Farrahun Braiden: An Important Update On the Current Silver Market

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

An Important Update On the Current Silver Market

Current Silver Market Conditions

This article has been contributed by Chris Slife who has been in the precious metals industry for five years and has long been a student of the precious metals markets. He has given advice on the purchase of precious metals several time on this website.

With the recent drop in silver prices, the US Mint has temporarily suspended their Silver Eagle program. The ripple effect is causing other silver products (silver rounds, 90%, bars, et cetera) to be in very short supply. Assuming no more major price drops, wholesalers are telling us that most silver products should come available again by mid-August. Buying silver in the current market has raised a lot of questions and concerns.

Premiums for ALL silver products have jumped significantly over the past two weeks. If the price of silver continues to fall and demand stays high, I suspect that premiums will climb further before stabilizing.

Where to Buy

If you live in a metropolitan area, I would look at your local coin shops first. Compare prices. Ask a lot of questions.

There are only a handful of online places that I would buy gold/silver from. Do your research. Some big names have gone out of business over the last year or so – biggest one being Tulving. (The guy was a crook to begin with but no one wanted to hear that when we would warn people. So research the founders to see if they have a ‘past’.)

Unless you enjoy playing Russian Roulette, stay away from ebay! We always ask people who want to sell us something where they got an item(s) from: if they say ebay, WE WON’T BUY IT. Way too many counterfeits. Not all bad of course but we won’t take the chance.

What to Buy

Silver

Silver Eagles, Silver Rounds, Silver Bars (1-oz, 5-oz, or 10-oz), and 90%

Based on my experience, here are some further buying tips:

1. Only buy uncirculated Silver Eagles, Silver Rounds, bars, et cetera. (Buying circulated 90% is fine.)
2. Only buy name brand silver rounds and bars.
3. I suggest staying away from silver bars that are over 10-oz.

Gold

Gold Eagles, Maples, Krugerrands are the big three. Bars by Pamp, Credit Suisse, RCM, Perth, and a few others are a good way to go as well in terms of trustworthiness.

My advice:

1. Only buy uncirculated gold coins and bars.
2. Personally, I will only buy gold coins denominated in 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 – oz.
3. I suggest staying away from gold bars that are more than 1-oz

What to own if there is an economic collapse

In our store, I am often asked about what type of precious metal to own after a collapse. Having never personally lived through an economic collapse, and knowing that no two situations are the same, I can only render an opinion based on imperfect information.

For me personally, the best ‘survival currency’ will be things that are needed to sustain daily life: food, water, medicine, bullets, booze, toiletries, et cetera. From Cody Lundin’s excellent book When All Hell Breaks Loose,

“The supposed value of an item is dependent upon that which society decrees upon it at the time.”

If your neighbors are hungry, they will likely be more interested in food than silver. I will have some silver and gold on hand if we experience a collapse, but I plan on having a lot of other survival currencies on hand as well.

In conclusion, I want to reiterate that the opinions shared here today are based on what I see given the CURRENT market conditions. Things do change and will likely to change again in the coming weeks and months. If you have any SPECIFIC questions pertaining to what I shared today, I would be glad to try and answer them for you. Leave your comments here and be sure to include your email address, which will be seen only by the blog’s editor.

UPDATE: As of Friday, July 24, our wholesalers are not able to take any silver orders until the middle to end of August. My guess is that if the price drops much further, silver will become even more difficult to obtain and the premiums will continue to rise.