Silver and Platinum CAN be had, or at least WERE had recently...

Cooker: First, that is a great story, I can almost see the tears in the eyes of the merchant as he reluctantly handed you the bar of silver at the old price.

I mean, he snoozed, so he lost -- what dealers HAVEN'T raised their prices because of the run-up in silver (or other noble metals) lately?

That said, I have a story of my own, involving the U.S. Mint actually.

At the very end of January, I was perusing the Mint's web site, only to find that they had a "leftover" 1 oz. Proof Platinum Silver Eagle for sale for $1,740.95. At the time, silver was ALREADY worth more than that per ounce, so needless to say, I grabbed it... and pronto.

During the same shopping trip, I happened upon some other "leftover" coins. These were the 2007-W Uncirculated Silver American Eagle coins, at the 2007 price of $21.95. Now, at the end of January, silver was still only at about $17.50 per ounce. However, considering that 2008 coin (the proof ones anyway) were selling for $31.95, I thought that getting the 2007-W unc. coins for just $4 - $4.50 over MELT VALUE was quite a bargain. In fact, I thought it was such a bargain that I bought TWENTY (20) of them!

Ok, here's where things get interesting. Within DAYS of my order, mind you I got a confirmation email and all, the Mint CHANGED their web site to make the 1 oz 2007 Platinum Proof Eagle to me MUCH more expensive, and raised the price to about $1,980, or thereabouts, a $230 price jump in a matter of days, and I beat it! Or so I thought. I remember how the Mint always says that it can reject orders or that "orders are not valid until ACCEPTED by the United States Mint" or what-have-you."

Then, it got REALLY interesting. The higher price for the platinum coin remained on the Mint's web site, as did higher prices for ALL platinum coins. However, the Mint basically put a FREEZE on the sale of ALL platinum coins until further notice. This is what they said: "Due to the increasing market value of platinum, the American Eagle Platinum Uncirculated Coins are temporarily unavailable while pricing for these options can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time."

So, I waited, waited, wondered, and waited some more. Would the Mint pull a fast one on me and cancel my order, or would they let me slide through at the lower price? Or would they try billing me at the higher price? I waited some more.

Then, the first package came. It was the 2007 Proof 1 oz Platinum Eagle. Billed amount? $1,740, just like when I bought it! Mind you, this was just a week or so ago, and by NOW platinum has risen to over $2,250 per ounce! So, from the time I bought it, until the time it arrives, the MELT VALUE alone increased by $510! Never mind that this coin is LIMITED to a production of a maximum of 6,000 coins and has a special commemorative reverse. From the Mint's web site describing the coin:

"In 2006, the United States Mint embarked on a new, three-year series titled The Foundations of American Democracy. Each year, beginning in 2006, the reverse design will feature an image emblematic of one of the three institutional foundations of our American democracy ? the Legislative,the Executive and the Judicial branches.

The new series of designs was launched in the order the branches of government appear in the U.S. Constitution.

In 2007, The reverse features the second design in the series ? representing the Executive Branch and depicts a bald eagle with its wings spread wide to represent freedom with a shield at the ready to enforce the laws that guarantee those freedoms."

So, I got a cool design, unique to the series, a bargain price, and a limited quantity to boot! In retrospect, I regret not buying more than one, buy who knew? Unfortunately, my crystal ball is a little cloudy, and I don't have a forecast for these sorts of changes.

In fairness, however, this past Thursday or Friday, something happened, I am not sure what or when, but some time in those 48 hours, silver took a nosedive. You see, I wasn't following the news or reading about the markets so closely, since I am freshly out of the hospital after a bad car accident during which, among other things, I dislocated my hip. So, I am out of the hospital now, but while home, I am medicated on some heavy duty items which leave me a little out of it. Platinum dropped in that time frame from $2,255 to $2,015 per ounce. So, I am still $275 ahead on one coin in a matter of barely over a month - just on MELT, much less its numismatic appeal.

The rise in platinum also made me DARNED happy that I had splurged on the 10th Anniversary Platinum Proof Set. At the time, with the two 1/2 oz. Platinum coins at $1,750, it was overpriced for the cost of platinum. However, now, it's a SUPER BARGAIN, and in retrospect, with its limited mintage, its wooden box and nice packaging, and the SPECIAL Reverse Proof design all make it appealing, and I no longer feel guilt about it at all. I feel smart for buying it in fact, and just WISH I could have bought more that darned household limit never got removed.

Then, more good news. Last week, just as I was released from the hospital, I came home to find as a package was delivered with the 20 "leftover" 2007-W Uncirculated Silver American Eagles for $21.95 each.

Mind you, when I bought the coins at the end of January and posted a message on here telling people I got them for about $4.50 less than MELT VALUE, some MOCKED ME, telling me I got some "nice silver ROUNDS" that were still overpriced.

Well, by the time they arrived, silver is NOW at $20+ per ounce! so now, I paid $21.95 per coin, silver is at $20.17 per ounce as of Friday (and was above $20 most if not all of last week), so my TWENTY coins cost me a mere $1.78 above melt value, much less they are striking Silver American Eagle coins! (despite those who don't find them appealing as collectible items).