Silver Rounds

The silver coins produced by the US Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, and Great Britain’s Royal Mint are the marquee silver coins that investors and numismatists often favor. However, they are not the only sovereign silver coins in the world, nor are they the only quality silver coins available.

Instead, there are several countries that produce their own silver coins, and they can be an excellent option for a wide swath of collectors. This page is your starting point to exploring the other fine silver coins available for purchase.

Why Should I Buy Silver Coins?

For any precious metals investor, there is always a question in mind about whether to buy silver coins, silver bars, or silver rounds. There are several positives associated with buying silver coins that bars and rounds simply do not offer.

Silver coins are not items made in random locations. They are the production of a country’s sovereign mint.

Therefore, a silver coin is guaranteed to be authentic. Its value is backed by the full faith and credit of its issuing country. Even its composition is mandated by law, so you can count on getting exactly what you think you’re buying.

A silver coin is usually legal tender within its home country’s borders, too. It’s unlikely that using it as such would be a good idea, as face values tend to be far less than the value of the metal content, but it’s a good backup plan.

All of that authenticity means that silver coins are a much more liquid investment than bars or rounds. Because they are a known commodity, investors are much more comfortable moving forward with buying them from you when you decide to sell.

What Sizes of Silver Coins are Available?

For the most part, gold coins come in sizes equal to or less than an ounce. Because gold is so expensive, the cost of buying more than a single ounce of it is usually prohibitive.

Despite its greater industrial demand and utility, silver is much less expensive than gold. Therefore, there is a wider range of available sizes for silver coins than what you’ll usually find for the yellow metal.

Most silver coins are minted to be 1 oz, but several mints offer silver coins in fractional sizes beneath 1 oz. So, you can silver coins in ½ oz and ¼ oz weights regularly.

On the flip side, you can also find larger silver coins in a way that you cannot with gold coins. Some silver coins are standard minted as 2 oz coins, and 5 oz and 10 oz silver coins are not unusual at all. There are even some silver coins that are minted to weigh an entire kilo – that’s more than 32 ounces!

So, if you want to buy in bulk as you buy sovereign coins, silver coins are the way to go.

How Do Silver Coins Compare to Silver Bars or Rounds?

The premium, or price above the spot price for silver, is higher for coins than it is for bars or rounds. All three silver vehicles derive their baseline values from their silver content. However, for bars and rounds, their metal content is where their value starts and ends.

Coins, on the other hand, have several different factors that contribute to the higher premiums you pay. For one thing, the condition of a coin matters greatly in its value determination. By contrast, as long as there are no significant reductions in metal weight, rounds and (especially) bars are unaffected by any nicks, scrapes, or other cosmetic damage they may incur.

As we mentioned above, there is also a much higher standard for authenticity and reliability when it comes to silver coins due to their official provenance. Silver bars or rounds are almost never viable as legal tender, nor is their composition assured without testing.

Finally, the greater liquidity associated with silver coins increases their price tag. Because it is so much easier, relatively speaking, to buy and sell coins, there is an added surcharge attached to them.

Coin Issuance vs. Mintage

Some of the coins on this page are minted by the same countries that issue them. The Austrian Philharmonics are made by the Austrian Mint, the Chinese Pandas are made by the Chinese Mint, and so on.

However, smaller countries may not have the capital or resources to house their own bullion coin mint. They may be doing all they can to produce circulating currency – if at all.

In those scenarios, it is common for countries to issue their bullion coinage by way of a third party mint. Thus, the country in which a coin is issued and is considered legal tender may be quite different from the country or mint from which it is physically made.

For instance, all of the silver coins issued by Niue are actually minted by Agoro, a private mint located in New Zealand. However, though each coin is minted privately, it is backed fully by the Niuean government, which certifies their face value and status as legal tender.

Another set of examples is the coins issued by the Pitcairn Islands. In this case, the minting is handled by the Tower Mint, a private mint in London, due to the Pitcairn Islands’ status as a British Overseas Territory. For that matter, as the Pitcairns are home to all of 35 residents, it would be quite the feat to offer a functional mint at any sort of scale.

The point is that the issuing country for a particular silver coin may not be the location of the coin’s mintage. It’s important to check the label on a coin before you buy it.

How to Buy Silver Coins From JM Bullion

JM Bullion is available for purchases any time of day or night. We have trained counselors standing by around the clock, so you can reach out to start buying your silver coins whenever you like.

You can get in touch with us via phone, email, or live chat. If you still have questions, that’s fine – we don’t do any hard selling or use pressure tactics to get you to move forward. The most important thing is that you feel comfortable at every step of the process.