As we all know, precious metals are a safe haven in the disastrous financial system we have been forced into today. Many people are flocking to physical bullion even before ETF’s and derivatives because the presence of bullion is then there and present in the hands of the owner. I don’t blame them.
About a year ago I had the wonderful opportunity to sit down with David Morgan, the author of Get the Skinny on Silver Investing. After covering all of the reasons one should, at least, consider a portion of their portfolio for precious metals, I had to ask: Should we sit on this metal until SHTF, or should we play it in the market, exchanging it for dollars as the price of the metal hits its peaks. As you know many gold and silver dealers sell you the apocalyptic story at times to convince you you’ll need the metal to purchase your dinner one day!
David Morgan had the answer. There’s no reason, with enough physical bullion accumulated, why you can’t do both. Stash away a portion of your investment for the future, whether it be for a severe economic collapse, or for your children’s college fund some day down the road (although with inflation these days that is scary to think how many ounces of gold it would take to pay off those four years). Keep this long term stash in a well-protected safe. For the other portion of silver you’ve allocated for trade, watch the market. It can seem sometimes, with our monetary policy, that there is never a good time to sell, however if you are in need of dollars and see silver spike up, flip some into cash. The best advice any investor can give is don’t get yourself into debt. Use your physical bullion wisely and you might make it out of this economic calamity with both socks on.
There is no specific amount to guide you on how much should be long-term and how much short-term, but that is because everyone’s investment outlooks and goals are a bit different. Find out what works for you.
Who would have known that someone would take the time to arrange a slew of videos that can help you learn how to spot fake silver. As much as we warn against buying from unknown dealers, sometimes a deal comes up that can seem trustworthy, whether or not the dealer has a business on the books. In the case you’ve come across a nice deal to purchase bullion outside of an established dealer store, use caution. This YouTube playlist of videos can be one extra step you can take to ensure you are not ripped off.
The most popular of these scams is the Morgan Dollar, a coin minted from 1878 until 1904, and again in 1921 for a short amount of time. The handiest tool against Morgan Dollar counterfeiters is a small scale that can measure to the hundredth of an gram, even though most metal is measured in ounces (most digital scales have an ounce AND gram option). If the coin does not measure within one hundredth of an ounce from 26.73g, then cancel the deal because you are about to get jipped. This Morgan Dollar scam was mostly being tracked on eBay.
These videos also meant the drill and fill method with 100 ozt silver bars where scammers would drill out a hole in the bar and extract as much silver as they could before filling it back up with lead. Lead is drastically different in weight, compared to silver, so that alone should help you detect any potential scams.
As we all become more immersed in the silver and gold buying world we see the fear mongering around every corner. “No, the risks…it’s not a safe investment!”…”The government could knock on your door and take it all away tomorrow.”
We all know the FDR story back in the 1930’s where an executive order required all citizen’s gold to be collected at local Federal Reserve branches and then given an artificial price increase. Today the fear lives on as the precious metal world proliferates the executive order’s chance to reappear. There are several reasons why silver and gold have a very small chance of ever being taken from its owners’ hands by the government. Silver above all stands little chance of confiscation. Its industrial use and meek presence in the United States wouldn’t even assist the government with the astronomical debt today. It also wouldn’t be the individuals the government would first target; it’d be the mining companies.
Learn more about the history of the gold confiscation and why, especially silver, and gold are safe in the hands of investors. Aside from that, do you really think FDR’s executive order rid the hands of all Americans?
This video, in the majority of the first half, covers all the reasons why silver, especially, has low odds of ever being confiscated by the Federal Government.
So next time you hear a gold/silver salesperson try to insist on protecting yourself from this unlikely event, remember our blog and give THEM the facts! Read more about gold scams and how to avoid them in Peter Schiff’s Report.
