Silver Rounds and Silver Bags: Two Unconventional Ways to Invest in Silver

In a recent post I explained the difference between pure silver, sterling silver, coin silver, junk silver, and silver plating.   Now that silver prices are on the verge of soaring, let’s begin talking about the different ways to invest in silver.  In this post you’ll learn about two unconventional silver investments: silver rounds and silver bags.

Silver Rounds

Silver rounds look like coins but have no value as legal tender.  They are manufactured at private mints, and the silver content is usually .999 fine.   While buying silver coins can be very enjoyable, you will be paying far more than the silver content for them and it is ultimately more challenging to make a good profit from them.  However, if you purchase one-ounce pure silver rounds, they can be easily traded and will cost much less.  The prices fluctuate based on the current spot silver price.  If you’re not familiar with that term, read the post about spot gold prices.  It’s the same thing.

You can buy silver rounds from coin dealers or directly from the mint itself.  For example, the Northwest Territorial Mint has both silver bars and silver rounds available that are produced for Pan American Silver.

Silver Bags

Prior to 1965, dimes, quarters, and half dollars contained silver at 90% purity.  Now you can purchase them, literally, by the bag (known as a 90% silver bag).  These are not mint condition coins.  In fact, many of them are very well circulated and worn.  You don’t purchase a silver bag to find coins to display and admire; you buy them for their silver content.

Each “$1000 face value” bag contains either 10,000 dimes, 4,000 quarters, or 2,000 half dollars; no mixed bags.  A $1 face value contains .72 of an ounce of silver regardless of the denomination (for example, 10 dimes, four quarters, or five dimes and two quarters).  However, the industry counts it as if it’s .715 ounces, due to coin wear.

As with the silver rounds, the price of silver bags fluctuates with the silver spot price.  The advantage of investing in silver bags is that even if silver prices were to go down, you still could use the coins as legal tender.  However, the pundits agree that silver is on the increase and a good investment.

Northwest Territorial Mint is one place that sells silver bags.

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