Sell Silver to BOLD Precious Metals

Sell Silver Without Guessing What You'll Get

Most silver buyers won't tell you what they pay until your metal is in their hands. We agree your price with you in writing first, and email you the full breakdown — spot price, premium, unit price, quantity, total — before you commit to anything. Once you accept, your payout is locked and does not move again.

BOLD Precious Metals has bought and sold physical bullion since 2016. We are an Authorized Purchaser for the Perth Mint and an approved supplier of United States Mint bullion. Over 3,000 customers have sold silver to us, and we hold an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

There is no minimum. Whether you have one Silver Eagle or twenty monster boxes, the process and the published rate are the same.

If you already know what you have, request a quote above. If you want to understand how silver is valued and shipped first, everything is below.

How We Work Out What You Get

Your price has two parts: the live silver spot price shown at the top of this page, and a premium per unit that we agree with you directly.

The premium is agreed per product, case by case. It can be added to spot or subtracted from it. Whatever the number is, we tell you exactly what it is before you accept, and you are under no obligation to take it.

Spot moves all day, so your total moves with it. Any figure we discuss before you accept is an estimate. The moment you accept and we lock your request, both the spot price and your final payout are frozen — that locked number is what you are paid.

A worked example. You have a sealed monster box of American Silver Eagles — 500 coins, one troy ounce each. Silver spot is $64.00.

American Silver Eagle × 500

Live spot at lock            = $64.00 / oz
Agreed premium               = [+/- $X.XX] per coin
Unit price                   = $XX.XX
× 500 coins                  = $XX,XXX.XX   ← locked total

Paid by paper check          = $XX,XXX.XX   (no fee)
Paid by ACH                  = $XX,XXX.XX   (less $35 flat fee)
Paid in store credit         = $XX,XXX.XX   (plus 1%)

Once your request is locked, the total does not change. The only difference is how you choose to be paid: paper check is free, ACH carries a flat $35 fee, and store credit adds 1% to your total. You arrange and pay for shipping to us — that cost is not deducted from your payout, but it is not covered by us either.

Selling Silver Coins

Silver coins are the most straightforward thing to sell. Government-minted coins carry a known weight and purity, which makes them quick to verify.

The best way to sell silver coins depends on what you hold. Common-date bullion coins — American Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, Philharmonics — trade on metal content. We pay a published per-coin price regardless of year, and we do not discount for opened tubes, missing certificates, or light toning.

Graded and certified coins may carry numismatic value above melt. Add the PCGS or NGC certification number in the condition description box on the quote form and we will assess whether collector value exceeds bullion value.

Morgan and Peace dollars sit between bullion and numismatics. Each contains 0.7734 troy ounces of silver, so they always carry melt value — but common dates in good condition often trade above melt, and key dates significantly above. We quote every Morgan and Peace dollar individually rather than by weight. Upload a photograph with your request and describe the date and condition in the description box.

Selling Silver Bars

Silver bars are priced on weight, purity, and refiner. We buy bars from recognised refiners including Asahi, Sunshine Minting, Scottsdale, Geiger, Engelhard, Johnson Matthey and the Royal Canadian Mint.

Bars in original assay cards or mint packaging verify fastest, and we recommend leaving them sealed. We do not require the packaging, but an unpackaged bar takes longer to verify.

100 oz bars are our most common bar purchase. They are also heavy — a single 100 oz bar weighs approximately 6.8 pounds. See the shipping section below before you pack.

Vintage poured bars from Engelhard and Johnson Matthey sometimes carry a collector premium over melt. If yours has a distinctive hallmark or serial number, mention it — we will check whether it is worth more than its weight.

Selling Junk Silver

Junk silver is pre-1965 US circulating coinage — dimes, quarters, half dollars — struck in 90% silver. The name is misleading. There is nothing junk about it; the term simply distinguishes circulated coins with no collector premium from graded numismatic pieces.

Junk silver is priced by face value, not by coin count or individual weight.

You do not need to sort or count individual coins. Weigh the lot or tell us the approximate face value and we will confirm on arrival. Mixed denominations are fine.

A quick check: look at the edge of the coin. Pre-1965 silver coins show a solid silver-grey edge. Post-1965 clad coins show a copper stripe. If you see copper, it is not silver.

Selling Scrap and .999 Silver

We buy scrap silver by weight and purity at [XX]% of melt. This includes broken rounds, cut bars, silver shot, and industrial .999 silver.

We do not buy silver certificates. These are old US paper currency, not bullion, and their value is collectible rather than metal-based. A currency dealer will serve you better.

How Selling Silver to BOLD Works

Shipping Silver: What Makes It Different

Silver is heavy. A $1,000 face value bag of junk silver weighs about 55 pounds. A monster box of Silver Eagles weighs roughly 35 pounds. This creates practical issues gold sellers never face, and getting it wrong can void your insurance.

Double-box anything over 5 pounds. Place the sealed inner box inside a larger outer box with packing material filling every void. Nothing should move or rattle.

Split very large shipments. Carriers cap insurance per package. If your shipment is worth more than your carrier's limit, send it as several insured packages rather than one.

Do not write anything on the outside indicating the contents. No dealer names, no metal names, no logos.

If you are selling more than a few hundred ounces, contact us before packing and we will talk you through how to split and insure it.

Where to Sell Silver: Comparing Your Options

We will be direct about the trade-offs, because you should compare before you commit.

Pawn shops pay cash immediately, which matters if you need money today. They typically pay well below melt, because they carry retail overheads and hold inventory that may not move for months.

Local coin shops know silver well and can be competitive on numismatic pieces. On bullion they usually pay less than a national dealer, since they resell into a smaller market. Worth visiting if you have unusual or graded coins.

Auction houses such as Heritage or Stack's Bowers can achieve strong prices on rare, high-grade, or historically significant coins. Seller commissions typically run from zero to 15%, and sales run on fixed schedules — so expect weeks or months, not days. For exceptional pieces the premium usually outweighs the cost. For bullion it does not.

Online marketplaces like eBay can work for collectible coins, but you carry the fees, the shipping risk, buyer disputes, and the wait.

A national bullion dealer — us — pays close to spot because we resell into an active bullion market rather than a retail display case. We verify every item on arrival and pay promptly once it clears.

Red Flags When Selling Silver

Whoever you sell to, walk away if you see:

That last one is not a favour. It is a proposal to break the law, and it tells you everything about how the rest of the transaction will go.

Tax on Selling Silver

In the United States, physical silver is classified by the IRS as a collectible. Profit is generally treated as a capital gain — sale proceeds minus your cost basis, including any premium you originally paid.

Silver held longer than one year falls under long-term collectibles treatment, currently capped at 28%. Silver held one year or less is generally taxed as ordinary income at your marginal rate. Losses may be deductible against other capital gains.

On reporting: dealers must file IRS Form 1099-B for certain transactions, based on product and quantity rather than dollar amount. For silver, the thresholds that trigger a filing include 90% silver US coins with a total face value above $1,000, and .999 fine silver bars totalling more than 1,000 troy ounces. These apply identically to every compliant US dealer.

We follow all applicable reporting requirements.

Reporting and taxation are separate. A sale that is not reported on a 1099-B may still be taxable on your return.

Frequently Asked Questions