Buy Silver Bullion Coins

Silver Bullion Coins Are A Solid Investment
by Dennis Beaman

Over the years, the United States has minted many types of silver coins. The current silver dollar coin is the American Silver Eagle with . 999 silver bullion. But, when people speak of silver dollars in coin collection they are typically referring to the coins made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Morgan Silver Dollar. If we want to find out what is so special about this coin, we first need to step back in history.

February 28, 1878, the Bland-Allison Act was passed by Congress; the Act authorized the minting of the Morgan Silver Dollar. This coin was minted in two separate periods: 1878-1904 and 1921-1935. At this point in history, until 1965, silver coins minted by the U. S. were completely silver.

George T. Morgan designed the coin, considered to be the most beautiful coin that the United States has ever minted. With Lady Liberty on the front and an American Eagle on the back, the coin was Mr. Morgan's masterpiece, evoking the lore of the Old West and America's expansion Westward.

Uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollars are very common because most of them were stored away in vaults up until 1960. To appease the silver mining industry in the 1800s, the U. S. Government minted many more coins than could actually be used. Many of these same coins were re-melted and used to make other coins.

A proof coin is minted especially for collectors and are never meant to be circulated. Proof coins are the most rare and extremely valuable Morgan coin. Graded Mint State 65 (MS-65) and the Gem uncirculated coins are the second most sought after of this particular coin. Although the face value of the Morgan Silver Dollar is one dollar, the silver it contains is worth far more. Every Morgan dollar has . 77344 troy ounces (ozt) of silver. This is equivalent to . 858575171318 avoirdupois ounces (oz), the commonly used measurement in the States. The PCGS and NGC have more credibility in the world of coin collecting and grading then do smaller organizations. As such, coins graded by PCGS and/or NGC have a higher value as compared with coins graded by smaller companies.

One of the reasons that silver is a more prudent and safe investment as compared to other precious metals such as gold, palladium or platinum is that coin collectors do not tend to sell their collections. This makes the market demand hold steady and is one reason why the silver market has been a safe investment for four decades. Additionally, some people like to invest in silver coins to broaden their investment portfolio.

Silver is used in many more industrial applications than gold, platinum or palladium. The demand is so great for silver that the supply can not keep up. In fact, the silver mining industry is running short of available above-ground silver to mine. This demand keeps the price of silver growing.

Why else would someone invest in silver coins? There are a few very practical reasons. First of all, they are easy to move form one location to another since they are small. They can be stored quite easily in a safe deposit box or a fireproof and flood-proof vault at home.

In addition, most collectors can afford to purchase the Morgan coins; they are not normally such a high price that only the very rich can afford them. Perhaps the best thing about the Morgan Silver Dollar is that they are ready to be used as legal tender at any time should the need arise; they are also accepted as legal tender around the world. All of these facts about Morgan Silver Dollars are solid advantages of accumulating silver bullion coins as an investment over gold, platinum or palladium.