I really don’t have much to add about AG or silver, except as of Friday, and the last few years, it has been a bargain, since its price isn’t much above what it costs to mine. The ‘spot’ price of gold and silver, are the prices miners get for the ore they mine, but that raw ore has to be milled, smelted, transported, manufactured, and placed into circulation by us, and for such a small price over the ‘spot’ price, it’s amazing it can be done so efficiently. Silver’s ratio to gold, is about 84 to 1, and in known history, which is well over a thousand years, the ratio has been 16 to 1, meaning that gold was 16 times as much per ounce as silver. Today, that ratio means a one gold Maple Leaf, is the equivalent, price wise, to 84 ounces of silver. Imagine, one gold coin, is the same price as 84 one-ounce silver coins.
Silver, has a couple of disadvantages, and the main one is that it takes up so much space to store, and cost to ship, if you want to sell it. We at Colorado Gold, charge virtually nothing to sell ($25), if you bought it from us, but you have to ship it to Las Vegas, NV. Silver has a lot of advantages. It is a powerful anti-infection metal, and it is said that if you put a once ounce silver coin in a gallon of not too clean water, it will sterilize it. Hospitals use it all the time, sterilizing implements, and even heat ducts. There is a way to make a silver-water solution, which will heal infections also. It involves silver and water and a 9-volt battery, or something like that, but I hear it really works. Silver is beautiful, won’t rust, and is a great conductor of electricity.
One of America’s great fortunes was made with silver, and as a matter of fact, much of San Francisco’s wealth was made with the silver strike at Virginia City, Nevada. Virginia City, got its name from an old drunk from Virginia, who called himself ‘Old Virginny,” and as he died, he said “I want this place to be called Virginia City,” and so it has been. The Comstock Lode, made four people filthy rich, and thousands of others very well off. Mark Twain, got his start writing for Virginia City’s newspaper, the “Territorial Enterprise,” although his real name was Samuel Clemmons. He got is name when he was a river boatman, and they measured the depth of a river in ‘twains.’ He thought that two of them sounded OK, so he became Mark Twain.
At the virtual top of Nob Hill in San Francisco, is the huge mansion built by James Flood, one of the multi-millionaires who got that way by means of the Comstock Lode in Virginia City. It’s now home of one of San Francisco’s posh private clubs, known as the Pacific Union Club. Liberals, hate the place and refuse to walk by it, but cross the street, rather than walk in front of it. They call it the “P.U.”
The silver lode in Virginia City, sat there for decades, in the form of some sticky ‘blue stuff,’ which everyone hated. One day, some smart guy took some ‘blue stuff’ to a chemist and assayer, and found out it was super rich silver ore, and the rush was on. California’s “49ers,” left quickly for Virginia City, as did thousands of others, and the boom was on. A U.S. mint was started in Carson City, down the hill from Virginia City, and millions of silver dollars with the mint mark “CC’ for Carson City, were minted, till the ore ran out, and are collectible now.
As an idea of silver’s value, all U.S. dimes, quarters, and halves were made of 90% silver until 1964, and a silver quarter, dime, or half today, is worth many times the spot price, for silver content alone, not counting possible numismatic value. A U.S. silver dime, has 2.5 grams of silver, a U.S. quarter, 6.25 grams, and a U.S. silver half, contains 12.5 grams of silver. They come in ‘bags’ of a thousand dollars of U.S. silver coinage. 10,000 U.S. silver dimes, 4,000 U.S. silver quarters, and 2,000 U.S. silver halves. “bags” are kind a tough to find now, as naturally they have all been bought and stored by smart investors, but if you could find one, at about $9,000, that would make a silver dime worth 90 cents, and quarters and halves equally pricy.
Most, if not all silver buyers, do so, because of the bargain prices, but also in case it is ever necessary to barter with them. Silver is a precious metal, and is real money throughout history, in all nations and civilizations. A one-ounce silver ‘Buffalo, is about $25, and we’ve sold millions, which is easy to use as a barter device. For years, I begged our supplier to make a tenth ounce silver coin, and it finally happened. A one tenth ounce of silver, is a wonderful bartering device, if and when it becomes convenient, fun, or necessary. At a yard sale, it would work very well, I am certain, as the person holding the sale would be excited to get a real silver coin, and might not even know its value, if you know what I mean. Carry a couple around in your pocket, and you can have a lot of fun with them.
The Tenth ounce Silver Buffalo, comes in plastic tubes of 50, and they are exactly a tenth the size of a one ounce “buffy.” Obviously, since to get one ounce, the mint has to make ten coins rather than one, they’re are a bit more expensive than a single ounce coin, about sixty cents an ounce more. I bought a few hundred, and I think they’re grand. Ask Morgan, David, or Melissa to get you some, and their price and picture are on the web site. Now we have something to barter with, which is so close to a couple of dollars, that everyone should have a thousand, I think. Up to you, but I love them!
Don Stott- don@coloradoold.com