Before I got into the prepper/ Survival movement my savings and investments were scarce to say the least. I was easily one of the “sheeple” With no savings account at all, nothing contributed into 401(K) or any retirement plans. I, like many lived from paycheck to paycheck and was utterly screwed if an emergency came up. Since then I’ve gotten smart. I have contributed to a retirement plan. Although I’ve hated it for now to invest stronger in another area. I have a emergency fund with almost 2 grand in it. I have some money in stocks that I keep an eye on to sale quickly if needed. I keep some money in cash stashed in various locations in various denominations. This is somewhat depleted at the moment and I’m going to focus on building it. My favorite investment though and the one that has proven the most profitable has been Silver.
Cool Factor
I’ll go over the benefits of owning silver. How it has proven to be the best investment I’ve made. First though is the”cool factor”. I have a mild collector personality. I’ve collected all sorts of things before. Usually not for resale value although I have made some pretty huge profits selling comic books. Mostly though I tend to collect what I like and Silver has followed that. At this point the majority of my silver is in the form of Silver eagles. They are a quick and easy find. Not the best design out there though. I have a real love of some of the creative rounds being made and foreign 1oz coins. My favorite so far has been the Mexican Onza. It is a beautiful coin with lots of interesting elements on it. I’ve given Santa Coins to my nephews and nieces for Christmas. They did not think it was as cool as a shinny new plastic piece of crap but the coins have not broken and are worth more than twice what they were. I even have an elusive one I’m trying to collect. The Chinese panda coin. I saw one once in my coin store and for some reason didn’t get it. Lately I’ve switched to silver dimes. I try not to invest in all the same thing. Diversity even in the same thing is good. If at some point I do have to use my coins for barter I want to have some smaller denominations. I round out my collection with a few quarters silver dollars and odds and ends. My coins are normally one of the first things I show guests. I love talking about my coins and preaching the value of precious metals.
Increase in Value
Now on to the meat. When I started investing silver was around the $12 mark. I then would go over two weeks and buy two ounces. I continued this until silver got too high for me around the forty dollar mark. Once It had got to the thirties I had already switched to 1 oz bi-weekly. So the majority of my silver was purchased in the $12-$25 dollar range. Today right this minute (10/9/2012 9:49 am CST) silver is at $33.97. Meaning I’ve got an almost 3 times the return on the bulk of my investment. That’s if i planned on selling it. Something about owning silver keeps me from wanting to sale it. When I’ve needed money I have not really even thought about selling the silver. I’ve sold stock and done other ways to get money instead of parting with the metal.
Other Metals?
Up to this point I’m almost exclusively in silver. I have bought a few copper rounds. There are some really nice designs and the price point is low enough for copper to be an entry point into precious metals. As cheap as it is to get into copper rounds using them for barter is easy. The mental block I have on parting with silver is not there (as much) with the copper rounds. Gold however has been mostly too expensive for me to get into. I’ve got a little .7 gram gold Napoleon coin. I got a great deal on it and it gave me some gold in my coin collection. Other than than that I have no other metals. I do not see any value in collection platinum, palladium nor rolls of nickels. The nickel one which I’ve read and heard about a few times seems the most ridiculous. If you take nothing else away from this article don’t store nickels.
Good Deals
I’ve talked about the fact that I try to buy most everything local. I have a thing about waiting for shipping and also try to support my local economy over eBay or amazon when possible. My main go to is a semi-local coin store. The guys that work there know me and I like doing business with them. I’ve got 90% of my coins from them and will continue to buy from them. The rest has been more random. I’ve found silver at flea markets for great prices. Gun and knife shows usually have some at a decent price and you can avoid tax with cash purchases sometimes. Some of the best deals I’ve got though is from a Pawn Shop my friend works at. The prices are always better than anywhere else I’ve seen. Pawn Shops still have the ability to do some haggling as well.
Conclusion
Silver has a place in any investment strategy. I think I’ve made that point pretty clear. If just for diversity alone. Silver has with a few spikes and drops steadily gone up. It will not be going back done ever. I have no worries that the silver I bought at $12 will ever be worth less that that price. Although I pulled back when I went up I’m getting back in. The $30 range is a stable price range for it at the moment. I can’t buy two ounces every two weeks like before but two a month for sure. Even if you are buying a few pre 1964 silver dimes or quarters a week it’s still a start. If your all in a single investment I urge you to diversify as much as possible and make silver a part of it.
Do you buy silver? Why do you invest in silver? Do you have a Silver Panda to trade! Let me know in the comments!
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