Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Check the spot price of silver. You can use any stock market price chart or specialized precious metal sites, such as SilverPrice.org, to determine the current market value of silver (see Resources). This price will vary by the day.
Calculate the value of the junk silver based on the spot price. The formula is "value in dollars = p * x(y)", where p = spot price in dollars per ounce, x = ounces of junk silver and y = percentage of pure silver in the junk silver.
If the price of silver is $15 an ounce and you have 10 ounces of coins composed of 90% silver (a standard composition), the result would be this:
15*10(.90) = $135 = current value of the silver
Choose an opening bid for the silver based on the spot price. Choose a price that is less than the value of the silver in the bag to entice bidders. For instance, using the example in Step 2, you might choose an opening bid of $100. Do not set the bid below the face value of the coins.
Post the listing on an auction site. EBay is a prominent example, but there are also auction sites specializing in junk silver and other precious metals, such as Bullion Direct (see References). It has a service called Nucleo Exchange, where Bullion Direct mediates transactions between precious metals buyers and sellers, updating the market prices in real time.
Set an appropriate time limit for the listing. If you suspect that the silver price is going to drop in the coming weeks, you may not want to host a long auction. However, if you suspect a slow rise, you might want to make the auction longer to bait prospective bidders into bidding above the spot price in the hopes of potential gains in the future.
Collect a promise of payment when the auction has completed. It's important you get confirmation from a reliable third-party payment system, such as PayPal or Bullion Direct, that the buyer has authorized the payment.
Ship the silver. If it is in a big, loose bag, pack it in tightly using foam rolls so that the change doesn't jingle around. You might even want to consider rolling the coins, though this could be time consuming.