Where To Buy Junk Silver

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On this page you will find FULL, free information on where to buy junk silver.

Please also check the other pages on this site as there are explanations of a few technical terms used by bullion traders, plus silver buying tips from a successful trader who has bought and sold junk silver many times and has been collecting silver coins for many years.

Where To Buy Junk Silver: The List

There are many online outlets for junk silver coins. Not all bullion dealers carry them, however there are a number of outlets to choose from. Bullion dealer info was researched from their respective web sites. If you are a bullion dealer and would like your basic information added to this page (or updated), please contact us, we would be glad to add you.

Here is our all-in-one-place review of 12 of the best places to buy junk silver.

Monex Precious Metals

Monex is an established bullion trading company based in Newport Beach, California. They are a very professional outfit and have a high level of customer service. Monex deals with large-scale orders and serious investment portfolios. Pros: friendly, professional, high level customer service. Cons: Monex does not deal in small quantities. You need to be a big roller to deal with them. I called Monex to discuss opening an account. I was impressed with the friendly, relaxed manner of my account rep and enjoyed the courtesy and respect with which I was treated. However the smallest order of junk silver coins available was $1000 face value of coins! At the time the spot price was $35 / ozt and this order would have cost around $25,000! So if you are just looking for a way to get your foot in the door with a few coins, this is not the place for you. If however you are a serious player then Monex should be on your shortlist.

Ebay Junk Silver Coins

Although not everyone knows this, you can of course buy and sell junk silver coins on eBay; especially USA 90% silver coins, of which there are always several sales running at any given time. You can buy coins by the pound weight, by the ounce or in whatever other quantity the ebay seller has decided to sell.

Most eBay traders are reputable, thanks to the feedback system which encourages transparency - however you do need to know what you are doing on eBay so that you get a solid good deal.

Here are a few important tips for buying junk silver coins on ebay:

1) Ebay prices are typically (but not always) a little higher than spot price. This is for several reasons. The ebay seller not only has to ship the item but also gets stung for ebay seller fees and paypal fees. This means their prices need to be higher to be able to make enough to make trading worthwhile. However the ease and convenience of the eBay / Paypal system means that many people still do buy and sell junk silver on ebay.

You can sometimes find silver coins on ebay at around the spot price. Some people purchased when the price was lower and so are happy to 'cash out' at the spot price. Make sure you know the actual silver content of the coins! I like the fact that there are no "hidden extra costs" with eBay - you just need to calculate the shipping, so arriving at a final fee is simple.

2) Some sellers sell "mixed lots" of old silver coin on ebay - and here you need to be very careful: sometimes the lots include "War Nickels" (1942-45) - which are only 35% silver. If you thought mistakenly that all the coins are 90% silver, then such lots look like great deals; however knowing that the War Nickels are only 35% silver means that the deal isn't anywhere near as good. Personally, I don't like those War Nickel deals and avoid them. All in all, you are usually better off buying lots where the buyer has stated "all coins are 90% silver".

3) Keep an eye on the shipping costs, especially on small auctions, as these vary from seller to seller.

Sometimes, you can obtain old silver coins at prices lower than spot on ebay - and I have done this. It is time consuming however - and typically old silver coins listed as "Buy Now" will be priced plentifully above spot. So, you want to look for coins that are being auctioned. Sometimes, especially if the coin is miscategorized or misspelt (and therefore not found by many others) the coin may sell for less than spot.

The trick for this is first to have a chart handy of the exact amount of silver cointained in coins. Then, calculate the current silver value of the coin by multiplying the silver content of the coin (in Troy Ounces!) by the spot price per troy ounce.

Then, list coins of a certain type with the lowest priced ones first, or possibly with the ones ending soonest first. You know that you can bid somewhere under the spot price (including shipping) and get a safe deal - however, sometimes it's good to withhold those bids until the final seconds. I did say it was time consuming - but if you are patient and hungry enough, you might gain a few dollars discount on a coin or even a coin lot this way.

Provident Metals

One of the great things about Provident Metals is that you can buy small amounts of silver - as little as one ounce at a time, and the price is still only a little over spot! There are price breaks on larger orders. Yes! You will of course need to factor in shipping, sales tax if you are in a State that requires it and, as with almost all bullion dealers, there is an extra charge for using a credit card. The prices listed on Provident's web site are cash prices (for those customers who pay using a Bank Wire, Money Order, Cashiers Check, or Personal Check.) Customers paying by credit card must add 2.99%.

Provident's shipping costs are reasonable for USA customers:
Orders $0-$99.9 = $5.95 shipping
Orders $100-$499.99 = $8.95 shipping
Orders $500-$1,999.99 = $11.95 shipping
Orders $2,000-$4,999.99 = $16.95 shipping
Orders $5,000+ = $24.95 shipping

Provident, as with many online bullion dealers, sells a wide range of bullion products in addition to junk silver coins - such as 1 oz American Gold Eagle coins, 1 oz gold bullion bars, Silver Canadian Maple Leaf coins and even copper bars.

Goldmart

I have bought junk silver coins from Goldmart several times and was pleased with the deals I got from them. Here are a few tips to be aware of 1) If you are buying by credit card, there is a 3% extra charge. So for example, buying $100 face value of coins at around $34/troy ounce, the credit card extra charge ends up being around $60. If you do NOT buy by credit card, and opt to use a check, you get the cheaper price, but there is a hold of ten business days. I did this once but the long wait for the coins was somewhat frustrating. Still, there's an old saying - "The money is not made on the buy or the sell, the money is made in the waiting." It isn't always true, of course, but in this case it was: Silver rose several dollars per Troy Ounce in the time the coins took to arrive, so I actually made a gain of a few hundred dollars - true story!

I also inquired of Goldmart whether their bags of old silver coins were "picked through" in order to pluck out any rare dates or unusually good condition coins. Goldmart assured me that they receive the coins in large quantities from the mint, and that the coins are not picked through. So there would seem to be a possibility that there may be uncommon coins in a Goldmart hoard.

APMEX

APMEX, short for American Precious Metals Exchange, a BBB A+ (top rated) accredited business, sells a wide variety of bullion and numismatic products, including several 90% silver US coin deals. There are some interesting and unusual offers here and APMEX is clearly targeting the numismatist more than many other "junk silver coin" sellers - for example you can pick up 1916-1945 Mercury Dimes, Mixed Dates in brilliant uncirculated condition. You can also buy cheaper "culls" - damaged coins. Monex offers older USA coins including some 19th century silver coins, and many bags which have been graded for coin condition. These are of course more expensive than ordinary spot price. Monex credit card and bank wire orders ship within 1-3 business days.

Apmex charges a fee for credit card use.

Pacific Precious Metals

Pacific Precious Metals sells 90% Silver US Coins in $500 face value bags at Spot + $0.60 / ozt. Their minimum order is $1500 and credit cards are not accepted currently.

Northwest Territorial Mint

Northwest Terrirotial Mint, based in Washington, USA, sells 90% silver U.S. coins. Their minimum order is $50 Face Value, whcih contains around 35.75 Troy Ounces of silver. approx cost $1500) The maximum order in the online store is 200 oz, however more can be ordered by phone. Northwest's shipping rates for online purchases -
$10 for orders less than $250
$20 for orders $250 - $400M
$30 for orders $400 or more
Payments for most orders are held for five business days to protect against credit card fraud.

C.C. Silver & Gold Inc.

C.C. Silver & Gold Inc., based in Phoenix, Arizona, sells 90% silver US coins, as well as numerous other bullion products. They sell in as little as $1 face value of coins, which is awesome for the small investor. They have an online ordering system and running a quick test this appeared smooth. There were no hidden charges for credit card order - nice. Also, there was no statement of a hold or surcharge on orders by check.

Monarch Precious Metals

Monarch, or MPM, offers 90% Silver Dimes, Quarters, Halves, Dollars, 40% Silver Halves and 35% Silver War Nickels. Monarch even sells junk silver coins individually! They proudly state that there is no minimum order - PERFECT for the beginner investor! This is uncommon. Also available are rolls / tubes of 20 coins. There are price breaks on larger orders. Interestingly, Monarch also sells "culls" - these are coins that have been damaged, bent, drilled, scratched, gold plated, colorized, cleaned, etc. The price of these is less.

MPM, based in the USA, does not ship internationally. Large USA orders will require signature / insurance. Here are their USA shipping charges:

$0 - $99.99 -- $5.95
$100.00 - $199.99 -- $7.95
$200.00 - $399.99 -- $10.95
$400.00 - $599.99 -- $12.95
$600.00 - $749.99 -- $15.95
$750.00 - $1499.99 -- $19.95
$1500.00 - $1999.99 -- $24.95
$2000.00 - $2499.99 -- $29.95
$2500.00 - $4999.99 -- $34.95
$5000.00 & up -- $39.95

Precious Metals Brokerage Group

PMBG offers delivery within 7 days and 90% silver coins in $1000, $500, $250, $100 and $50 face value bags. PMBG is a BBB accredited business with an A rating, and one must call them for prices, which are not quoted on their web site.

Lynn Coins

Lynn Coins, based in Tennessee, offers junk silver coins in a wide variety of bags sizes and rolls. One of the things I like about their service is that there appears not to be any "hidden" extra cost. US shipping is free, including insurance on large orders. So the price you see does indeed seem to be the price you get.

CMI Gold and Silver

CMI, another BBB accredited business, based in Phoenix, Arizona, sells 90% silver coins with a minimum order of $250 face value, which would cost around $5000 in Feb 2012. CMI does not accept cash, checks drawn on foreign banks, third party checks, credit cards or debit cards. Shipping is $30 up to 500 ounces of silver; free shipping for more. Orders are processed by phone.

Please note - please be aware that buying and selling bullion items is highly speculative and there are of course substantial financial risks. This web site is not investment advice and we do not make any actual recommendations.