid the 40% clads, war nickels, and proof sets. Competitive prices and good products.

3. Ebay www.ebay.com
What can I say that hasn't already been said? You can get some deals here on junk silver and gold & silver bullion if you're willing to invest the time in locating auctions and being disciplined about your bidding. Make sure to check the seller's rating and look for 100% positive responses whenever possible. Rick's Recommendation: Use the Coinflation.com silver and gold calculator to determine how much you should bid on bullion and junk coins and stick to your guns.

BEWARE: Hyped companies like Goldline International www.goldline.com are targeted to those new to silver and gold purchasing, as well as those who fear another government gold confiscation as happened in 1933. Sales people encourage customers to buy foreign gold coins as "collector items" at prices that are substantially higher than other online competitors. All those radio, TV, and internet ads cost a bundle, and the company's pricing seems to reflect these inflated costs.
Rick's Recommendation: Steer clear of all foreign and collector's coins. They're just code words for spending a lot of money for less precious metal and/or coins that will be difficult to trade. The same thing goes for brilliant uncirculated BU coins, proof sets, first strikes etc. Unfortunately, the Goldline website seems to cater to all these questionable investments to the virtual exclusion of production gold and silver American Eagles.

Time is running out fast! Hyperinflation seems unavoidable as fiat paper money is being printed as fast as the US presses can run. To protect your wealth and your family, buy gold and silver now from these top companies (below):

Rick

Note: I own gold and silver coins purchased from Gainesville, APMEX, and Ebay. My article is based on my purchasing experiences, and your mileage may vary. The bottom line is DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE BUYING ANY GOLD AND SILVER! Do NOT just take my word, or the word of anyone else, as Gospel when making any investment decision.