||| FROM ROBERT AUSTIN |||
Some of you may have noticed that the price of gold and silver has gone a little bit crazy, of late. For example, silver, which rarely has changed much in value, suddenly leapt briefly towards $80 an ounce, before settling back to a still-very-high $70 a Troy ounce. It started out 2025 at around $29 an ounce. Of course there are tech stocks like NVidea that have been multiplying in value much more quickly than metal, but still, silver is looking like it has been a good investment.
Or is it? Let’s take a closer look. First, you normally buy silver coins from a dealer, and they will charge you a premium, which covers the costs of making the coins, and profits to the dealer.
For example, with silver “ask” at $72, you can buy 1-19 American Eagles from Texas Metals (a typical online dealer) for $83.28 each cash, or $86.61 if you use your credit card. This premium drops slightly if you order larger quantities, but in our case, you’ve just paid a $11.38 premium that you’ll never see back.
If you happen to have bought your coin from a Washington State dealer, as of January 1 2026 the State will also charge sales tax on your purchase. That is, the State doesn’t consider your purchase an “investment” as though you just bought some stock or bonds, but something more akin to the purchase of a vacuum cleaner or box of detergent.
So add another 9-10% tax to that $86.61 to come up with the final cost to you of that coin containing $72 worth of silver: about $93.89.
Oh, and when you do sell your silver at some point in the future when a profit might be had, the IRS will be expecting at least 28% on any capital gains. And if you are selling to a dealer, they will pay you a few dollars an ounce below the current “bid” price.
I confess that silver and gold do have pretty lusters, though, in case that’s your “thing…”
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