Clay Olson on Precious Metals… Silver (Part 2 of 3)

“Everything you wanted to know about Gold and Silver as Precious Metals but had no one to ask…”

If you have haven’t read yet, read Part 1 of this 3 part series here.

Basic information about Silver

By Clay Olson

Uses and benefits of Silver that you probably didn’t know…

Silver is much bulkier than Gold by volume and weight, which makes it less preferable as a form of currency for large transactions… however the opposite may come true for common and daily use in buying smaller items with minted American Silver coins, as people seek alternative currency when the cost of goods inflate to the moon or the dollar collapses.

Silver has been used for thousands of years for jewelry, eating utensils, food plates… and as the point of this essay… for measures of value as currency. Silver is literally a sought after by product of lead and zinc mining. Smelting and refining separates Silver from the lead and zinc.

Alloying-Silver alloys well with other metals

Scarceness-Silver is rare, which makes it valuable. Because it is more abundant than Gold, Silver is much less expensive than Gold.

Corrosion resistant-Silver resists corrosion and oxidation, but not as well as Gold.

Catalyst-Silver can be used as a catalyst to produce ethylene oxide and formaldehyde. Ethylene oxide is used in the production of molded hard and flexible plastics… flexible plastics such as in polyester. Formaldehyde is a primary chemical of solid plastics and resins manufacture. Astonishingly… when used as a catalyst, Silver increases the speed of reactions of other compounds and chemicals without being consumed.

The pliability and ductility of Silver is superb for transformation into extremely thin sheets and drawn into very thin flexible wire which does not fracture when bent.

Electronics-Because it is one of the best electrical conductors, not as good as copper, but better than Gold, Silver is widely used in electrical and electronic applications. Silver is a critical part of electrical switches for electronics, printed circuits and audio/video equipment and is widely used as a paste application for electronics and micro-circuits. The rear window defroster scheme in your car is most likely applied Silver paste.

Medicine and human use-Silver ions act as a catalyst by absorbing the oxygen of bacteria which literally chokes them to death. Silver has this natural antimicrobial property and is used in the medical field for amazing and incredible bandages for diabetic extremity healing, ointments and is the preferred metal for surgical equipment. Silver amalgamate fillings are most likely in your teeth if you’ve had dental fillings. Silver is also used as a component in embalming agents.

The benefits of Colloidal (Silver suspended in a liquid solution) Silver are just being recognized by our ‘medical authorities’ as in recent posts by the National Institute of Health (NIH) of studies done, led by the Director of the Arizona State University Bio-Design Laboratory. The first time ever a study of Colloidal Silver has been recognized in a positive manner. The inherent natural properties of Colloidal Silver prevent pathogens from mutating around Silver, unlike most antibiotics that eventually have little or no effect on pathogens. Silver does not allow pathogens to live by pathogens adapting around the anti-micro bacterial properties of Silver.

There is Particulate Colloidal Silver and Nano Colloidal Silver. The nano is much smaller than Particulate and way more effective… read about Jack Lawson’s Daughter’s success in preventing sickness, while all her co-workers were plagued with sick time, while waitressing in a high-end Las Vegas casino pool side establishment. A place where the upper class mucky-mucks from all over the world flocked to… bringing every cold and flu virus with them.

http://www.CivilDefenseManual.com

Roman battle field surgeons used extremely thin sheets of Silver, formed into deep sword and battle cuts, to hasten the healing process… since Silver’s anti-bacterial properties accelerated the healing of wounds.

Heard the term… “Born with a Silver spoon in your mouth?” That’s because the wealthy of yore had real “Silverware plates, forks, spoons, knives and serving trays.” Why!? Because of the anti-bacterial properties of Silver in keeping down the bacteria in their food before consumption. The rest of us peasants had wood and pewter (lead and zinc cast eating ware) to eat with, unknown to most that copper also has anti-bacterial properties.

Silver coatings inhibit bacterial build-up in water filtration systems.

Be advised-While small amounts of Silver over time can supposedly result in argyria… which is heavy metals poisoning… large amounts of Silver can cause it quickly. With argyria, heavy metals build up in body tissue, giving it a grayish-blue appearance to the skin when exposed to the sun.

Many people take a teaspoon of colloidal Silver when they get upset stomach or think they are getting sick. You need to then take a probiotic, because colloidal Silver kills ALL the bacteria in your intestinal system… good… and bad. In most opinion, this potential agyria condition is used to discredit and damn one of Mother Nature’s most successful anti pathogen items… most believe that false propaganda is publicized mostly by Pharmaceutical companies… because they can’t control it and you can make it in your home… look up The Silver Edge. You can make your own.

Solar Panels-Solar energy use is growing exponentially and so is the necessity of Silver, which is used in the photo-voltaic cells of the panels for transformation of captured light to electricity.

Mirrors-Silver is the reflective medium behind most all mirrors. So, when you’re looking in the mirror… your reflection is from a Silver coating behind the glass.

Brazing and soldering-Silver’s high tensile strength and ductility creates strong joints between two metal pieces…much stronger than lead soldier. Silver’s antibacterial properties for humans makes it a superior alternative for toxic lead bonds between water pipes.

Photography-Silver is photosensitive and used in non-digital light capture photography.

And finally, …Nano Silver (a size of between 1 and 100 nanometers, a metric measurement) coating is used in food packaging and components of refrigerators.

There is the PAPER PRICE of Silver… and then there is the REAL price of Silver

Silver, because of its wide availability and use in alloy minted coins, is much more complicated than Gold in explaining what and how to buy, the weight, purity, grades of coins and value.

The Paper Price of Silver

As an example, I’ll use a ‘Spot’ Silver price of $23.50. That price is for ONE .999 pure Silver Troy Ounce. This “Spot Price” is ONLY for PAPER transactions on the US Commodities Futures Exchange (COMEX), bought in lots of 5,000 Troy Ounces or more. But the US Commodities Futures Exchange sets the daily SPOT Price for both the PAPER price of Silver and the REAL price for dealers, which is then used by Dealers as the BASIC buy/sell price of Silver for Precious Metal sales between themselves and buying/sales with other dealers and the public… without any premium or fees yet added.

The Real Price of Silver

Physical Precious Metal, always trades at something above that Spot Silver price. This is the price that you will pay to get real Silver into your hands that you can hold and touch… in the process, also paying some other costs such as shipping and Broker commissions.

This Paper Price versus Real Price is also involved with the price of Gold and other Precious Metals. But keep in mind, that the price above the Spot market (also known as the premium over Spot) can vary widely, day to day, and even hour to hour.

Junk Bags of Silver

Investment in bulk United States minted Silver coin is usually made by “Junk Bag of Silver.” If you have what is called a Junk Bag of Silver, it would contain $1,000 Face Value (10,000 Dimes, 4,000 Quarters, 2,000 halves, or any combination that equals $1,000 Face Value), and your “Bag” would have 720 Troy Ounces of Silver, contained in the 90% Silver coins.

A Junk Bag of Silver that is all absolutely brand new, will cost considerably more than the coins that have been circulated amongst the public as used around for change. These Bags, weigh about 55 pounds, so are often split into two, or even four, to make it easier to carry and transport.

So, let’s consider what we can expect to pay, for Junk Silver Bags. Of course, a person can buy less than an entire Bag, but you will end up paying more per Troy Ounce.

The following examples, are from a couple months back, and are ONLY for teaching purposes. The markets change all too fast, to make these figures valid for more than an hour or two, at any given time.

Again, the cost is higher if a person wants to be specific in the type of coin they buy; in other words, Dimes only, Quarters only, Halves only. Even though all being equal, one-dollar Face Value equals one-dollar Face Value, if a person insists on buying ONLY Half-Dollars, you will pay more. If you say ONLY Quarters, you may pay more.

Junk Bags of Silver coin REAL price calculations

Using a ‘Bag of Junk Silver’, the following examples will show… If Silver is trading in Chicago today (COMEX) at $23.50 per ounce, and you want to buy a circulated Bag of Junk Silver, the value of that Silver will be $23.50 X 715 Troy Ounces = $16,802.50 for the Bag.

However… US Precious Metals Dealers today (in the last months of 2021), are actually BIDDING $27.75 per ounce, X 715 = $19,841.25 (remember that number for a following example) $19,841.25!! Why???? Supply and demand. The same as EVERY other commodity on earth. So, if the Silver dealers want to pay a premium of $4.25 per ounce OVER the Spot Price market of Silver, what are they selling it for?

Again using $23.50 on the same day as the prior example, the US Silver dealers were, on average, asking $21,095.00 for that same Bag. Of course, the spread in the middle includes commissions and, in some cases, shipping. Often times, however, the buyer must pick up the shipping cost.

Understanding ‘Face Value’

“Face Value” is the same for Silver or ‘clad’ common metal coins. It means the value they add up to… like pulling 4 Quarters from your pocket (Clad or 90 percent Silver) and adding them up to equal one dollar (.25 + .25 + .25 + .25 = $1.00).

If we take one dollar “Face Value” of US 90% Silver coins, depending on whether they are absolutely brand new, or have been in circulation as change, we will have between .715 Troy Ounces to .720 Troy Ounces of Silver. Circulated coins have wear, which can vary between those two fractional numbers, and is calculated between Dealers as a variance of .005 Troy Ounces.

Again, all Precious Metals are bought and sold using “Troy Ounce.” One Troy Ounce equals 31.103 grams per Troy Ounce. Remember this number. So, if you are holding one-dollar Face Value in Silver Dimes, it will equal 10 Dimes.

Four Quarters would also be one-dollar Face Value, as would two Half-Dollars and ANY combination of Dimes, Quarters, or Half-Dollars, used together can add up to one-dollar Face Value. Five Dimes and two Quarters equals one-dollar Face Value. One Half-Dollar and two Quarters equals one dollar. You get the idea.

The main thing to keep in mind regarding Junk Silver coins, is that they ARE NOT sold specifically at the Spot market price of Silver, per ounce. Nor are most other Silver investments. Again, when purchasing physical Silver, you will pay above and beyond that Spot Price, due to not only supply and demand, but also there has to be dealer commissions, shipping and refining, and other handling fees. With those added costs, that will be the final number you pay per ounce.

From these figures, you can also see that when someone asks the question, “how many times Face Value are you paying today?” In this case, it would be 19.84 times Face Value. ($19,841 for $1,000 Face Value). “How many times Face Value are you charging?” would then be 21.09 times Face Value ($21,090 for $1,000 Face Value of Silver coins).

Based on these figures, what would your cost be in purchasing a smaller lot, just say $100 Face Value (71.5 ounces of Silver contained in this quantity). You will pay more than if you purchased a larger amount.

The same principle as most commodities, the more you buy at one time, generally, the lower the cost. So, instead of paying 21.09 times Face Value, you would likely end up paying 23 times Face Value, or the same as if you bought a Bag for $23,000, which would be 23,000 divided by 715 or $32.16 per Troy Ounce of pure Silver contained in these coins.

Optional added costs of buying Junk Silver

Buying Silver coins of the same denomination… If a person said, well, “I ONLY want Half-Dollars,” you would expect to pay around $21,500, instead of the previous price of $19,841.25 for a Junk Silver Bag.

Buying Uncirculated or new coins… To buy BRAND NEW coins, Uncirculated by the ‘Junk Silver’ category, expect to add another $1,500 or MORE for a Junk Silver Bag for Uncirculated coins.

The basics of Silver as a Precious Metal coin, a form of currency and what you should have…

Again, Silver, because of its wide availability and use in alloy minted coins, is much more complicated than Gold in explaining what and how to buy, the weight, purity, grades of coins and value.

I want to clear up some common misperceptions that people have, regarding what are called “US Junk Silver coins.” First off, yes, we call them ‘Junk,’ but that term is only used due them being not considered collectors’ coins. Collector coins or Numismatics (the study of coins), are another factor that can add value to coins, but it is not covered here. “US Junk Silver coins” are truly far from ‘Junk’ when you compare a new ‘clad’ coin of common metal, basically valueless metal, to a ‘Junk Silver’ coin of equal denomination!

Silver and Gold ingots or jewelry can be plated or filled with worthless metals. Coins minted by the U.S. Mint and other mints will be recognized as real without question, over ingots and most foreign minted coins. There are a few other U.S. Minted Silver content coins not discussed or shown here that I will not go into. U.S. Minted Silver coins are complicated enough to understand without mudding the issue.

The following are common United States minted Junk Silver coins…

U.S. Pre-1965 Dimes, Quarters and Half-Dollars (90% Silver)

“Junk” Silver Coins are ALL Pre-1965 90% Silver Dimes, Quarters and Half-Dollars.

All Dimes, Quarters, and Half-Dollars, minted by the US Treasury during the years 1964 and earlier (Pre-1965), are composed of 90% Silver, and 10% copper

Franklin, Barber, Walking Liberty and other various named American Half-Dollar coins (90% Silver)

Due to the composition of these being 90% Silver, and 10% copper, how much actual pure Silver is contained in one-dollar Face Value of these old US coins? If we took our Silver coins to a metal refinery, and asked them to melt the coins, and remove the pure Silver ( which would now be .999 fine, versus .900 fine, remember, the 10% copper mix), each coin would have had the amounts of pure Silver extracted, according to the following amonts once the copper has been removed…

One US 90% Silver Dime = .072 Troy Ounces pure Silver

One US 90% Silver Quarter = .18 Troy Ounces pure Silver

One US 90% Silver Half-Dollar = .36 Troy Ounces pure Silver

If you then take ten Dimes, you have .72 Troy Ounces of Silver. Four Quarters would give you .72 Troy Ounces Silver, as would two halves.

Morgan, Peace and Eisenhower Silver Dollars (90% Silver)

Silver Dollars issued by the United States Treasury during and prior to the year 1935, have the same Silver percentage composition. However, Silver Dollars, even those that are quite worn, trade at a much higher premium per ounce than do lower denomination coins such as Dimes, Quarters and Half-Dollars. More on that to follow.

The Morgan Dollar was minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921.

The Peace Dollar was minted from 1921 to 1935.

US Silver Dollars, minted from 1935 and earlier, even in lower grade condition, carry a substantially higher price per ounce of Silver purchased. One US Silver Dollar, Morgan or Peace, contains .77 Troy Ounces of Silver, in the form of a 90% /10% Silver, copper mix. They DO NOT CONTAIN ONE OUNCE of Silver, as is commonly believed. A circulated Silver Dollar, will contain at least, .75 Troy Ounces of Silver.

So, a Bag of circulated, common date Silver Dollars, would contain 750 Troy Ounces of Silver, and sell at the $23.50 Spot rate we are using for this article, not for 750 X $23.50 ($17,625) but much closer to a whopping $36.50 each, or, $36,500 or, $48.66 per ounce of Silver purchased.

Silver Dollars are considered a collectible, and price will take into consideration the amount of wear, or lack of wear, along with dates and mint marks. Modern Silver Dollars, are not the same. Silver Dollars are just not the way to invest in Junk Silver because of their higher cost. Having these for traditional Silver investment is not it.

American Silver Eagles

These have been minted by the United States Mint from 1986 to present. They are 99.9 percent Silver and have been struck generally with a modification of the “Walking Liberty” design with the reverse side different designs of an American Eagle.

Variations of these coins with different designs are in circulation as Silver investment, so to validate these as real… you need to know the actual design your looking at can be compared to a coin you know is genuine.

I will imagine all this will bring up questions, so anyone that wants can write an email to me and I will respond. It is a lot to absorb, for sure, and the fact that the markets are constantly changing, in not only the Spot Prices, but also in what is in demand at any given time.

From Jack Lawson, the Author of the Civil Defense Manual…

Zimbabwe

Tell me if the story you will read in the Part Three sounds impossible or ridiculous!? Ask my wife… she was born, raised in Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe, with her British family. The second most abundant country in Africa next to South Africa… totally destroyed in a less than a year by hyperinflation which is now, along with massive mismanagement, destroying South Africa. Due to her Father’s vision of events to come, he invested what savings they had decades before this collapse in other investments, countries and safer places.

Ask those black and white Africans who trusted the leaders of Zimbabwe with their pensions. Gone. The leadership recently took the remaining 6.3 Billion dollars of pensions for their Swiss bank accounts and deposited statements to their accounts saying… “You will be paid back in the future.” Ironic… as many of the whites who remained after independence were Communists and leftists waiting for their ‘utopia’ to come to fruition. They’re living in it now… and along with food, it has vaporized.

Stevie Wonder… when are you going back to Zimbabwe to play your encore to the celebration music you played at the Independence celebration!? Nothing to celebrate? You are a man of good intentions, I believe, but a misguided and confused person because you listened to what the American ‘experts’ on African History and the Mainstream News told you… all bogus. You’ve never lived there. The world cheated the black and white Africans from building the ‘showcase’ of racial harmony and an economic power house in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia).

By stopping the Rhodesians in giving them the time needed in their attempt to institute majority rule and competent leadership for the country that became known as Zimbabwe, they destroyed the country by letting Communism take over.

I know… I lived there… my wife was born a British Citizen there and raised there.

Look at history in comparison to the story I wrote in Part Three. This historical fact from ForwardObserver.com… a great source of visionary information for what is to come for America…

“An American Suez Crisis. Back in March 2021, monetary historian Niall Ferguson pointed out that the Suez Canal Crisis was the final nail in the coffin for Great Britain as a global superpower. In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal.

In response, Britain, France, and Israel launched an invasion to take it back by force, but the operation was short-lived. US President Dwight Eisenhower threatened to sell US reserves of the Great British Pound, which forced the British to cease military operations after 10 days.”

“The event was so humiliating for Britain that it caused a monetary and financial crisis, forcing the British to accept financial support from the International Monetary Fund. It also officially ended Great Britain’s reign as a world power.”

An American Suez Crisis could occur over Taiwan if the US lost face against China. Ferguson argued that if the US backed down, then the world would lose faith in the US as a protectorate, and we’d see a run on the dollar and U.S. Treasuries, similar to Great Britain’s 1956 financial and monetary crisis.

“That might be triggered by China threatening to sell off U.S. bonds and other financial assets if the U.S. gets involved over Taiwan. Faced with financial, monetary, and economic catastrophe due to high intensity conflict, presidents in years to come may very well blink, causing international investors to dump the dollar in favor of alternatives.

Continue on to part three of this article on “Gold.”

Any further questions about Precious Metals can be directed to Clay Olson at… Nixonshock1971@protonmail.com

Other authors, books and resources I recommend for Preparedness and Survival…

Matt Bracken at www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com

Joe Dolio at www.Tactical-Wisdom.com

Christopher Parrett at www.AVOW.com

Fernando Aguirre at https://ferfal.blogspot.com/2018/

Don Shift at https://www.amazon.com/Don-Shift/e/

NC Scout at www.Brushbeater.org

Johnny Paratrooper at… https://www.patreon.com/GreenDragonAcademy

The next Part, Three of Three… will be on Gold