Do you think silver will beat future inflation?

[barrett]

These are the coins that are made in Austria, correct Dualstow? They look cool! Plus, as a bonus for the kids, they have the word "Wiener" on them. Maybe hedge and buy them each a solar panel as well.

What I'd be concerned about giving kids cool coins is that they'd probably just rush onto the next present before I could lecture them on why they might be a good portfolio diversifier.

[dualstow]

These are the coins that are made in Austria, correct Dualstow?

Correcto. https://is.gd/nWehoB (see image at right)
It would be a boring world if we all had MG's high standards. Glad to see someone's down in the gutter with me.

They look cool! Plus, as a bonus for the kids, they have the word "Wiener" on them.

Speaking of which... They're mostly nieces, not nephews, but you never know.

Maybe hedge and buy them each a solar panel as well.

I believe they have those on their roof already. Early adopters.

What I'd be concerned about giving kids cool coins is that they'd probably just rush onto the next present before I could lecture them on why they might be a good portfolio diversifier.

My guess is that they care as much about investing as does Mrs Dualstow, which is to say, not at all.
I met Sophie once and she said that we need more female pp'ers. We do!

When I was a kid, my grandpa bought me a share of stock. Gave me the paper certificate.
These days, I wouldn't bother. And no more paper savings bonds.
I suppose it's up to their parents to get them into stocks.

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Edited to remove "I guess", which I used too many damn times.

[dualstow]

So no more holidays for me (I'm quitting Thanksgiving this year).

Bah humbug!

Dude, lean protein.

[sophie]

MG, say not so! Thanksgiving is the best. No gifts, no reason to rush off to church in the middle of the festivities, just a big meal that is very fun to cook.

Christmas, on the other hand, is a major PITA. If it weren't for the fact that I usually have hospital service around/during the holidays, I'd go someplace isolated and very far away.

[dualstow]

Funny story. I was out with some friends last night and one of them, a guy in his sixties, was getting ready to get rid of some proof coins (no silver or gold content). I asked him if he used to collect and he said that his dad used to give them as gifts. "Kind of a pain in the ass to deal with and {get rid of}", he said.

I sighed, told him about my plan for the silver coins for my nieces, and said, this is the future conversation that they're going to have with someone someday if I give them these coins.

Maybe I'll just buy them for myself, as I've been planning all along in the selfish back of my mind.

[MachineGhost]

Just give them Chinese Panda coins!!!

[dualstow]

Just give them Chinese Panda coins!!!

Well, I placed the order (Apmex). Whether or not they get any of my silver fiddles is up in the air.
But they will get some cute non-metal non-monetary gifts.

[MachineGhost]

Just give them Chinese Panda coins!!!

Well, I placed the order (Apmex). Whether or not they get any of my silver fiddles is up in the air.
But they will get some cute non-metal non-monetary gifts.

How about both? Minimize the damage.

[dualstow]

They're good kids. We have a good time when we hang out, i.e. they're not adult-hating teenagers yet.

[barrett]

Dualstow,,

This might be a dumb question but I don't get why a coin that costs $29.50 has "100 Euro" on the back. Kinda like the American Eagles that say $50 on the back... only different.

On a related note, silver was up almost 1% today!

[dualstow]

Dualstow,,

This might be a dumb question but I don't get why a coin that costs $29.50 has "100 Euro" on the back. Kinda like the American Eagles that say $50 on the back... only different.

Yeah, it's weird. You should ignore the face value. It's funny, though: when I read that silver is legal tender in Utah or that the coins I bought can be used in Austria, I always wonder if they're used to buy chewing gum as I don't think the face value is more than €1.50. The 100 Euro coin is gold.

On a related note, silver was up almost 1% today!

I saw that. Since I was just buying a smaller amount, I didn't fret over it, but I certainly would have if I had been placing a sizable order. Reminds me of Microsoft stock escaping my limit order last week. I'm not going to chase it.

[sophie]

They're good kids. We have a good time when we hang out, i.e. they're not adult-hating teenagers yet.

I still really like the idea of gifting them small gold coins. I gave a Kindle copy of the book "The Richest Man in Babylon" to my college-age niece, along with the offer to help her open a Roth IRA account. She was very enthusiastic. So you might be surprised at how well the budget & save message goes over.

And yes...need more women PPers!!!!

[dualstow]

College-aged, yes. :-) We'll see how it goes.
In the meantime, it was nice to be able to order online, i.e. to not have to use the phone, and then to drop a check in the mail. Dangerously easy, and might lead to future purchases. I have a blue box half a block from my front door.

I was always under the impression that online orders required a wire transfer & fee or a credit card and the expensive surcharge that comes with it. I'll report on delivery when it happens.

[MachineGhost]

Apmex does charge a surcharge for credit cards. Use web bill pay to avoid it.

[dualstow]

Apmex does charge a surcharge for credit cards. Use web bill pay to avoid it.

I used a personal check.

[dualstow]

Got the coins today. I didn't realize silver was also very heavy - almost like lead - because I've only bought a few collectibles from the mint here and there, with each coin in a box. This tube is damn heavy. I like it.

[dualstow]

P.S. from a gold thread today -

I have a slightly modified holding of 25% gold and 5% silver. So overall precious metals >25%

The markup on silver is really high, isn't it? Thinking about the cost of buying it and then selling it reminds me of some (Chinese) renminbi-denominated traveler's cheques from American Express. The banks in China that would take them charged an 8% fee and I paid something similar to buy them. Gold...under 4% markup.

[ochotona]

The markup is why I use ETFS for silver. Also it's too bulky, I don't have the space in my safe.

[dualstow]

It is bulky indeed.

[ochotona]

Interesting strength in silver but weakness in gold. My silver buy orders are going unfilled, my gold orders are hitting. I hope the silver train hasn't left the station for good.

[dualstow]

Interesting strength in silver but weakness in gold. My silver buy orders are going unfilled, my gold orders are hitting. I hope the silver train hasn't left the station for good.

How about now? I just got (yet another) marketing email from Apmex, touting the 5.88% drop in silver's spot price.

[ochotona]

Interesting strength in silver but weakness in gold. My silver buy orders are going unfilled, my gold orders are hitting. I hope the silver train hasn't left the station for good.

How about now? I just got (yet another) marketing email from Apmex, touting the 5.88% drop in silver's spot price.

Being an aimless dreamer, I set my buy for silver at $15. My gold buy was $1260. But I won't buy more gold until it gets back to the Dec 2015 lows. I'm done for now.

[JohnnyFactor]

I ran across this interesting bit, discussing the possibility of India shifting more of their gold purchasing to silver. Could mean big changes to the silver market if it materializes.

http://qz.com/851315/is-silver-replacin ... 100-years/

[dualstow]

Very interesting!

[ochotona]

The gold : silver ratio exhibits variability, and over an extended period of time it reverts to its own very long-term moving average. One argument is that silver is relatively cheaper than gold right now. It's a way to allocate money that you're going to put into metals anyway. You could make an argument that gold:silver > 55 means "buy silver". Right now it is 70. At the extremes, like at ratio > 80 you'd overweight silver, at ratio < 40 you'd overweight gold.

Doug Eberhardt, a San Diego metals dealer, advocates 75% gold / 25% silver allocation for the metals part of one's portfolio. The GLTR ETF is 56% gold, 29% silver, 8% platinum, 7% palladium.

Maybe if we get some economic growth back in the world, silver will become more dear, supposedly it's used in solar panels. With economic growth, "risk-off" sentiments, and higher interest rates, the gold:silver ratio could fall.