Selling silver
Summary
Silver is easy to sell.
Before selling silver, you should find out how much the silver is worth.
You should compare different offers; reputable buyers publish their purchase prices.
Depending on what is to be sold, there are various possible trading partners.
Trading with other private individuals directly on PreMeSec.ch is an option.
Introduction
Silver is offered to savers in various forms on the market. While bars of one kilo are the most common today, smaller bars were also traded in the past. Coins and medals made of silver are a popular souvenir and gift. Silver differs significantly from gold due to its lower value, higher industrial demand and because it is subject to VAT. Purchased silver will be sold at some point, so this article is about this part of the trade.
Why would you want to sell silver?
Silver is primarily an industrial metal and its price fluctuates with the economic cycle. A rising price can be a good reason to turn your silver bars and coins into cash. However, other considerations may also cause savers to part with their precious metal. What is important is not so much the reason for getting rid of silver, but rather getting a good price for it. To do this, you first need to know the value and then where you can get the most for your silver.
Selling silver: what you should know
When selling the white precious metal, a distinction should be made between old silver and silver bars, coins and medals. Scrap jewellery or old-fashioned jewellery as well as silver cutlery, candlesticks and table silver can be counted as scrap silver. These pieces are normally melted down, as they cannot be resold. For scrap silver, the silver price is calculated by precious metal buyers, but a melting surcharge and a processing fee are also deducted.
Coins, medals and silver bars do not need to be melted down. They are not subject to fashion trends, which is why they can easily be resold. For this reason, coins, medals and silver bars should never be sold below the silver price.
Selling silver bars
Silver bars are extremely popular when it comes to buying physical silver as an investment. In order to keep the manufacturing costs as low as possible, elaborate decorations are avoided in the manufacturing process, which is why the premium on the silver price is usually lower than for coins. In addition, they are offered in a wide range of weights. Silver bars can easily be sold at banks, trusted precious metal dealers or on PreMeSec.ch.
Selling silver coins
Silver coins are, in contrast to bars, more intricately designed and are therefore also collected in some cases. The most common are the coins weighing one ounce, or about 31.103 grams. A few manufacturers also produce larger coins in several ounces or a kilogram at times. Since production is more labour-intensive, the price premium for coins is considerably higher than for bars of the same weight.
Silver coins have a low intrinsic value and are often produced for collectors, as gifts or souvenirs, which is why the price is rather secondary compared to the metal value. This and the VAT that has to be paid on silver coins lead to significant surcharges. Unfortunately, banks and precious metal dealers only buy the coins at their metal value. For this reason, you lose what you have already paid as a premium. A private buyer, who would otherwise have to pay VAT and other surcharges at banks and dealers, would be willing to pay more than the pure metal value. Such buyers can be found on PreMeSec.
Selling older or rare silver coins to the bank is not recommended. If the coins are particularly rare or valuable, the average bank employee lacks the expertise to determine their value. In this case, specialised dealers or trading platforms such as PreMeSec.ch are better suited.
Sell old silver coins
Coins, i.e. the coins used for payment in daily life, were made of silver until well into the mid-20th century. It is possible that you may come across such coins. The national bank of the issuing country usually exchanges such coins at face value. However, the face value today is far below the precious metal value. Such coins are therefore suitable for savers and are often bought. You can easily sell them on PreMeSec at the silver price.
If you are in possession of one or more old silver coins that are not listed in the PreMeSec product list, they may be coins with a collector's value. In this case, you should definitely contact a reputable dealer or an auction house specialising in numismatics (the technical term for the study of coins). This will give you the best chance of getting a fair price for these collector's coins. Under no circumstances should you sell them to a precious metal buyer or on a non-specialised trading platform.
Selling silver medals
Silver medals are mainly made as souvenirs of events or special celebrations. For high-level sporting events, the medals awarded can actually be made of silver. You can recognise the real silver medals by the hallmark. If the medal also has a standard weight stamped on it, such as 1 ounce (1 oz) or 50 g, etc., it can be offered as an ingot on PreMeSec.
Medals without a weight indication can be sold as old silver to dealers.
Selling duty-free stored silver
Many investors buy duty-free stored silver because they do not have to pay VAT on it. Sooner or later, this silver will also be sold, and it can be traded on PreMeSec. Advertisements and auctions on PreMeSec include a function to mark duty-free silver.
How do you determine the price of silver?
Before selling silver, whether it be coins or bars, you should be aware of the achievable price.
Silver is an important commodity and therefore standardised, so it is very easy to determine the value. The current silver price can be found in the daily newspaper as well as on various websites. For bars that have a weight specification, the value can be easily calculated by dividing the price per kilogram of silver on the internet by 1000 and multiplying it by the number of grams of the bar or coin. It is a little more difficult with coins that do not always have a stamped fine weight.
Simply weighing does not work because a coin does not have to consist only of silver, but can also have other metals added. Therefore, you first have to determine the so-called fine weight, which is the weight of the pure silver in the coin. However, the internet offers plenty of sources for this. On our products page, you will find links to the respective product pages of the most common precious metal coins, where you will also find the fineness or fine weight listed. To calculate the value of a coin, you only have to divide the kilogram price of gold by 1000 and multiply it by the fine weight of the coin.
Register now and sell silver on PreMeSec.ch!
Should you sell silver to your bank or to a precious metal dealer?
Your bank is often the first point of contact when trading silver and is, of course, an option. However, specialised, reputable precious metal dealers also buy silver. When selling larger quantities, they can offer the advantage of being able to sell the silver quickly. The convenience of dealing with a trusted institution and being able to sell your silver promptly can come at a high price; you should definitely check whether the offer is close to the silver price.
Great care should be taken with second-hand gold buyers who occasionally distribute mailings in letterboxes. Even if they entice you with ‘top prices’ on the mailings, there are many black sheep who pay far too little.
Banks and dealers sometimes charge very high premiums for silver, which is not only due to VAT. Instead of selling the silver to the banks or a dealer, it would be advisable to sell it to another private individual, then you can demand a portion of these high premiums yourself. This way, you get a significantly higher price for the white precious metal and the buyer also saves money – a win-win situation for everyone involved. The best place to find buyers of precious metals is on premese.ch
Frequently asked questions about selling silver
How do you sell a Swiss silver coin?
Swiss circulation coins were made of silver until the late 1960s and had a fineness of 835/1000.
You can multiply the weight of the coin by 0.835 and then by the price of silver per gram to find out the value. Once the value has been determined, you still need to find a buyer. The best option is to sell silver coins on PreMeSec.ch.
How do you sell a silver Krugerrand, silver Maple Leaf or silver Vienna Philharmonic coin?
Modern silver coins are almost exclusively manufactured and traded by weight in 1 ounce (1 oz), which corresponds to 31.1034 grams. The silver price per ounce can be found in the daily newspaper or on the internet. With the help of the correct value, it is also easy to find a buyer; we recommend our platform PreMeSec.ch for trading silver coins.
How can I sell a coin collection?
If you inherit a coin collection and no longer want to collect, you can sell the collection. Since such coins can have a high value, you should make sure that you don't get too little money for them. You can sell a coin collection to a numismatist or have the coins auctioned at an auction house. Selling on PreMeSec.ch is also an option, provided the coins are listed.
What is the silver melting price?
The silver price on the exchange is paid for fine silver, i.e. silver with a purity of 999/1000. Silver jewellery is made of a silver alloy (usually 935/1000 or 800/1000), so it has to be melted down to produce fine silver. If you deduct the cost of melting and producing fine silver at the silver exchange price, you get the melting price.
Why do buyers of old gold only pay the melting price for old silver coins and bars and jewellery?
The silver price of the exchange is paid for fine silver, but silver jewellery is made of a silver alloy. In order to obtain fine silver from it, it must be melted down. If you deduct the cost of melting and producing fine silver from the silver exchange price, you get the melting price. Some scrap gold buyers only pay the melting price for bars or coins, although these could be resold directly without being melted down. That's why it pays to find a private buyer for them, thus avoiding the need for melting and allowing higher prices to be achieved.
How can I sell silver on PreMeSec.ch?
To sell silver on PreMeSec.ch, you need to create an account. After that, you can create offers.
