"ALL" of our "gold & silver coins are going to "Skyrocket", but will these be worth hanging "onto"??? At one time each was "redeemable" for a silver dollar...

Greeting Collectors,

I took the day off and have just finished re-shooting photos of all of my Franklins in my set #1. Last night on Teletrade, I ran across a great deal on yet another Franklin half. Most of the time this auction house "IS NOT" the best deal. I have dealt with them for over 5 years now and have landed many good-great-excellent deals on not only my Franklin half dollars but many other coin series as well. But I have noticed that for close to a year now, the deals are few and far between. OF course the "flip side" of this equation is very good when it comes time to sell, as I have studied prices at various auction venues and without a doubt, hands down, coins sold on Teletrade bring far more money than the same coin sold at Heritage etc. Any of you that follow prices, can attest to this statement. But, on occasion, a deal does make itself available to those that have the time & the patience to follow each auction closely. Last night was one of those nights and I was able to acquire a 1957-D "multi-colored" Franklin in an NGC holder, graded MS-66 with full bell lines. A few days ago, on their Sunday night auction, I picked up yet one more Mercury dime in a 1st generation "rattler" holder by PCGS. I have a "middle set" (1934-1945) in these little silver coins that my goal is to have the entire set in those really old "OGH". Not a great rarity, just a 1940-P MS-65 with the "full bands". The kicker is, is that I had the date already but it was in a 2nd generation OGH, so the replaced coin moves to another set and the "rattler" takes its appointed place.

For those of you that haven't heard, silver is on a "major tear" today with the price jumping over $1.50 per ounce to $24.97. When I was at the bank earlier this week, I picked up a bank envelope I had stashed down in the bottom and over in the corner that contained what you see pictured. I brought them home and have been going over the dates, and separating them into groups according to their condition. I'm not a "currency" person and have no idea what notes bring but I could not help but wonder if these were even worth keeping? Some are in great shape, others are not. There are about a dozen "star notes" in the group and three $5 bills, one being a silver certificate and is dated 1953. The other two $5 "green seals" are Federal Reserve Notes from 1934 & 1950. I thought back over the many years ago when all of these came into my possession and for a moment, wished I could "wave a magic wand" and travel back when each silver certificate could be redeemed for a "real" silver dollar. It would seem to me that even then, that would have been the much better deal than to hold onto the "well worn" notes you see here. I guess it's just that real silver to me is the much better item to hold. And I was wondering if these were worth keeping? I mean, I'm sure not going to toss or spend them but the question remains, what good are they aside from being a few dollars in paper. I know this is different, but I hold very little faith in "paper currency" period.

But getting back to silver, it, along with the other metals, continue to climb in an orderly fashion and are all far from their respective highs, when you take inflation into consideration. This equates to staying "on board" and buying more whenever the opportunity presents itself. I see prices going up on most every coin series aside from the modern "non precious metal" stuff and all of us who collect will reap the rewards of such activity. There are so many coins I need to complete sets, that I don't know where to begin. I do know that as I plug along, each of those "empty slots" will only cost more, the longer I wait to fill them.

I hope all of you have had a good week thus far and I also hope you are "hot on the trail" to acquiring that special coin you are wanting/needing". And last but not least, may your up coming weekend be family and coin filled.

Happy Collecting!

WKF

The silver to gold ratio has fallen yet again to 53.169 and just now after checking this latest number, silver has now gone over $26 per ounce to $26.03 That's up $1.55 on the day. Gold is at $1384.00 That's up $45.40 on the day. "HANG ON TO YOUR HATS"!