Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Best resource to get silver/valuable metals in the US

moviez - 29-12-2024 at 23:13

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if anyone had some experience in purchasing a few ounces (1 once=~31g) of silver in the US. I looked into the US Mint as well as a couple of reputable coin companies, but they sell silver at a far more expensive price than the current silver price. And apparently, I wouldn’t go with a random low price seller on Google.

I’d like to make silver nitrate for some photography projects. Starting from silver seems the cheapest way, and this would be a fun science project to work on.

So I’m wondering if anyone has any experience in acquiring some silver (or valuable metals) in the US? Any input is appreciated.

Deathunter88 - 29-12-2024 at 23:26

Costco for large amounts, local coin store for smaller amounts.

Rainwater - 29-12-2024 at 23:34

Before 1965 quarters where 90% Ag. You can still find them today but its rare.
This will be the cheapest option short of finding raw ore

Next will be scrap commercial/industrial hvac connections.
A Cu/Ni/Ag alloy is used to braze the joints.
Its smoke is much less toxic than residential and automotive alloys.

Electrical contacts also have a high % of Ag, if there is any left
The black dust inside contactor housings is AgO

And lastly will be to purchase from a metals/jewelry company.

So the advertised "spot" price of a metal is most likely what your seeing.
That price is a stock market price.
A contract price for bullion you can buy but never see or touch.
You can expect to pay at least 50%~75% more when purchasing the metal
through a broker.

Edit: i original wrote Au - this was a typo. I ment silver

[Edited on 30-12-2024 by Rainwater]

moviez - 29-12-2024 at 23:55

Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88  
Costco for large amounts, local coin store for smaller amounts.


Costco is a good place to check. Thank you.

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 00:00

Quote: Originally posted by Rainwater  
Before 1965 quarters where 90% Ag. You can still find them today but its rare.
This will be the cheapest option short of finding raw ore

Next will be scrap commercial/industrial hvac connections.
A Cu/Ni/Au alloy is used to braze the joints.
Its smoke is much less toxic than residential and automotive alloys.

Electrical contacts also have a high % of Au, if there is any left
The black dust inside contactor housings is AuO

And lastly will be to purchase from a metals/jewelry company.

So the advertised "spot" price of a metal is most likely what your seeing.
That price is a stock market price.
A contract price for bullion you can buy but never see or touch.
You can expect to pay at least 50%~75% more when purchasing the metal
through a broker.



That’s good to know, thank you for the information!

To be honest, I would prefer pure metal (for example, 99%+ pure Ag) for my project. Refining/Purifying valuable metals aren’t really my strong suit and I only have a limited amount of nitric acid. I guess I wouldn’t mind getting silver nitrate as well if I can find a reputable seller with fair price.

You mentioned we would never see the “stock market price” for silver. Just wondering who is trading with that price, then?

Rainwater - 30-12-2024 at 00:46

The stock market.
When you buy metal through an exchange, you're really buying a contract.
The underlined fine print is that you can not take possession of the materials purchased.
No transportation cost, centralized security, no tampering or shaving of the coins/bars.
No additional testing to prove its worth

If you were to purchase an arbitrary amount and put it into a 401k/ira, you would pay close to "spot price".
If you want actual metal, you pay retail
Quote: Originally posted by Deathunter88  
Costco for large amounts, local coin store for smaller amounts.

Did not no this, price seams fair.

[Edited on 30-12-2024 by Rainwater]

Sulaiman - 30-12-2024 at 02:49

silver:
I would start with a 99.99% canadian silver maple coin.
I used a 99.9% us eagle to make silver nitrate,
it took three re-crystalisations to remove the blue/green copper tint.

silver nitrate solution is transparent and colourless...invisible
but if you spill any it will make a nasty stain
if you get it on your skin you will not notice it until exposed to daylight.

for photography you will be buying 'hypo' (sodium thiosulphate)
make up 500ml of a weak solution of about 10% w/w
after experimenting, use about 50ml of the solution to rinse your hands before daylight reaches them.
This is a case where I use gloves, you should too.
...............
silver in conc. nitric acid is exciting
dilute (eg 3M or less) is very slow and boring,
but is more efficient as it needs a little less nitric acid.

chempyre235 - 30-12-2024 at 06:39

In the US, silver eagles would be the purest form of officially minted silver bullion, at 99.93% purity. The remaining 0.07% is copper. K-bid often has these on auction, usually selling for about $35-$40 apiece. There are usually also silver ingots and other forms of silver with varying purities. Any older US silver coins (and commemorative silver) will only be 90% purity. Some of the world bullion, like Canadian Maples and Aussie Kookaburras, have higher purity. You shouldn't pay more than about $40/oz. (Plus shipping.)

Just a note, if you do buy from K-bid, verify the seller's shipping policies before placing a bid. Sellers like Agazziz have cheap shipping and good service. Some of the other companies ship through a third party, which (in my experience), have proven to be more expensive.

Ebay is also a good place for coins, but be sure they aren't coming from China or anywhere else that could be unreliable.

Also, since you are just needing the silver to be nitrated, you needn't worry about how tarnished the coin is.

[Edited on 12/30/2024 by chempyre235]

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 11:23

Thank you for the advice. That’s very helpful.

I do have thiosulfates and gloves.

Quote: Originally posted by Sulaiman  
silver:
I would start with a 99.99% canadian silver maple coin.
I used a 99.9% us eagle to make silver nitrate,
it took three re-crystalisations to remove the blue/green copper tint.

silver nitrate solution is transparent and colourless...invisible
but if you spill any it will make a nasty stain
if you get it on your skin you will not notice it until exposed to daylight.

for photography you will be buying 'hypo' (sodium thiosulphate)
make up 500ml of a weak solution of about 10% w/w
after experimenting, use about 50ml of the solution to rinse your hands before daylight reaches them.
This is a case where I use gloves, you should too.
...............
silver in conc. nitric acid is exciting
dilute (eg 3M or less) is very slow and boring,
but is more efficient as it needs a little less nitric acid.

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 11:25

Thank you, that’s very helpful. I’ll check k-bid.


Quote: Originally posted by chempyre235  
In the US, silver eagles would be the purest form of officially minted silver bullion, at 99.93% purity. The remaining 0.07% is copper. K-bid often has these on auction, usually selling for about $35-$40 apiece. There are usually also silver ingots and other forms of silver with varying purities. Any older US silver coins (and commemorative silver) will only be 90% purity. Some of the world bullion, like Canadian Maples and Aussie Kookaburras, have higher purity. You shouldn't pay more than about $40/oz. (Plus shipping.)

Just a note, if you do buy from K-bid, verify the seller's shipping policies before placing a bid. Sellers like Agazziz have cheap shipping and good service. Some of the other companies ship through a third party, which (in my experience), have proven to be more expensive.

Ebay is also a good place for coins, but be sure they aren't coming from China or anywhere else that could be unreliable.

Also, since you are just needing the silver to be nitrated, you needn't worry about how tarnished the coin is.

[Edited on 12/30/2024 by chempyre235]

chempyre235 - 30-12-2024 at 12:14

Quote:

Thank you, that’s very helpful.

No problem.

If you are just looking for silver, the given info should be sufficient, but you also mentioned "valuable metals" as part of the subject. If you are looking for places that sell Au, Pd and Pt, I could make some recommendations, but be prepared to spend more than spot price (market intrinsic value). 1oz. gold coins often sell in excess of $2,500, and Pt and Pd for well over $1K/oz.

McMaster-Carr also sells gold and platinum wire.

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 13:03


Thank you. I’ll start with silver first. I’m definitely interested in acquiring a small amount of other valuable metals to explore their chemistry; that can be done later and I probably wouldn’t need to get an ounce of them.

Quote: Originally posted by chempyre235  
Quote:

Thank you, that’s very helpful.

No problem.

If you are just looking for silver, the given info should be sufficient, but you also mentioned "valuable metals" as part of the subject. If you are looking for places that sell Au, Pd and Pt, I could make some recommendations, but be prepared to spend more than spot price (market intrinsic value). 1oz. gold coins often sell in excess of $2,500, and Pt and Pd for well over $1K/oz.

McMaster-Carr also sells gold and platinum wire.

Rainwater - 30-12-2024 at 14:05

Just treat the other metals with great respect.
Silver compounds are not too toxic, and silver nitrate is a great way to test your handling procedures
for contamination evaluation.
Just shine a uv light and see how the compount gets everywhere.

Platinum and the other platinum group metals are a very different story.
The metals are non toxic, but the compounds are extremely dangerous due to
delay between exposure and illness. Sometimes years, sometimes hours.
And exposure is accumulative for most of them.
LD can be less than 4mg (CHLOROPLATINIC ACID per OSHA)
Most exposures result in ... dont remimber the fancy illness name ...
which is a continuous allergic reaction.
Very nasty way to die.

Its very fun. And no other rush can compare to dropping all that pretty gold out of solution.
But be mindful of the beast your taming
Do your research!
Know the dangers!
Enjoy the spoils!


[Edited on 30-12-2024 by Rainwater]

Dr.Bob - 30-12-2024 at 14:35

I can't help much with silver metal, although I have a little silver nitrate, and some recovered silver waste from a friends jewelry work (if someone wants to buy it cheap and try to refine, please let me know.). But I have lots of other precious metal salts and some metals. I posted a list of some on my glassware thread, but I really do have a huge number of metal salts, as well as lots of Pd waste (bad Pd tetrakis, small Pd(PH3)4), and small amounts of Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, and more. I might even have some gold salts, in small amounts. I also have Pd and Pt oxides. I am happy to sell at or below the spot price value of the metal content of the compounds. I have sold to a few people on here, and everyone has been happy.

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 20:21

Thank you. I did check the potential hazards for each chemical I use. I’m not experienced with the chemistry of valuable metals (except for some silver-related experiments before) so that’s good to keep in mind.

Quote: Originally posted by Rainwater  
Just treat the other metals with great respect.
Silver compounds are not too toxic, and silver nitrate is a great way to test your handling procedures
for contamination evaluation.
Just shine a uv light and see how the compount gets everywhere.

Platinum and the other platinum group metals are a very different story.
The metals are non toxic, but the compounds are extremely dangerous due to
delay between exposure and illness. Sometimes years, sometimes hours.
And exposure is accumulative for most of them.
LD can be less than 4mg (CHLOROPLATINIC ACID per OSHA)
Most exposures result in ... dont remimber the fancy illness name ...
which is a continuous allergic reaction.
Very nasty way to die.

Its very fun. And no other rush can compare to dropping all that pretty gold out of solution.
But be mindful of the beast your taming
Do your research!
Know the dangers!
Enjoy the spoils!


[Edited on 30-12-2024 by Rainwater]

moviez - 30-12-2024 at 20:27

Thank you for your response. I reviewed your post, and it appears that you have a good variety of Pt and Pd compounds available. Currently, I’m interested in acquiring AgNO3, although I may acquire other compounds later. I’m wondering if you have at least 50 grams available for sale. If so, please send me a private message, and I’d be happy to discuss the details further.
Quote: Originally posted by Dr.Bob  
I can't help much with silver metal, although I have a little silver nitrate, and some recovered silver waste from a friends jewelry work (if someone wants to buy it cheap and try to refine, please let me know.). But I have lots of other precious metal salts and some metals. I posted a list of some on my glassware thread, but I really do have a huge number of metal salts, as well as lots of Pd waste (bad Pd tetrakis, small Pd(PH3)4), and small amounts of Ru, Rh, Pd, Pt, and more. I might even have some gold salts, in small amounts. I also have Pd and Pt oxides. I am happy to sell at or below the spot price value of the metal content of the compounds. I have sold to a few people on here, and everyone has been happy.