No.787
I understand that this is not in keeping with many of the other topics on this board, but I would inquire:
Do any of you invest in precious metals?
I put aside silver where I can; at least 10 oz / mo.
No.788
Interesting… Why silver and where do you purchase it from?
No.791
Why silver and not gold?
No.802
Op keep your eye on the asteroid mining industry because as soon as it's feasible (in 5-20 years) then these metals will be as cheep as aluminum(But you have some time)
No.804
>>802>Asteroid Mining>5-20 yearsHahah, yeah, and we'll have our colonies on the moon and Mars all set up too.
No.839
>>788>>791not op but silver is a good investment because it also goes up with gold to help combat inflation but is much less expensive per ounce
No.848
>>839>much less expensive per ounceWhy does that matter if you're just investing?
No.852
>>848Greater gains if the price goes up because you'll own more if I believe.
No.863
>>852It shouldnt matter if you have 100g of gold or 500g of silver if theyre the same value though.
my question should be "why does it matter how much phyeical space/weight a trading material takes up?"
If anything, wouldnt small and valuable material be more ideal?
No.889
>>863Try and buy a coffee with a $100 bill.
Silver may be less valuable than gold but it's a lot easier to trade with.
No.1901
I throw some money into silver when I can. I'll probably pick up 10-15oz this weekend since prices are going down again.
No.1915
Poorfag seventeen year old reporting. I've only got one ounce of silver. Once I find a job, I'll be putting half of what I make directly into silver, though.
No.1937
>>1915>tfw you don't even have an ounceSoon…
No.2479
Gold gold gold gold gold gold gold gold
GOLD
No.2484
What is the advantage to investing precious metal, rather than buying savings bonds, or investing in a CD? Are the gains for silver and gold greater than "double every 5 years"?
No.2487
Ah, it's you again.
Why again is gold and silver so valuable? What makes it a much better option than fiat currency?
No.2488
>>2484There is no advantage really, beyond volatile gold prices which may or may not lead to a greater ROI. In before
>it's the dollar that's volatile, not the price of goldwhich of course is total bullpoppycock.
No.2490
>>2488There's merit to the volatile dollar view, since gold supply/demand AND economic stability drive what the price of gold is in a given location.
If, for example, your government has an economic crisis and it now takes 50 pokedollars to buy a loaf of bread, then the price of gold in your country skyrockets because it takes so many pokedollars to purchase a single ounce.
Conversely, if someone decides to detonate a small nuclear bomb inside your country's gold reserve to irradiate the gold, and the handsome spy fails to stop them, then there will be a tremendous shortage of gold, and the price will skyrocket.
Both the supply of the gold and the value of the currency used to purchase it has an impact on its price.
No.2495
>>2487Scarcity. The more rare something is, the more value is attributed to it. However, gold and silver aren't particularly useful now - gold DOES have limited application in electronics, however. Both gold and silver are also great at resisting corrosion and are rather conductive, but are only used when electroplating things - any large quantity used would be too expensive. They're also rather soft and have a low modulus of elasticity, making them a poor choice for anything other than conducting electricity or supplementing the crystalline structure of a composite material.
Platinum, on the other hand, is rightfully valuable. Its corrosion resistance properties are incredible, and coating electrodes in platinum prevents them from corroding regardless of the environment.
No.2501
>>2490>>2495I understand how economic scarcity and supply/demand drive pries.
I was more getting at the fundamental reason for why gold is valuable to society, that reason being because we believe and agree that it is. The exact same set of assumptions underlies a fiat currency's value, and therefore makes them equally good investment vehicles (stormfags would disagree but they're also stormfags).
As stated, gold is actually pretty much worthless on an objective level. It's too soft to do anything with, too expensive to use in large quantities to produce electronics, its really heavy, you can't eat it, smoke it, snort it, etc. The only thing it really has going for it is its scarcity (as previously mentioned) and it looks pretty.
No.2502
No.2514
>>2502I apologize for my egregious spelling error due to a non-mechanical keyboard. I will do better to keep track of proofreading my posts.
No.2518
>>787So what's your motivation for investing in gold? From your post I assume you're not trading it to turn a profit.
So are you using it as a long term deposit kind of solution for your funds? Or is it a kind of contingency for if/when your currency becomes worthless?
I don't quite understand the reasoning, I figure if any catastrophe were to happen that prevents you from buying in your currency nobody would really be looking to buy silver either.
I'm a bit clueless here.
No.2527
>>2488That's not poppycock at all. Every fiat currency in history has gone to 0. Every. Single. One. The dollar is somehow special? Have you seen what's been going on lately?
Gold & silver have kept their value over thousands of years. The gold the egyptians had could still be used today.
>>2501No, you don't understand how things work. It doesn't have value because we decide it does, and the fact that you're ranting about "stormfags" shows how little you truly know.
Gold takes energy to mine and refine. Worthless paper is nowhere near in the same league.
No.2529
>>2527>Worthless paper is nowhere near in the same leagueHow do you feel about Bitcoin?
No.2532
Started buying at the beginning of this year. This is where I'm at now.
No.2535
>>2532I'm planning on starting up during the summer. Where'd you buy the silver?
No.2537
>>2535a couple from JMBullion and a couple from eBay.
gotta be careful on eBay
No.2539
>>2529It's a very interesting experiment and it definitely has it's place, but it can not replace gold and silver. It is certainly far more legitimate than fiat, though.
Personally I think a national currency based on bitcoin backed by gold would be best.
No.2541
>>2535government mints are the best. buy numismatic coins, not bullion. coins hold more value than bullion. and they're way cooler.
No.2542
>>2527>t doesn't have value because we decide it doesIt absolutely does have value because we agree that it does. If everybody in the world decided tomorrow that gold was worthless, well then guess what? It's now worthless.
>Gold takes energy to mine and refineYou're confusing the causal relationship here. Gold doesn't have value because it takes energy to mine and refine it, people expend that energy because it has value.
No.2543
>>2539> a national currency based on bitcoin backed by gold would be best.There's not enough gold in the world to back the economy of small African nations, let alone the US economy.
No.2544
>>787I do not. The value of such things fluctuates enough to where I would need to pay attention to when I should liquidate, and that's a pain in the ass.
No.2566
>>2541I eventually plan on getting some coins and rounds to add to the collection, but I suppose it depends what you think "cool" is. To me, pic related is pretty damn cool.
No.2585
>>2566Agreed. I hope to get into silver investing, and I have to say that is an impressive ingot.
No.2587
doesnt silver tarnish? how do you stop that from happening
No.2588
>>2587
>not having a cryo chamber in your house No.2618
>>2535Not that Mr(s). Anon, but check your local bankerelry stores - some might deal in precious metals. Look online to make sure they're authorized, of course. Obviously look for coins shops, too. Try to avoid any specialized "WE BUY GOLD AND SILVER" places. You would imagine them to be shady, but they're likely not: if they sell bunk product, they'll be in hot water if they're caught, and if they're offering to buy metals from people, they're going to test it before they fork over the money - it's not in their interest to buy fakes. You should avoid these places because they often deal with estate sales. If an old person dies and they have a metric fuckton of silver stashed away in their attic, the family will likely unload it on a place like this. I don't know the specifics of how these businesses operate, but I know they hold some responsibility to the estate. When I bought some metals from a place like this, they took down my ID and charged me a little more for handling. I imagine this is because if a member of the family contests the estate sale, they have to track down the person who bought it or some poppycock, I dunno. Point being, you're going to pay more and have your ID logged, and I don't imagine anyone here wants to deal with that. In contrast, I pay cash at my bankerelry store, they don't take down my ID, and everyone's happy.
If you're going to buy online, either buy straight from a dealer's website (Apmex, Scottsdale, and Silvertowne are some of the most reputable, but do your research) or exercise caution when buying on eBay (the counterfeit/ripoff market is huge). If you want to make sure your stuff is genuine, you can pick up some silver test kits online, grab a neodymium (rare earth) magnet and do the "slide test," or do a bunch of other stuff - there are tons of resources online to help you make sure you don't get conned.
No.2619
No.2651
No.2652
>>2618I live in a city where prices for everything are unjustly sky high :( I checked out a few coin shops, and the prices seem inflated.
No.2684
>>2652
>I checked out a few coin shops, and the prices seem inflated.Coin collector here-coin shops will ALWAYS have higher mark ups on their merchandise.
No.2745
>>2684do you just collect or do you sell coins too?
premiums are what scare me away from trying to flip coins
No.2789
>>2745There are premiums on everything these days. Kind of takes the fun out of building up assets.
No.2791
>>2745 Sorry for the delayed response-there are times i get busy and unable to check in here.
I just collect- i do not sell…
I don't sell-just collect…
No.2803
>>804first permanent move to mars is soon man
No.2804
>>2803>tfw you applied and were longlisted No.2809
>>2804nah, i know a guy that's going. I dont feel like dieing of radiation on some lonely rock
No.2836
>>2809
>I dont feel like dieing of radiation on some lonely rock
>implying you'll have a different fate on Earth No.2842
No.2883
silver is very low right now
great time to buy
No.2966
I would, but I am not sure how to get into this. Any pointers?
No.3022
>>2966The name of the game with precious metals is spot price. The spot price is the exact market price of the metal at the current moment. When buying precious metals, you will usually have to pay a bit above spot price. This is called a premium. Some coins, rounds, and bars may carry higher premiums than others. Coins usually have the highest premiums. Premiums can also go down when buying in higher quantity. For example, a 100 oz silver bar will carry less of a premium than a 1 oz bar, even of the same manufacturer.
When selling metals, you will often get less than spot price, for example if you were to go to one of those WE BUY GOLD places. If you sell privately though, for example on craigslist or ebay, you will probably get over spot for it.
So if you want to maximize your investment, wait until the spot price of your desired metal is low. Silver right now is under $16/oz, which is a good price to start buying at. Look around online, there are many reputable dealers such as JM Bullion or APMEX. Find something you like and make note of how much over spot price you will have to pay. With silver at $16, generally you will be paying about $17-$17.50/oz for generic rounds and bars.
So ya, basically just buy low and sell high. Of course there is risk involved, silver right now is low, and ya know what, it could go lower. But precious metals are generally considered a long term investment. Give it 5-10 years and the investment should pay off.
Hope this info helps.
No.3025
If society lasts, you'd be better off putting your money in a savings account or investing (I mean real investing), depending on how risk-averse you are.
If society collapses, you'll wish you'd spent that money on food, weapons and training, not lumps of metal.
No.3042
>>3025
>not investing in PM's as well as many other thingsthere's a saying, something about eggs and a basket
No.4268
No.4286
Have ~40 oz
If I can't get a job this summer I may have to sell some for a slight loss. Hope not.
No.4298
I'm at 156 oz of silver right now
I'm thinking about picking up a 1 oz Gold Eagle to add to the collection, gonna wait for the price to dip a bit more first to make that commitment though
No.4418
>>787
I bought about 6 or so ozt of gold and a about 3-4 kilo of silver when gold was around US$600-700. I sold about half of each when it was around US$1800 to get some cash towards a deposit on my house.
I haven't bought any since then but a mate and I own 50% each of a mining permit for gold suction dredging on a nearby river. We have a large dual engine 6" dredge, a 4" dredge and an air compressor system for diving. Currently prospecting to locate a decent pay streak with the 4". Gold dredging is really hard work but really addictive.
No.4487
No.4489
>>4487
Oh god, it's happening.
Quick, lock the 5-month old threads!
No.4509
>remove the plastic casing of your precious metal
disgusting