Gold & Silver - Do NOT Purchase From Mint.ca

I'm subscribed to the Royal Canadian Mint's (RCM) email updates and will frequently receive gold and silver coin offers.  And recently I've even seen some TV commercials where they are advertising a Superman $20 silver coin for $20.

I wanted to post this blog to inform everyone that the RCM does not offer any deal whatsoever.  Not only is it a total rip-off in regards to what you get for the price they are charging, these are considered numismatic coins which do not - in most cases - add any value.

The primary reason why these coins they are offering are such a rip-off compared to what you could be purchasing for the same dollar amount is simply because contrary to how they spin their offer, there is actually very little silver or gold contained in the coinage.

As an example, take a look at their latest Superman $20 fine-silver coin advertised on their website where they state the following:

$20 For $20

Fine Silver Coin

Mintage: 350,000 Canada/U.S only
Limit of 5 per household
An easy and affordable way to own a silver coin that is among the purest in the world

Rare—only 350,000 coins worldwide can ever be struck

Composition:  fine silver (99.99% pure)

Now, all of the above highlighted marketing looks pretty amazing, right!  And it is the truth, there is no lies about it.

But when you take the time to actually look at the specification:

SPECIFICATIONS

No.	148023
Mintage	350,000
Composition	fine silver (99.99% pure)
Finish	specimen
Weight (g)	7.96
Diameter (mm)	27
Edge	serrated
Certficate	not serialized
Face Value	20 dollars
Artist	DC Comics (reverse), Susanna Blunt (obverse)

You quickly realize that there is only 7.96 grams worth of pure silver!  Wow!

It may be 99.99% pure, but it's only 7.96 grams worth of pure silver and not the 31.1034768 grams in a troy ounce.  So you essentially only have 25.59% of a full ounce of silver.

Why is that significant?  Well, simply because as I write this post, the cost of silver on the spot market is $15.17 (source: New York Silver Spot Price, Sep 27, 2015 at 08:14 EST).

So by dishing out $20 for only a quarter of an ounce, you are essentially paying $34.88 per ounce of silver, or in simple terms, TWICE AS MUCH!!

And believe me, you get absolutely no additional value for your coin because it has a DC Comics' Superman stamped on it or the fact that there are only 350,000 that are minted.  Absolutely NONE!

So if you want pure silver (99.99%) and an entire full ounce of it, where should you buy it?

Well the answer is very simple.  There are a ton of them out there, you simply need to look for them.  

But I personally like Kitco Minerals and Metals simply because they have no minimum purchase required.

If you were to buy a Canadian Maple silver coin from Kitco right now, you would pay $20.57 for a full ounce (that's a full 31.110 grams, not 7.96 grams).

And the best part is that all the Maple coins that Kitco sells is actually made by the Royal Canadian Mint.  That's right the same people!  So why doesn't the RCM simply not sell Maple coins to the public instead of that numismatic crap?  I really don't know.  And when I asked them (several times), I only get a well written marketing response.