Reddit's silver "apes" now targeting silver, opportunity or fool's gold?

[QuarterMillionMan]

The only thing better than gold/silver in a zombie apocalypse is living on a farm far from civilization where you can grow your own food and some livestock. Also purifying well or lake water and you're set. You won't need to barter a silver round for chicken and a loaf of bread. In retirement, I hope to buy a remote location where I can pursue this option hopefully before it happens or it'll be too late.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Gold today is $2600 an oz.

[kork13]

It's all the other indicators which sways me to think he may be on to something. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) formation, US debt, China selling its US treasuries and buying gold, USA non-stop printing of money, etc. I'm not in full panic-mode but just in case something happens I'm sitting on some precious metals and cryptos. And I don't trust big government because I work for the man and know how he lies, lol.

Outside the formation of BRICS, which of those "indicators" hasn't been the norm for the last 30 years, time in which we've had both exponential growth & occasional temporary busts? And even BRICS has been "a thing" for the last 15 years. Why now are all of those things the death knoll to our economy & society as we know it? "But it's different this time!" .... Yeah uh-huh okay.

Ignore the noise. Invest long, invest often, invest always. And yeah, at some point, this guy & his ilk will "accurately" forecast an economic downturn. But even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

[QuarterMillionMan]

It's true, not yet that is. I'm preparing for if/when TSHF moment. I just ordered another 26 (1) Wyoming goldbacks over $99 in order to get the free shipping. As I was writing this thread my phone rings and a representative from US Gold Bureau calls to verify my address, then tries to sell me investment grade coins which I politely declined. Not high pressure but more of a nuisance. Just FYI should anyone order from them.

1 year ago I paid $4 each for 1 goldback. Today with gold prices at $2600 an oz, one goldback is now over $5.

[james.hendrickson]

QMM - why are you buying goldbacks? Do they actually have any bullion in them?

[disneysteve]

1 year ago I paid $4 each for 1 goldback. Today with gold prices at $2600 an oz, one goldback is now over $5.

How much would you actually get if you sold them today?

[james.hendrickson]

The Wyoming goldbacks are going for $6 on ebay.

[disneysteve]

The Wyoming goldbacks are going for $6 on ebay.

So you'd make a small profit if you paid $4 and sold for $6 even after fees and taxes. A lot of work to make a buck, though. I guess if you could sell them in bulk for that price it would be better.

[QuarterMillionMan]

1 goldback has 1/1000 of an oz of gold.

A 1 Goldback note is currently the world’s only true way to own 1/1000th oz physical gold in a single unit. 1,000 Goldbacks of any denomination add up to be one ounce of gold.

I'm guessing if I sold my goldbacks that I will get less than the JM Bullion price of $5.11 because JM Bullion profits on both the buy and sell sided in order to make a profit.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Technical question, if I sell my 1 goldbacks on eBay for $5 each w/standard envelope shipping of .69 cents each would this be considered "currency" in order to qualify for eBay's standard envelope shipping method?

[disneysteve]

Technical question, if I sell my 1 goldbacks on eBay for $5 each w/standard envelope shipping of .69 cents each would this be considered "currency" in order to qualify for eBay's standard envelope shipping method?

I did a search of sold and active listings. I found several listing First Class shipping, meaning they are slapping a stamp on it and sending it without tracking. You already know why that's a bad idea. A bunch are using the ebay standard envelope rate (ESE). I think it qualifies as it is a type of currency (not that you can actually use it as such anywhere). I see no issue with shipping them with ESE.

About 80% of sold comps offered free shipping with ESE and sale prices were in the $5.00 to $5.50 range. If you charge $5 + $0.69 shipping you'd be a bit pricier than the competition but not a lot.

If you paid $4 and sell for $5.69, you're really not making much. Ebay will take about 15% of the total of sale price, shipping, and sales tax. Assuming you are obeying the law, you'd then pay income tax on the net profit. You'd be left with about 85 cents profit. Hardly seems worth the effort. If you do want to sell them, you're probably better off selling in lots rather than one by one.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Good points disneysteave. Also the IRS classifies gold as collectibles imposing 28% on long term capital gains. But if held less than a year taxed potentially higher as ordinary income.

[myrdale]

We actually have a coin store here in town. I've never visited as their hours are M-F, 10-5, closed on weekend. The next chance I have I'll stick my head in and see what they have to offer.

[QuarterMillionMan]

It would be a complete waste of your time going to a brick & mortar store and especially more so if looking for goldbacks which is more difficult to find. Authorized distributors are listed here;
Where To Buy Goldbacks — Goldback

It would be like going to your local grocery store wanting to buy a specialty item such as Chinese egg noodles or Filipino balut eggs, good luck finding those items in a non-Asian market.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Roth IRA self-directed precious metals account.