Chapter 698

Jan 19, 2026

Gold & Silver

Precious metals

I started my recent collections in October with the 1887 Morgan Silver Dollar coin like the ones Grandma gave me as a kid. Back then you could get them at the bank for $1. Basically I spent them on candy never saving them. It's 90 % silver and costs about the melt spot price for silver plus a small premium since it has minimal numismatic value. In October it cost $38 at a local coin shop but today it's approaching double that price with the tremendous surge in silver prices.

Capital District Coin Dealers hold a coin show each month in Colonie. Would you trust shady looking Joe from Gardner Coin Shop Gardner Mass.? 

I bought the 1904 Gold Double Eagle coin at a coin show which is also similarly alloyed at 22 Karat or 92% gold purity. That cost $3925 in November including a 1.5% premium that the dealer keeps for doing business but is worth hundreds more now with the rapid rise in the price of gold.

Yes, he was deemed reputable by the coin guys but  I had him verify the gold on his Sigma Metalics Verifier anyway and he trusted me taking my check. 

I started buying silver and gold bullion rounds and bars from on line bullion dealers when their margins were less than what local shops were doing. Findbullionprices.com is an excellent source to find best continuously updated prices.

 BullionExchanges.com became one of my favs with low margin and trustworthiness. See Wall Street Journal video on Ben's shop.

With prices skyrocketing I decided to sell off most all of what I had accumulated to take a smaller profit rather than waiting for a price pullback or crash. I was only in it for for the knowledge and fun anyway simply wanting to beat the minimal bank interest rates. When they  only pay 4% in a year and you can get 100% in a month with silver- it's worth a risk with a portion of savings.

Sold US Mint Silver eagles, buffalos, South African Kruggerands, Canadian Maple Leafs, British Brittanias, Australian Kangaroos, miscellaneous generic commerative issues from a variety of US private mints, Golden State Mint, Sunshine Mint, Apmex, Republic, Scottsdale, Turkish Istanbul Gold Refinery, Heraeus German mint, Swiss Argor Heraeus mint  makes quality metal. Mostly all gone.

Then I bought back more with prices still climbing. Swiss PAMP Lady Fortuna etc and sold again taking small bites out of the up swing not trying to get greedy and pic bottom to top run. Still have a few left that I hate to part with, though I could, time will tell.

Meanwhile I'm also taking a few buy and sell opportunities on stocks: ETF's and mining stocks just for fun.

Get a kick out of Eric Sprott and his stocks. There seems to be plenty of upside potential for precious metals prices but it's not likely to be a straight line. Volatility, fluctuations, pull backs and other market forces are in the mix.