Ebay Inside Secret
It seams that there a lot of misinformed people on Ebay...Sellers that try to take advantage of buyers that just don't know. Furthermore I think there are many people getting ripped off when they are buying Gold & Silver.
There are many sellers listing Silver & Gold coins and bars stating that they are .999 FINE SILVER or GOLD, but in fact these are only silver and gold plated. Now most of these bars and coins are marked "100 Mills .999 FINE SILVER" or " 100 MILS .999 GOLD". There are NOT REAL GOLD or SILVER, and have NO VALUE for the gold and silver. DO NOT BUY.
Now some of the sellers are getting a little heat from buyers and Ebay and they are stating that they are "gold or silver plated".
If you are looking to buy REAL Gold & Silver avoid the above and also avoid the list below;
The following items that sellers are listing on Ebay as Bullion DO NOT BUY*******
* Pure gold/silver plating
*Gold Leaf Flake
*Silver Leaf Flake
*COUNTERFEIT Coin
* 100 Mil of silver
*100 Mil of Gold
* 100 Mills .999 Fine Silver
* 100 Mills .999 Fine Gold
* Gold Clad
* Silver Clad
* Gold plated
* Silver Plated
* HEG
* mini coins
* Dipped in 24k gold
* Replica Gold Coins
* Copy Coins
One of the biggest tell tell signs is the weight... a REAL one ounce .999 coin will weigh 31.103 grams. It's very hard for a fake one of the same physical size to weigh exact.
Try buying local for the bullion coins until you get to know what to look for. If you buy online make sure they can be returned. just remember you will have to pay the shipping to return the item.
When buying silver and gold for "Bullion" ONLY buy known bullion type coins, such as pre 1964 US Coins 90% silver , (Dime, Quarter, Half Dollar and Dollar), also Canada made silver coins until 1967 that are 80% silver(some 1967 dimes and quarters are only 50%), The US also made other silver coins, like the "war Nickle" that is 35% silver, and the Kennedy Half dollar from 1965 to 1970 that are 40% silver. Canada also made silver coins from 1971 to 1978 like the dollar that were 50%, and from 1973 to 1976 5 dollar and 10 dollar that are 925% silver. Some of Canada's silver coins pre 1917 are 925% silver.
ONLY buy known silver/gold containing coins, If you want a "complete list" of all known "World Silver Coins" there is a great book from Lorraine S. Durst & Sanford J. Durst. "World Silver Coin Value Guide" they also have one for gold... you can find the books on Amazon.
You can also buy real bullion coins made by known mints, like The US Mint has the Silver & Gold Eagles, Sunshine Mint, Golden State Mint, Northwest Territorial Mint, Pan American Silver, Canadian Maple Leaf, Austrian Vienna Philharmonics Silver Coins, PAMP SUISSE, Mexico Libertad, Johnson & Mathews, Englehart, and there are several more. Some of these mints make bars also. Most bars will have serial numbers on them.
There are also some Sterling Coins made like Franklin Mint, but the good news is Franklin Mint has the highest quality Sterling...not all STERLING is the same when it comes to silver content. When selling Sterling it will be graded differently depending on what it was... like flatware, hollowware, jewlery and coins, each of these are marked STERLING but when smelted they net silver content differently. Coins are typically TRUE Sterling where as jewlery is not. The % can range as much as 4%.
The best tip I can give is "If it sounds too good to be true" don't buy it. Expect to pay current spot price plus a preminum that could range from as low as $0.55 per ounce up to $6.00 per ounce for silver. The US Mint Eagles typically have the highest preminum. Check this source out, http://www.coininfo.com/ Silver spot today is $17.91 and the best price for a silver Eagle I found was $22.50 with free shipping.
One of my sources is, buygoldandsilveratcost.com
Remember this is for bullion type coins or bars. The smaller size coin or bar you buy the more premium per ounce you will pay. For example if you buy a 100 ounce silver bar you only pay $0.55 per ounce, but if you buy a 1 ounce silver you might pay as much as $6.00 per ounce.
Avoid buying less than 1 ounce bars or rounds in silver because of the premium... and for Gold the smallest I buy is 1 gram or 1/31.103 of an ounce.
Now for gold the premium can range from just a few dollars for a 1/20th gold coin to $80.00 for a Gold 1 ounce Eagle. The premium is the sellers margin, all business are in business to make money.
A good question to ask any business is "How much will you pay me for it when I sell" This can give you a better idea of how gold and silver is traded.
Another tip is when buying silver and gold as an investor it is NOT to be taxed, NO SALES TAX, but you must purchase $1000.00 or more to be considered an investor. ( This is true for Texas) check your state.
All precious metals are traded in TROY ounces, 1 troy ounce = 31.103 grams. Any other "ounce" weights less...
You will also see listings with weights of "grains", do not confuse this with grams. It takes 15.4326 grains to equal one gram. A Grain is equal to 1/7000 pound; equals a troy grain or 64.799 milligrams.
Bottom line only buy the REAL thing when investing in silver and gold.
To better understand weights please check my other guides.
The information provided is from my years of experience buying and selling silver and gold many years of research, if you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Good luck and enjoy Ebay,
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