Jack Lawson Sends: Olson on Precious Metals and Other Items of Financial Value, Part Three – Basic Information About Silver

Here is the latest excerpt from Jack Lawson’s magnificent book series, the Civil Defense Manual. You can grab a copy of his book here. Jack is a strong supporter of American Partisan, and even had NC Scout write the chapter on Radio Communications (Chapter 17 in Volume I). I bought my copy the day it become available and I highly recommend you do as well.

Jack Lawson Sends: Olson on Precious Metals and Other Items of Financial Value, Part One – Dispelling Myths

Jack Lawson Sends: Olson on Precious Metals and Other Items of Financial Value, Part Two – Understanding and Measuring Worth

“Everything you wanted to know about Gold and Silver as Precious Metals but had no one to ask…”

Basic information about Silver

By Clay Olson

Uses and benefits of Silver that you probably didn’t know…

Silver is much bulkier than Gold by volume and weight, which makes it less preferable as a form of currency for large transactions… however the opposite may come true for common and daily use in buying smaller items with minted American Silver coins, as people seek alternative currency when the cost of goods inflate to the moon or the dollar collapses.

Silver (Courtesy of NewtonDesk.com)

Silver has been used for thousands of years for jewelry, eating utensils, food plates… and as the point of this essay… for measures of value as currency. Silver is literally a sought after by product of lead and zinc mining. Smelting and refining separates Silver from the lead and zinc.

Alloying-Silver alloys well with other metals

Scarceness-Silver is rare, which makes it valuable. Because it is more abundant than Gold, Silver is much less expensive than Gold.

Corrosion resistant-Silver resists corrosion and oxidation, but not as well as Gold.

Catalyst-Silver can be used as a catalyst to produce ethylene oxide and formaldehyde. Ethylene oxide is used in the production of molded hard and flexible plastics… flexible plastics such as in polyester. Formaldehyde is a primary chemical of solid plastics and resins manufacture. Astonishingly… when used as a catalyst, Silver increases the speed of reactions of other compounds and chemicals without being consumed.

The pliability and ductility of Silver is superb for transformation into extremely thin sheets and drawn into very thin flexible wire which does not fracture when bent.

Electronics-Because it is one of the best electrical conductors, not as good as copper, but better than Gold, Silver is widely used in electrical and electronic applications. Silver is a critical part of electrical switches for electronics, printed circuits and audio/video equipment and is widely used as a paste application for electronics and micro-circuits. The rear window defroster scheme in your car is most likely applied Silver paste.

Medicine and human use-Silver ions act as a catalyst by absorbing the oxygen of bacteria which literally chokes them to death. Silver has this natural antimicrobial property and is used in the medical field for amazing and incredible bandages for diabetic extremity healing, ointments and is the preferred metal for surgical equipment. Silver amalgamate fillings are most likely in your teeth if you’ve had dental fillings. Silver is also used as a component in embalming agents.

The benefits of Colloidal (Silver suspended in a liquid solution) Silver are just being recognized by our ‘medical authorities’ as in recent posts by the National Institute of Health (NIH) of studies done, led by the Director of the Arizona State University Bio-Design Laboratory. The first time ever a study of Colloidal Silver has been recognized in a positive manner. The inherent natural properties of Colloidal Silver prevent pathogens from mutating around Silver, unlike most antibiotics that eventually have little or no effect on pathogens. Silver does not allow pathogens to live by pathogens adapting around the anti-micro bacterial properties of Silver.

There is Particulate Colloidal Silver and Nano Colloidal Silver. The nano is much smaller than Particulate and way more effective… read about Jack Lawson’s Daughter’s success in preventing sickness, while all her co-workers were plagued with sick time, while waitressing in a high-end Las Vegas casino pool side establishment. A place where the upper class mucky-mucks from all over the world flocked to… bringing every cold and flu virus with them.

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Roman battle field surgeons used extremely thin sheets of Silver, formed into deep sword and battle cuts, to hasten the healing process… since Silver’s anti-bacterial properties accelerated the healing of wounds.

Heard the term… “Born with a Silver spoon in your mouth?” That’s because the wealthy of yore had real “Silverware plates, forks, spoons, knives and serving trays.” Why!? Because of the anti-bacterial properties of Silver in keeping down the bacteria in their food before consumption. The rest of us peasants had wood and pewter (lead and zinc cast eating ware) to eat with, unknown to most that copper also has anti-bacterial properties.

Silver coatings inhibit bacterial build-up in water filtration systems.

Be advised-While small amounts of Silver over time can supposedly result in argyria… which is heavy metals poisoning… large amounts of Silver can cause it quickly. With argyria, heavy metals build up in body tissue, giving it a grayish-blue appearance to the skin when exposed to the sun.

Many people take a teaspoon of colloidal Silver when they get upset stomach or think they are getting sick. You need to then take a probiotic, because colloidal Silver kills ALL the bacteria in your intestinal system… good… and bad. In most opinion, this potential agyria condition is used to discredit and damn one of Mother Nature’s most successful anti pathogen items… most believe that false propaganda is publicized mostly by Pharmaceutical companies… because they can’t control it and you can make it in your home… look up The Silver Edge. You can make your own.

Solar Panels-Solar energy use is growing exponentially and so is the necessity of Silver, which is used in the photo-voltaic cells of the panels for transformation of captured light to electricity.

Mirrors-Silver is the reflective medium behind most all mirrors. So, when you’re looking in the mirror… your reflection is from a Silver coating behind the glass.

Brazing and soldering-Silver’s high tensile strength and ductility creates strong joints between two metal pieces…much stronger than lead soldier. Silver’s antibacterial properties for humans makes it a superior alternative for toxic lead bonds between water pipes.

Photography-Silver is photosensitive and used in non-digital light capture photography.

And finally, …Nano Silver (a size of between 1 and 100 nanometers, a metric measurement) coating is used in food packaging and components of refrigerators.

There is the PAPER PRICE of Silver… and then there is the REAL price of Silver

Silver, because of its wide availability and use in alloy minted coins, is much more complicated than Gold in explaining what and how to buy, the weight, purity, grades of coins and value.

The Paper Price of Silver

As an example, I’ll use a ‘Spot’ Silver price of $23.50. That price is for ONE .999 pure Silver Troy Ounce. This “Spot Price” is ONLY for PAPER transactions on the US Commodities Futures Exchange (COMEX), bought in lots of 5,000 Troy Ounces or more. But the US Commodities Futures Exchange sets the daily SPOT Price for both the PAPER price of Silver and the REAL price for dealers, which is then used by Dealers as the BASIC buy/sell price of Silver for Precious Metal sales between themselves and buying/sales with other dealers and the public… without any premium or fees yet added.

The Real Price of Silver

Physical Precious Metal, always trades at something above that Spot Silver price. This is the price that you will pay to get real Silver into your hands that you can hold and touch… in the process, also paying some other costs such as shipping and Broker commissions.

This Paper Price versus Real Price is also involved with the price of Gold and other Precious Metals. But keep in mind, that the price above the Spot market (also known as the premium over Spot) can vary widely, day to day, and even hour to hour.

Junk Bags of Silver

“Junk Silver” by the Bag
(Courtesy of Canada-Gold-Buyers.com)

Investment in bulk United States minted Silver coin is usually made by “Junk Bag of Silver.” If you have what is called a Junk Bag of Silver, it would contain $1,000 Face Value (10,000 Dimes, 4,000 Quarters, 2,000 halves, or any combination that equals $1,000 Face Value), and your “Bag” would have 720 Troy Ounces of Silver, contained in the 90% Silver coins.

A Junk Bag of Silver that is all absolutely brand new, will cost considerably more than the coins that have been circulated amongst the public as used around for change. These Bags, weigh about 55 pounds, so are often split into two, or even four, to make it easier to carry and transport.

So, let’s consider what we can expect to pay, for Junk Silver Bags. Of course, a person can buy less than an entire Bag, but you will end up paying more per Troy Ounce.

The following examples, are from a couple months back, and are ONLY for teaching purposes. The markets change all too fast, to make these figures valid for more than an hour or two, at any given time.

Again, the cost is higher if a person wants to be specific in the type of coin they buy; in other words, Dimes only, Quarters only, Halves only. Even though all being equal, one-dollar Face Value equals one-dollar Face Value, if a person insists on buying ONLY Half-Dollars, you will pay more. If you say ONLY Quarters, you may pay more.

A ‘Junk Bag’ of “circulated” Silver coins, will overall, contain a few ounces less from Silver wearing off over the use of the coins than a brand-new Bag, and the Industry Dealer’s Standard Agreement, is that a circulated Bag will have AT LEAST 715 Troy Ounces of Silver in it. Only about five ounces are considered to have been lost to wear, in a total Bag’s weight from circulation wear.

Junk Bags of Silver coin REAL price calculations

Using a ‘Bag of Junk Silver’, the following examples will show… If Silver is trading in Chicago today (COMEX) at $23.50 per ounce, and you want to buy a circulated Bag of Junk Silver, the value of that Silver will be $23.50 X 715 Troy Ounces = $16,802.50 for the Bag.

However… US Precious Metals Dealers today (in the last months of 2021), are actually BIDDING $27.75 per ounce, X 715 = $19,841.25 (remember that number for a following example) $19,841.25!! Why???? Supply and demand. The same as EVERY other commodity on earth. So, if the Silver dealers want to pay a premium of $4.25 per ounce OVER the Spot Price market of Silver, what are they selling it for?

The Spot Price of Silver PLUS Premium over the Spot Price PLUS shipping PLUS Broker Commission EQUALS… your cost to buy Silver.

Again using $23.50 on the same day as the prior example, the US Silver dealers were, on average, asking $21,095.00 for that same Bag. Of course, the spread in the middle includes commissions and, in some cases, shipping. Often times, however, the buyer must pick up the shipping cost.

Understanding ‘Face Value’

“Face Value” is the same for Silver or ‘clad’ common metal coins. It means the value they add up to… like pulling 4 Quarters from your pocket (Clad or 90 percent Silver) and adding them up to equal one dollar (.25 + .25 + .25 + .25 = $1.00).

If we take one dollar “Face Value” of US 90% Silver coins, depending on whether they are absolutely brand new, or have been in circulation as change, we will have between .715 Troy Ounces to .720 Troy Ounces of Silver. Circulated coins have wear, which can vary between those two fractional numbers, and is calculated between Dealers as a variance of 5 Troy Ounces per Junk Bag of Silver.

Again, all Precious Metals are bought and sold using “Troy Ounce.” One Troy Ounce equals 31.103 grams per Troy Ounce. Remember this number. So, if you are holding one-dollar Face Value in Silver Dimes, it will equal 10 Dimes.

Four Quarters would also be one-dollar Face Value, as would two Half-Dollars and ANY combination of Dimes, Quarters, or Half-Dollars, used together can add up to one-dollar Face Value. Five Dimes and two Quarters equals one-dollar Face Value. One Half-Dollar and two Quarters equals one dollar. You get the idea.

The main thing to keep in mind regarding Junk Silver coins, is that they ARE NOT sold specifically at the Spot market price of Silver, per ounce. Nor are most other Silver investments. Again, when purchasing physical Silver, you will pay above and beyond that Spot Price, due to not only supply and demand, but also there has to be dealer commissions, shipping and refining, and other handling fees. With those added costs, that will be the final number you pay per ounce.

From these figures, you can also see that when someone asks the question, “how many times Face Value are you paying today?” In this case, it would be 19.84 times Face Value. ($19,841 for $1,000 Face Value). “How many times Face Value are you charging?” would then be 21.09 times Face Value ($21,090 for $1,000 Face Value of Silver coins).

Based on these figures, what would your cost be in purchasing a smaller lot, just say $100 Face Value (71.5 ounces of Silver contained in this quantity). You will pay more than if you purchased a larger amount.

The same principle as most commodities, the more you buy at one time, generally, the lower the cost. So, instead of paying 21.09 times Face Value, you would likely end up paying 23 times Face Value, or the same as if you bought a Bag for $23,000, which would be 23,000 divided by 715 or $32.16 per Troy Ounce of pure Silver contained in these coins.

Optional added costs of buying Junk Silver

Buying Silver coins of the same denomination… If a person said, well, “I ONLY want Half-Dollars,” you would expect to pay around $21,500, instead of the previous price of $19,841.25 for a Junk Silver Bag.

Buying Uncirculated or new coins… To buy BRAND NEW coins, Uncirculated by the ‘Junk Silver’ category, expect to add another $1,500 or MORE for a Junk Silver Bag for Uncirculated coins.

For the average investor, error on the side of caution and buy Silver ONLY in the form of American Government minted Silver coins that you can verify with another of the same type of coin that you know is really a genuine Silver coin of like.

Do not buy Silver bullion ingots, ‘Minted’ or not, regardless of how real and authentic they look in any shape or with any ‘explanation’ accompanying them… like a “recently discovered hidden treasure trove” …even if they have mint markings and serial numbers. Silver alloys well with many other metals and may look like Silver… but can be a fraction of the real value in ingots. Many people with their money invested in Silver ingots treasure these in safekeeping, yet don’t know they’re worth only a small fraction of the value of real Silver and what they paid for them. Even Silver bullion dealers have been taken by scam Silver ingot bullion. If it seems too good to be true… it probably is fake. If there is an ‘explanation,’ it is probably fake. Real Silver stands on its own in American Government minted coins.

Other authors, books and resources I recommend for Preparedness and Survival…

Matt Bracken at www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com

Joe Dolio at www.Tactical-Wisdom.com

Christopher Parrett at www.AVOW.com

Don Shift at https://www.amazon.com/Don-Shift/e/

NC Scout at www.Brushbeater.org

Johnny Paratrooper at… https://www.patreon.com/GreenDragonAcademy

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STAY TUNED FOR PART FOUR COMING OUT TOMORROW

The Author advises the Reader… that the Author, the Contributing Authors, Publisher, Copyright Holders, Website Administrators are not attorneys and some recommendations or actions in this book that the Reader takes may lead to loss… financial and otherwise. The Author, the Contributing Authors, Publisher, Copyright Holders The Author, the Contributing Authors, Publisher, Copyright Holders, Website Administrators will not be liable for situations that arise from the Reader’s interpretations of material in this essay/article/supplement, the Civil Defense Manual, the Reader’s instructions to others, the Reader’s actions or implementation of recommendations and information or misinformation from this book or essay/article/supplement… that leads to the Reader’s liability, loss of their money or that of others or any other damages. You’re all adults… behave as responsible, safe, compassionate, common sense, lawful adults. Verify your Federal, State and Local laws and ordinances before using the information in this book or essay/article/supplement. As an adult… make your decisions independent of advice, information or misinformation from the Civil Defense Manual and any and all essays/articles/supplements. Wear big people’s pants and live with the decisions you make as your decisions… made by your independent thinking mind… and don’t blame others for your mistakes or misfortune… and that includes us.