Silver Coin Collecting Question

[Jerry1]

I bought a tube of American Silver Eagles (20/tube). I want to take them out of the tube and put them in single coin holders. I was planing on being careful with them (wear gloves and not let them get marred . . .) as I put them in the case. However, in reading about the coins, I saw a comment that opening the sealed tube would lower the value of the coins by as much as 15%.

I don't plan on ever having any of these graded and will probably open the tube either way, but wondering if anyone has knowledge as to whether or not that statement is true. Does opening the tube impact the value of the coins, especially if they're handled properly and secured in another coin case to keep them in good condition?

 

[Sunset]

Don't know , but think it's true because a sealed tube is proof they haven't been touched.

Once you put them in a single coin holder or anything, the proof is gone, and they could be any old circulated coins that simply didn't get scratched.

 

[Spock]

When you sell the buyer is going to open it anyway to check for fakes.
Buyers do pay more for unopened tubes, but generally only when buying from dealers.

 

[GrayHare]

I suspect that is true in the same way collectors put a higher value on other things in their original packaging, like old toys, baseball cards, etc. A sealed container contains all sorts of interesting possibilities, whereas once you open Schrödinger's box, everyone knows the state of the cat inside.

 

[Sunset]

Someone just paid ~3.7M USD for an unopened case of hockey cards.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/27/canada-hockey-trading-cards-wayne-gretzky

 

[Car-Guy]

Single tube no, (it's not "mint" sealed anyway) However, a "mint strapped" green monster box possibly, in the future if the date becomes one of the fewer rare ones. Other than that, unless it becomes a rare mintage date, it will be worth bullion silver prices at the time you sell, plus a dollar or two each. End of story!


Note, some distributors will heat shrink plastic over the tube and/or add a label suggesting mint sealed but that's not exactly being truthful. They get green monster boxes from the mint and seal the individual tubes once received. Did they open them and search for perfect coins or not, before sealing them?

PM me if you want more info or have specific questions.

 

[Koolau]

There are any number of silver collectors and "stackers" on YouTube who collect Silver Eagles, Canadian Silver Maple Leaves, etc. Most of them handle these coins and open tubes, etc. Here is a guy who has dozens of YouTubes on silver, visits coin shops to discuss coins and at least fancies himself an expert on silver.

Notice his behavior beginning about 4 minutes or so.

My take: As long as you don't "abuse" the coins, no one would even know if you opened a tube and the only way they would "know" was if THEY opened YOUR tube to check your coins. Point being, I've never heard of issues of placing coins from tubes into individual holders. IF there is some theoretical loss of value in opening tubes of Silver Eagles, I've never heard of it but I am no expert. I just like watching people with a particular passion for (in this case) silver coins (could be collecting vinyl records or displaying gems/minerals - as long as they are passionate about their given "thing.")

 

[joesxm3]

Just make sure to get the hard type flips if you are not using holders like air tite. The soft flips have plastic that degrades.

Also if you have them out of the tube still make sure you keep them in an air tight dry container so they don't tarnish.

 

[Jerry1]

Single tube no, (it's not "mint" sealed anyway) However, a "mint strapped" green monster box possibly, in the future if the date becomes one of the fewer rare ones. Other than that, unless it becomes a rare mintage date, it will be worth bullion silver prices at the time you sell, plus a dollar or two each. End of story!


Note, some distributors will heat shrink plastic over the tube and/or add a label suggesting mint sealed but that's not exactly being truthful. They get green monster boxes from the mint and seal the individual tubes once received. Did they open them and search for perfect coins or not, before sealing them?

Thanks. I didn't realize these weren't sealed at the mint but now that I look at them, it seems to support what you are saying. They've been shrink wrapped with a label across the top to show it hasn't been opened but it doesn't say sealed at the mint, it just says US Mint Bullion Coins. I'm becoming pretty sure that isn't how they come from the mint. Makes it easy to break it open and put them in coin holders. I want to give some of them away to the grandkids, etc.

 

[Jerry1]

Just make sure to get the hard type flips if you are not using holders like air tite. The soft flips have plastic that degrades.

Also if you have them out of the tube still make sure you keep them in an air tight dry container so they don't tarnish.

I did buy some air-tite brand holders. I got the direct fit.

 

[Car-Guy]

Thanks. I didn't realize these weren't sealed at the mint but now that I look at them, it seems to support what you are saying. They've been shrink wrapped with a label across the top to show it hasn't been opened but it doesn't say sealed at the mint, it just says US Mint Bullion Coins. I'm becoming pretty sure that isn't how they come from the mint. Makes it easy to break it open and put them in coin holders. I want to give some of them away to the grandkids, etc.

The Green Monster boxes (See picture below) do come from the mint strapped/sealed closed but the 25 individual tubes inside (see other picture) are not sealed. Individual Silver Eagles make excellent gifts to youngsters. (IMO)

An interesting tidbit of info (FWIW)

"Per the Coin Act of 1985, American silver eagles are only to be produced with U.S. mined silver. Most of the silver mined in the U.S. is from Alaska, Nevada and Idaho."

 

[Jerry1]

The Green Monster boxes (See picture below) do come from the mint strapped/sealed closed but the 25 individual tubes inside (see other picture) are not sealed. Individual Silver Eagles make excellent gifts to youngsters.


An interesting tidbit of info:


"Per the Coin Act of 1985, American silver eagles are only to be produced with U.S. mined silver. Most of the silver mined in the U.S. is from Alaska, Nevada and Idaho."

I got mine from Costco. I can believe that someone took them straight out of the monster box and sealed them, but you're right, it kind of insinuates that they were sealed at the mint. Still, with no guarantee that they were sealed at the mint, I don't see how being in the tube, sealed by a third party, can increase their value.

 

[Car-Guy]

I got mine from Costco. I can believe that someone took them straight out of the monster box and sealed them, but you're right, it kind of insinuates that they were sealed at the mint. Still, with no guarantee that they were sealed at the mint, I don't see how being in the tube, sealed by a third party, can increase their value.

It won't... Since I know it was sealed by a third party, I'd want to open it to be sure it has 20 real Silver Eagles inside and none were scratched or dinged. But then, I'm not the trusting sort, YMMV

 

[Jerry1]

I opened the tube today. Not sure if this is proof, but it seems like the coins were manipulated. One of the coins was facing the opposite of all the others. I guess that could happen with an automated process at the mint, but it seems unlikely. Either way, they look good in their new holders.

 

[Car-Guy]

Odd looking coin tube in your picture. Does it say US Treasury on the top or does it have a distributors name and/or suggest it came from the US mint?

 

[Jerry1]

Odd looking coin tube in your picture. Does it say US Treasury on the top or does it have a distributors name and/or suggest it came from the US mint?

No, that came with the air-tite coin holders. It holds the 20 coins in their holders.

 

[Car-Guy]

Ok, that's done by some distributor. That's not the way the mint packs/ships "standard" minted Silver Eagles (SE). It's not a problem, it's still worth the same as any other standard minted SE with that date. Note "Proof" SE minted coins are individually packaged and boxed but cost a lot more.

 

[Jerry1]

Ok, that's done by some distributor. That's not the way the mint packs/ships "standard" minted Silver Eagles (SE). It's not a problem, it's still worth the same as any other standard minted SE with that date. Note "Proof" SE minted coins are individually packaged and boxed but cost a lot more.

No. I got the coins in a typical mint tube like you showed. I took them out of that and put them in the individual coin holders. The tube with the red top holds 20 silver eagles in the individual coin holders. Accordingly, it’s taller than a typical mint tube. I was careful not to touch them (used gloves) and made sure I didn’t scratch them. I’d say they are in as good of condition as they were sitting in the mint tube but now I can handle them and give a few away.

 

[Car-Guy]

Makes sense.

 

[Koolau]

Here are a couple of "information sites" to peruse. BOTH have at least some commercial interest in you so they can not be considered totally unbiased. But, my take is that they are likely on the up/and/up with the information.


https://whitman.com/american-silver-eagles-a-guide-to-the-u-s-bullion-coin-program-4th-edition/

https://atlantagoldandcoin.com/what-you-need-to-know-before-you-sell-silver-eagles/


I have some more questions which you need/might want to answer only for yourself. Why are you buying these Silver Eagles?

To be more specific: Are you collecting them as a "collector." IOW do the coins' beauty or rarity or some other factor make you want to own them? If so, their "value" upon resale is likely less of an issue. Collectors typically wish to look at their coins so your placing them in individual air-tights seems quite appropriate. You shouldn't worry too much about their "value" as you wish to keep them if you are a collector.

Do you wish to make money with your coins? If so, keep in mind that the "rarity" of these coins is currently because a lot of people want to own them - not because they are actually rare. Demand has often outstripped supply, but that was true of Cabbage Patch dolls and Tickle-Me-Elmo. IOW these coins are not, strictly speaking, rare - just hard to get right now in some cases. If that demand should slack as folks move on to the next big "thing," the "value" could plunge. The silver content will not change so melt price will always be a floor for the value of the coins. At a future date, it may well be that people will try to put together collections of these coins and bid them up. But that's not guaranteed. The coins "come" with a high premium over melt price of silver. Recouping that would be difficult with the possible exception of collector-to-collector trading/selling. IOW a coin dealer will likely not pay you what you paid for your coins - at least not for several years yet when the markets possibly shift toward more collecting of the older coins. Something to think about.

Finally, are you collecting them because they are silver and therefore "intrinsically" valuable (due to silver content?) If so, there are cheaper ways to "stack" silver. "Cheap" silver "rounds" are much lower premium above silver melt price. Bars are still cheaper. US coins '64 and older are also cheaper than Silver Eagles though typically (right now) a premium above rounds of similar silver content. Keep in mind that $1.40 face value of USA coinage is roughly one troy ounce of silver. Right now "junk" or "constitutional" or USA coinage is selling around 20 to 22 times the face value of the coin. So a half dollar might cost $0.50 X 21 = $10.50 at a coin shop. At that price, the cost per oz of silver would be about $10.50 X (0.50/1.40) = $29.40 Significantly MORE than a "cheap" one ounce silver round but significantly less than Silver Eagles have been going for of late.


"Preserving wealth" or matching/beating inflation or converting "fiat dollars" to "real money" are often terms silver collectors use. If these are your main reason for owning Silver Eagles, there are cheaper ways to do it. My guess is that your interest is a bit like mine (all the above.) But the silver I own is MOSTLY the fiat currency/inflation protection argument (Oh, and silver often - but not always is negatively correlated with the stock/bond market.)


Heh, heh, feel free to ignore all this as it may be TMI. OH, and returning you now...

 

[Jerry1]

Why are you buying these Silver Eagles?

A few reasons.

I want them. They’re cool. So at some level, I’m a small time collector.

I want to give some of them away. I think they will make a cool gift/stocking stuffer for the grandkids.

I got a pretty good deal on them. Buying from Costco I received credit card rewards and executive rewards, reducing the price paid by 4%. I got them for $26 per coin. (Add $1 for the coin holder.). Spot is $23 so not bad for a premium on each coin. At some point, I’d sell some of them if I can break even or make a little bit but face it, at maybe ten coins that I would sell, it doesn’t matter financially.

Just a small town guy doing small time stuff.

 

[Koolau]

A few reasons.

I want them. They’re cool. So at some level, I’m a small time collector.

I want to give some of them away. I think they will make a cool gift/stocking stuffer for the grandkids.

I got a pretty good deal on them. Buying from Costco I received credit card rewards and executive rewards, reducing the price paid by 4%. I got them for $26 per coin. (Add $1 for the coin holder.). Spot is $23 so not bad for a premium on each coin. At some point, I’d sell some of them if I can break even or make a little bit but face it, at maybe ten coins that I would sell, it doesn’t matter financially.

Just a small town guy doing small time stuff.

That is a good price. Recent premiums have been much higher. Congrats on your score!

 

[Spock]

A few reasons.

I want them. They’re cool. So at some level, I’m a small time collector.

I want to give some of them away. I think they will make a cool gift/stocking stuffer for the grandkids.

I got a pretty good deal on them. Buying from Costco I received credit card rewards and executive rewards, reducing the price paid by 4%. I got them for $26 per coin. (Add $1 for the coin holder.). Spot is $23 so not bad for a premium on each coin. At some point, I’d sell some of them if I can break even or make a little bit but face it, at maybe ten coins that I would sell, it doesn’t matter financially.

Just a small town guy doing small time stuff.

I knew costco was selling gold bars (they had some Pamp yesterday for about $100 less than other online dealers) but was not aware costco handled silver coins. I can't find them on their website. Do they carry Maples too or just ASEs?

 

[Jerry1]

I knew costco was selling gold bars (they had some Pamp yesterday for about $100 less than other online dealers) but was not aware costco handled silver coins. I can't find them on their website. Do they carry Maples too or just ASEs?

Yes, I’ve seen silver maples. Costco is very sporadic in how they sell gold and silver. When it’s not in stock, it doesn’t show on their site. I’ve been following a Reddit site that gives me a heads up when things go on sale. The interesting stuff doesn’t last long. They had the gold buffalo coins and it only lasted for 15 minutes. Sometimes it’s on their home page and other times not. Search CostcoPM on Reddit if you’re interested. Unfortunate thing about Reddit is that notifications stink. You basically have to check the site throughout the day.

 

[dirtbiker]

I stack a small amount of silver and gold. I buy a little at a time with leftover money I'd otherwise waste month after month from a local coin shop mostly. I enjoy buying them and admiring them, and unlike most toys, they actually add to my net worth. Precious metal prices will never keep up with the markets, but they'll beat inflation over the long run.

I keep all of mine in individual capsules. This way I can handle them all I want without fear of damaging them. This is especially important with the soft .9999 gold coins.

I buy a bunch of different rounds, bars, and coins. However, I mostly buy coins. Their premiums are higher, but they're nearly always going to be easier to sell if the time comes, and you usually get a bit back on the premiums when it comes time to sell when compared to the rounds or bars.

I love the Eagles, and they are the majority of my silver stack, but I like collecting coins from all over the world (except the Austrian Philharmonic. I hate that coin). My absolute favorite is the Mexican Libertad. The premiums are too high to stack them, but I have a few just to have.