I Had an interesting day today, Sick as a dog! Yet i went to the dump to get rid of the household refuse and then to a little diner in called Shores Diner in Ocala, then I went to a Pawn Shop looked at a few Coins and then got together with a fellow in Church.. We went into Ocala to a coin and jewelry shop on Silver Springs Blvd. not far away from Silver Springs. A beautiful shop and beautiful coins.
That being said, I realized how spoiled I have become when dealing with the folks that I trade with. This shop charged a 3% premium over the ASK price when selling an average one ounce Gold coin. (A little more for Eagles a ;little less for K-Rands). And then Buying them back at 3% under the Bid Price. These are coins that I can get almost any place at either Spot or less then 30$ Over. ( K-rands are generally about Spot-10$ Over in a rising market and Eagles are about 25-30$ over.) Any way He wanted about 865+ For a Krugerrand and over 875 for an Eagle. Then went on to say what a better investment they were than a K-rand... Maybe it was only generic bars that were supposed to be the 3% over under. That would be fair for eagles but not for Krugers. What he was selling was 3% over what they would cost him if he ordered them through a dealer. So not you would be paying way over spot. This need never be the case for the Average smaller investor. There are plenty of coins and bars out there in the Local community. Pawn Shops, Flea Markets etc. The need to buy at the inflated prices of an AMARK is foolish in my opinion and an example of poor stewardship. Krugers have NO COLLECTOR VALUE or built in Premium anymore. At least not to me. And the Eagles are Just GOLD with a little premium ( 25-30) but no more. Find out in your area, if the bullion dealer you are shopping at is just a middle man. If he is try to cut him out and deal with the secondary market of real people. OR you could even use someone for large buying like the North West Territorial Mint or Larry Heim of ( NOIRS.COM ), both of which do not charge shipping and give a better price closer to spot than the place i went to today ( By a LONG SHOT). PS the North West Territorial Mint will not insult you by offering you 3% under bid spot to buy your stuff back either. For Example This Shop in Ocala who is using AMARK to purchase some of his product and is then selling you the product is selling the Eagle this afternoon at 875-+ when the Price was about 814-5 The NWT mint based upon
Gold at
$813.30BID
$815.90 ASK
Is selling the same coins with no shipping
1 Oz Coins if you buy 10 or more for $849.00 each
1 Oz Coins if you buy 5 to 9 for $853.00 This is at least 3-4% less!
AND they are BUYING them for 821.00.. That is about 8$ OVER spot.

AS FOR SILVER:
The Coin shop in Ocala was charging a minimum of 1.00$ per ounce over spot and that was IF you bought a 100 ounce bar that was not a major brand. and 1.50$ over spot for 10 ounce bars, Major brands being a bit more. Well folks I have not paid a Dollar over spot for a NON GOVERNMENTAL coin or Bar in years. 75 Cents over spot, at these prices is still way to much no matter what the quantity. 50 cents over spot is fair and a quarter is great. But a Dollar or more at this juncture is premature and a needless burden on the individual seeking right stewardship with God's money. These Dealers who are pretending to "pass on" Premiums and fabrication costs are not telling the truth if they are talking about coins that are not brand new that they purchased from the manufacturer. They buy them WAY under spot from Local Yahoos who saw the price rise and who have the stuff in their closet or Safety Deposit box and want to cash in. They will offer about 10-15% under the spot price on the high side for silver rounds and bars.. THEY are generally speaking not paying more for a premium on bars.... Here is how it goes in the average coin shop, Pawn Shop..

Grandma comes in with a bag of coins of various denominations.

"hello I would like to sell these coins my husband put away, I do not know anything about them but I saw the price of silver was going up and thought about bringing them in."

Well mam, how much do you want to get for them?

At this point generally speaking they will be paid according to the weight of the coins. If Amark is Stating that the price is about 10.5 time face, the old lady will be offered about 8 times face. At a Pawn Shop she will be offered far less ( Generally speaking, because a Pawn Shop has to hang on to the coins much longer ten a Coin Shop) My friend was offered 1.50 Cents at a Local Pawn Shop two days ago for a Ben Franklin proof 1963 SILVER Half Dollar that contained 5.50 worth of Silver.

The what will happen is simple , if the old lady falls for the bait she will be paid, and the Coin Dealer will add 25-40% to the price or more just for the silver. The one place I went today offered to sell me Silver based on 10.975X face when Amark was selling at 10.4-5. YET IF I BROUGHT THE SAME COINS IN MYSELF TO SELL I would be offered far less. Quite possible as little as 8 times face.
For Example I sold a fellow some silver coins when Amark was selling for 9.8 Times face. I Sold them at the same price, the man then took the same coins to this same particular dealer and was offered 7.75, he would have then sold them for 10.2. That is about a 2,300 Dollar mark up per 10,000 worth of face value.

Understand that this is the NORMAL spread that most of you are dealing with around the country in your local bullion and coin shops, I to be honest I do not fault these traders in their capitalistic trade, What I am saying is, that YOU and I do not need to be a part of their game and a victim of their high profit margin. Be careful, be patient. Never take coins to a coin dealer without looking though them yourself first. I always get a kick out of finding a nicer coin with a better date in a large bunch of coins, but I hate when I hear a dealer bragging about how he swindled some old lady out of her coin collection because she did no know she had better dates. ( Some will try to let you sell them JUNK silver that contains NON Junk Coins in it when they KNOW they are not junk. And to be quite frank it is not their responsibility to tell you if you do not ask so they won't if you don't.)

Again BE CAREFUL. USE the Internet, USE the LINKS on this page too check prices and values. Do not be taken advantage of.

A Side note: As the price of Silver rises, the days of a .50 cent.75 cent over spot charge will become a thing of the past. WHY? Because the Margin of risk is greater at the higher price than at a lower price. A .50 cent mark up over spot if spot is 5$ is 10% @ 10$ Spot it is only 5% And now at 15$ Spot it is only 2.5%. As you can see the ability to avert risk is much slimmer at higher prices given a .50cent Over spot price, so try to take advantage of the situation now before it gets to high and folks up their margins.
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As of Right now I have at least three very honest pawn shops and one coin dealer and a few Flea market folks that I am dealing with as far as purchasing and recommending folks to use. And a few of them now are starting to offer fair prices to BUY as well. So Let me know what you run into in your neck of the world and how dealers and shops are treating you.