Buy .999 Fine Silver Coins
Here are a few common silver bullion coins: US Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leaves, Austrian Philharmonics, and Chinese Silver Pandas. These investment grade coins are produced by the government mints of their respective countries, and are struck in .999 or finer silver. All of the coins pictured here are 1 troy oz, with the exception of the Chinese Panda. Prior to 2016, the pandas were minted in 1 troy oz size, but in 2016 they were switched to metric weights and the weight of the coin was reduced to 30 grams.
All of these coins are widely recognized, can be purchased new from the mint to eliminate the risk of receiving counterfeit coins, and have legal tender face value, which could be helpful in some situations.
Buy Silver Bars
Another great way to stack physical silver is with silver bars. Bars ranging from 1 to 100 troy ozs are made by a number of reputable private mints. Typical sizes you'll encounter are 1, 5, 10, 20, and 100 troy ounce bars, and for those of you who like the metric system, 1 kilogram bars are also common. In case you're curious, 1 kilogram is equal to 32.15 troy ounces. There are also odd sized older and hand poured bars, which depending on the maker and the features, may fetch a high premium from collectors.
Caution should be exercised when purchasing bars from the secondary market, as counterfeit bars do exist, a problem which may be exacerbated in the future in an environment of rising silver prices.
I prefer to buy directly from mints issuing new bars. A personal favorite is the scottsdale mint 10 oz silver stacker bar, pictured here. You can buy these directly from the scottsdale mint website, and they also regularly go on sale on the scottsdale mint eBay store, where they can be purchased for a very reasonable premium. I like these bars because they are polished, finely machined, and the design makes them truly stackable. Each bar has a serial number, and by buying directly from the mint, the risk of receiving counterfeit bullion is eliminated.
Buy Junk Silver
The term "Junk Silver" refers to silver US coinage minted in 1964 and earlier. Silver dimes, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars were the common coinage in the United States during this period. Junk silver is composed of 90% silver and 10% copper, an alloy meant reduce wear and tear on circulating coins. US 90% silver coins are well recognized for their precious metals content, and provide an excellent means of having silver in small divisible quantities of the type needed for every day transactions. Premiums on these coins are typically quite low for the investor, and junk silver has the added benefit of being US legal tender.
Shop Smart
Some silver stackers prefer to buy their bullion in person from a local coin shop. I think supporting your local coin shop is great, and if a good one is accessible for you, make sure you check them out. Just make sure the staff is assaying any secondary wares they take in, to verify authenticity and avoid counterfeits. Also, shop around a little, and make sure they aren't charging too high of a premium over the spot price of silver.
If the idea of buying your bullion in a brick and mortar store doesn't appeal to you, or if you simply don't have one available, there are a number of reputable online dealers for you to shop with. JM Bullion, APMEX, Gainesville Coins, & SD Bullion are all reputable names in the business, and of course there are others as well.
The way I buy the majority of my silver through online dealers is through their eBay stores. APMEX, JM Bullion, Scottsdale Mint, and others all operate eBay stores with great prices, and frequently have special low premium sales. A quick search on eBay for "Silver Special Price" or "Silver Sale" will reveal any current deals. Reasons to shop on eBay rather than through the dealer's websites include:
1)Free Shipping.
2)The ability to pay with a credit card for any purchase, without paying a higher price. This way you can get points/cash back on any bullion purchase.
3)Paying low premium over spot price on sale priced items.
4)Additional customer support from Paypal & eBay for any issues.
Also, I'd like to mention that I don't recommend buying from small sellers on eBay, as stories abound of counterfeit bullion purchased through the platform.
So, thats the four smartest ways to buy physical silver! Thank you for you watching, I hope you find this information helpful in building your silver stack.
