perth mint has run out of silver bars, page-48

you seem to have a change of thoughts bbloff

before you told me that I could solve the physical silver shortages by simply buying my physical from the miners at a higher price than spot.

you said

"Why can't you open an online shop tomorrow that does sell physical silver, at a higher than spot price, if demand does actually exist for it. I doubt you will have issues securing supply if you offer silver miners higher than spot/paper prices..'

I said
I cant just go and buy silver in physical form from a miner, their silver has to be refined and minted/cast into an acceptable form, these refiners/mints are the same ones that are having problems keeping up with demand now.

now you post

That's what I've been saying. It appears to be a capacity constraint with the refiners/mints.


My reply

So how was buying this unrefined metal from the miners going to work? It wasnt very well thought through idea.



"That's what I've been saying. It appears to be a capacity constraint with the refiners/mints.
If aluminium smelters hit capacity, that does not mean there's a shortage of aluminium. I understand the delays are inconvenient, but Perth mint has been around a long time, I don't think they're going to go under suddenly. All refineries/mints will be hedging 100%, it would be insane if they weren't, not to say insane things don't happen (Enron, for example..). Still, you'd have to be very unlucky, as only a very dodgy company would do this."

I will answer your last post point by point

It appears to be a capacity constraint with the refiners/mints.

Yes we agree, there is a capacity constraints at the mints and maybe refiners as well.

There is huge demand for physical silver now, this demand is being constrained by the lack of minting capacity, and also the unwillingness of those holding physical silver to sell at the current price.

Silver is not aluminium or steel, there are different dynamics at play.


"I understand the delays are inconvenient, but Perth mint has been around a long time, I don't think they're going to go under suddenly. All refineries/mints will be hedging 100%, it would be insane if they weren't, not to say insane things don't happen (Enron, for example..). Still, you'd have to be very unlucky, as only a very dodgy company would do this"

We silver buyers have been putting up with delays from the Perth mint and other mints for quite a while and yes they are inconvenient and frustrating.

I have no concerns of the Perth mint going under, but if you actually read my post, you would understand that I stated that the Perthmint had NO silver bars available to purchase or even order when I originally posted and the silver price was around $30Aud. You see its not just the delays that are inconvenient, its the inability to purchase or even order that is more inconvenient

What happens when you want to buy silver but the mint has none for sale and wont let you order any?

You turn to bullion dealers, some of these dealers will let you order products if they dont have any in stock. Most dealers that I look at and use have basically no stock on hand of most silver bullion products, but if you order payment is required up front when they are ordered. These dealers can be often one man operations and as such might not have adequate forms of insurance (hedging) with the current volatile bullion prices, and whilst I would not call them dodgy, whipsawing metals prices could cause some to go under, so yes I do feel at risk leaving my funds in their bank accounts for months on end whilst waiting for my order to be filled.


I personally really like The Perth mint bullion products, but I am now reticent to order their products due to these delays, as well as the Perth mints shipping costs and shipping policy.


cheers grant