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HSBC, Bank of Nova Scotia & Deutsche Bank Win Dismissal of Silver Price Manipulation Litigation

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The litigation began in 2014 with the government accusing the banks of being involved in a multi-bank trading conspiracy to manipulate the price of silver.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan dismissed the case against HSBC and Bank of Nova Scotia.

In 2016, Deutsche Bank settled with the government for $38M in 2016, and then another $130M in 2021.

In one of the settlements, it’s alleged that the price fixing by Deutsche began as early as 1999 and continued for more than a decade.

In the Deutsche Bank case, two traders were sentenced to prison terms for their involvement in the manipulation of silver prices. Their sentences were affirmed in January when their appeals to the Supreme Court were rejected. Each was sentenced to served only 1 year plus one day.

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Which dealers sell silver at spot price deals?

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silver at spot price deals

The best deal is when you’re able to buy silver at spot price. In the past there were often three or four dealers that regularly offered spot price deals. The offers were primarily a means of attracting new customers.

Silver spot price deals are an incentive for new customers to buy silver from a dealer that they may not have bought from before.

The silver at spot price deals are special offers targeted at attracting new customers. Acquiring a new customer by offering a spot price deal allows a dealer to show new customers that they provide better service and at a better price than their competition.

Silver at Spot Price Deals Are Good for Dealers and Buyers

For people that buy silver, the silver at spot price deals allow them to buy from a new dealer without the risk of high premiums. Silver buyers and investors are always looking for the best deal, especially as dealer premiums from the largest dealers continue to rise.

Smaller dealers that offer a silver at spot price deals use it as a way to earn the trust of a new customer. Showing a new customer the quality of their customer service, allows the dealer the opportunity to contact that customer after the first transaction to show the customer that they offer better pricing than the big guys.

Dealers with Silver Spot Price Deals

A comprehensive list of Silver Spot Price Deals is available on our website. Most of those offers have yet to return. Some of the historical spot price deals that were popular prior to the start of the pandemic.

  • SilverGoldBull – 10 oz Silver Bar at Spot Price, limited to one per household
  • BGASC – 5 oz Silver Bar at Spot Price – One bar at spot price can be added on to each order. This offer is not limited to one per household.
  • SD Bullion – 1 oz Silver Round at Spot Price, limited to one per household
  • Provident Metals – (10) 1 oz Silver Prospector Rounds at Spot Price, limited to one order per household
  • JM Bullion – (10) 1 oz Silver Rounds at Spot Price. The JM Bullion Silver Starter Pack is limited to one per household
  • BOLD Precious Metals – Offers two different spot price deals for new customers. Only one offer can be redeemed at spot price.
  • Monument Metals – (10) 1 oz Silver Rounds at Spot Price, limited to one order per household

Several times per year other dealers will offer flash sales of silver at spot price as a way to move excess inventory. FindBullionPrices.com keeps track of when the dealers offer silver spot price deals.

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Numerous Criminal Convictions Proves Precious Metals Price Manipulation

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As controversy and scandal continues to plague the LBMA and banks affiliated with the bullion trading cartel, the Eurasian Alliance is pushing for the creation of a new bullion trading system that offers a new pricing infrastructure to help facilitate emerging markets.

The most recent scandal at the LBMA includes the criminal conviction of former Board Member and JP Morgan Chase Managing Director Michael Nowak.

JP Morgan Chase is one of the largest private custodians of gold and other precious metals in the world for both private investors and many governments.

In managed vaults located in London, New York and Singapore, the bank reportedly holds gold valued in the tens of billions of dollars. (Bloomberg)

In 2020, as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department, JP Morgan Chase entered into an agreement with the government that they operated two distinct schemes of fraud.

The first fraud scheme that JP Morgan Chase admitted to operating involved tens of thousands of documented futures trades for silver and gold contracts across the various markets that JP Morgan Chase participated in.

The second fraud scheme involved thousands of instances of unlawful trading in the markets for U.S. Treasury futures contracts and in the secondary (cash) market for U.S. Treasury notes and bonds.

JP Morgan Chase paid a record fine of close to one billion dollars to the SEC to settle the case. Criminal charges were brought separately against numerous executives and directors, including Nowak, which led to his resignation as an LBMA Board Member.

During the criminal trial, prosecutors proved that Nowak, along with a group of other senior executive within the precious metals trading desk routinely spoofed orders and manipulated the prices of commodities across global trading markets. (BullionStar)

Nowak helped to provide the bank with significant profits by spoofing precious metals trades along with a handful of other senior executives who have also been convicted, pled guilty or are still awaiting trial.

Several investigations into the Precious Metals Trading Desk that began during the previous decade failed to find any wrongdoing at the time leading to some speculation about corruption within the ranks of the SEC and other regulatory agencies responsible for oversight of trading practices.

Since the year 2000, JP Morgan Chase has paid more than $36 billion in fines for violating banking laws in the United States. (GoodJobsFirst)

In recent years, JP Morgan Chase has admitted to being a criminal enterprise which has bilked millions from investors and governments by manipulating the prices of both commodities and US Treasury Bonds.

A similar spoofing ring was also operating at Deutsche Bank from at least 2007 until 2015 which resulted in criminal convictions and prison sentences for several. (Justice.gov)

Executives from Bank of America / Merrill Lynch were recently convicted in a separate spoofing scheme that operated from at least 2008 until 2014.

Numerous other traders and executives from various investment banks have pled guilty to similar charges related to manipulating the prices of gold, silver and platinum since 2015.

While numerous key individuals have been brought to justice, the leaders of these organizations continue to be rewarded with gigantic bonuses for operating criminal enterprises that helped to manipulate the world economy into a recession.

These are just a few examples of how widespread the corruption that has become integrated into the corporate bureaucracy that helps to justify the creation of an alternative market for precious metals.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance from Russia forwarded a proposed new international standard for the precious metals market that would normalize the functioning of the industry.

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Why does silver sell above spot price?

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comex silver bars in warehouse

An explanation of silver premiums

Spot price is the paper trading price for a COMEX futures contract of 5,000 troy ounces of silver.

One way to think about it is like barrels of oil. A barrel of crude oil contains 42 US gallons and is trading at around $65 per barrel, or roughly $1.57 per gallon.

So why is the price of gas at my local gas station higher than $1.57 per gallon?

There is a markup that comes at each step in the supply chain before it reaches the consumer.

Let’s say that a private mint like Scottsdale Mint buys a 5,000 ozt contract from COMEX and takes delivery.

There are costs to take delivery of the raw product, including transportation, security, settlement costs, etc.

The delivery will most likely consist of five 1,000 ozt bars.

The next step is to cut up a 1,000 ozt into pieces that can be melted down or to feed into an extrusion line.

Labor costs, cost to operate the furnace, equipment costs, etc.

Once the bar is in liquid form it can then be poured into molds to form bars. Or if the mint is using extrusion, into sheets or extruded bars, etc.

After that it needs to be weighed and stamped or pressed then packaged up to be sent to wholesalers or retailers.

The wholesaler will need to pay the mint for the manufacturing costs plus their profit and the cost of transportation from the mint to the wholesalers warehouse or depository.

The wholesaler then incurs costs to warehouse the metal, employ people to take orders, and pack and ship to retailers.

The retailer will pay for the metal plus the profit margins the wholesaler needs, the transportation costs from the wholesaler to their warehouse, depository or retail store.

Then the retailer has overhead costs. Rent, employees, utilities, etc.

They also need to make a profit if they are going to stay in business.

Each step along the supply chain adds additional cost.

These costs are all factored into the premium, which is why it costs more than spot price to buy silver.

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How to get the Best Silver Prices

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Many beginning and seasoned veteran precious metals investors ask the question: How Can I Get the Best Silver Prices?

For many, browsing numerous websites of online dealers and comparing the prices of similar products is way they’ve been doing it for years.

Take for example the price of 2019 American Silver Eagle coins. The typical premium over spot price can vary from $3 to over $5 per coin. With the spot price of silver hovering around $15 per troy ounce, the markup is 20-30%.

When you compare that to generic 10 oz Silver Bars, the premium that dealers charge over spot price ranges from around 70 cents to $2.00 per troy ounce. The dealer premium over spot price range for 10 oz Silver Bars is much lower, only around 4.5% to 13%.

Investing in silver, gold and other precious metals is typically seen as a long term investment or hedge against inflation. While the price of silver and gold is likely to rise over time the premium that you pay when you buy is difficult to recapture down the road when it becomes time to sell.

Sovereign coins, such as Silver Eagles and Canadian Silver Maple Leafs, that are government backed, often retain some of their premium on the secondary market. Even though the price of silver can swing dramatically over the course of a year, waiting until you’ve recaptured the premium you paid over spot price can feel like an eternity.

Finding the lowest premium over spot price is the single most important factor that investors use in making purchasing decisions. FindBullionPrices.com compares the dealer premiums across all of the major online bullion dealers in a single place.

We pull prices from bullion dealer websites’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide investors with the information they need to make purchase decisions at the time they are ready to buy silver.

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Compare Premiums to Determine Which Silver Dealer Has the Best Price

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shipping silver bullion

When you buy silver and gold bullion from online dealers the pricing displayed on their websites can be confusing. It can sometimes be hard to tell if you’re getting a good deal or not.

All bullion dealers, whether online or a local coins shop, price their bullion relative to the spot price of the precious metals. The price the dealer charges over spot price is called the dealer premium.

The only way to know whether or not you’re getting the best price when you buy precious metals online is to compare the dealer premiums over spot price.

Comparing dealer premiums for a particular item, whether it’s the latest American Silver Eagle coins, 10 oz silver bars, or Pre-1933 gold coins, can be a tedious and time consuming job. Looking for the same item across multiple dealer websites takes time.

FindBullionPrices.com provides tools to help simplify the process for buying silver and gold bullion from online dealers. We pull the latest prices from many trusted and reputable bullion dealer websites for over 300 unique products.

Each product listing is designed to make it easier to decide which dealer has the best deal when you buy bullion online. The product listings display the current spot price, including the melt value for each item. The current price the dealer is selling an item for is displayed, along with the calculated dealer premium over the melt value.

For each product we try to show as many dealers as possible that are selling a particular gold or silver coin. Dealer inventories can change quickly so we may not always show every dealer that is selling a particular item, though we try to do the best we can.

Shipping Charges and the Myth of Free Shipping

Many online bullion dealers offer free shipping when you place an order over a certain dollar amount. For a lot of bullion dealers, the free shipping threshold is that orders over $99 ship for free. The cost of the shipping is generally included in the dealer premiums.

Several online bullion dealers offer free shipping for all orders regardless of the dollar value of the order. These dealers typically have much higher premiums per item to cover the shipping costs.

Still, there are other dealers that are more transparent in their pricing and cost structure. They may not offer free shipping at all, or have a higher minimum order dollar value threshold for offer free shipping.

As silver and gold bullion are commodities, market conditions dictate the price trend which affects the price you pay. As with any business, each dealer has different levels of overhead, operating costs and desired profit margins.

Some online bullion dealers prefer high volume with lower margins while others may charge a heavy premium, especially when purchasing lower quantities or lower order values.

The top trusted and reputable online bullion dealers willing to compete on both service and price, who are interested in establishing long-term stacker customers that will continue to buy from them on an ongoing basis, are the dealers will to compete on price and provide the best customer service.

Payment Methods and Types

Our dealer listings section has a page that shows the payment methods accepted by dealer accepts and displays information regarding the shipping policies, minimum order value thresholds for free shipping and more.

Virtually all online bullion dealers accept credit cards, checks and wire transfers for payment. Dealers that accept credit cards and PayPal as payment methods typically incur a fee for each transaction. The fee that credit card companies and PayPal charges the dealer are typically 3% to 4% of the dollar value of the order. These fees are included in the cost.

Online bullion dealers often display on their product pages two or three different prices. Dealers will usually display the Cash Price and the Credit Card/PayPal price, and some dealers may display a third category that have begun accepting BitCoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment.

Paying the Cash Price for Silver & Gold Bullion

The lowest price is the Cash Price. The Cash Price when you buy gold or silver from an online dealer represents the equivalent to walking into the store and paying cash. This is obviously not possible when making an online transaction, so this price also often represents the price if you were to mail a check to the dealer, use an e-check option or perform a wire transfer.

Some  credit card companies and payment processors have requirements that forbid merchants from charging a fee for accepting credit cards as a payment method. Online bullion dealers get around this by offering the items for sale at a Credit Card/PayPal price that is typically 3% to 4% higher than the Cash Price. While the Cash Price is often referred to as a discounted price for using Cash, Check, e-Check or wire transfer as a payment method.

 

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Where is the best place to Buy Silver online?

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buy silver

A lot of first time investors that are getting their feet wet in precious metals are often curious about where is the best place to buy silver online?

There isn’t a simple answer on where to Buy Silver online because there are many trusted and reputable bullion dealers.

When looking to Buy Silver online it’s always best to buy as close to spot price as possible. The amount you pay above spot price is commonly referred to as the dealer’s premium. This is the profit the dealer makes from selling silver.

The lower the dealer premium that you pay when you Buy Silver online will maximize the return on your precious metals investment down the road.

Some online bullion dealers are known for keeping their premiums low. Just because you might be able to buy silver from one dealer cheaper than another doesn’t mean that there will be problems or issues down the road. Especially if you stick with trusted and reputable online bullion dealers.

FindBullionPrices.com tracks the prices of over 300 distinct silver and gold bullion products across over 25 trusted and reputable online bullion dealers. When shopping for precious metals online we help you find the cheapest place to buy silver and gold bullion.

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Sales of American Eagle gold and silver coins drop to 11 year low

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best place to buy American Silver Eagles online

According to sales data released by the U.S. Mint this week, sales of both American Silver Eagle (ASE) and American Gold Eagle (AGE) coins were down in 2018.

According to sales data, the U.S. Mint sold 245,500 ounces of Gold Eagle bullion coins during 2018. This was down from 302,500 ounces in 2017 and 985,000 in 2016.

Silver Eagle bullion coin sales dropped in 2018 as well. In 2018, the U.S. Mint sold 15,700,000 one-ounce Silver Eagle bullion coins. This was down from 18,065,500 in 2017 and 37,701,500 in 2016.

Silver Eagle bullion coins are sold to dealers in 500 coin Monster Boxes. Many precious metals dealers that are still holding onto 2018 dates coins have lowered the premiums to as low as $2.20 per coin, which is only 20 cents more than the premium charged by the U.S. Mint.

Additional information can be found in this Reuters article and via the U.S. Mint Production Sales Figures.

Overall, the spot price of gold ended 2018 with a 2.1% loss, the spot price of silver lost 9.7% throughout the year.

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SD Bullion Silver at Spot Price Deal

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The SD Bullion Silver at Spot Price Offer is for a single 10 oz silver bar at spot price.

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10 oz Proclaim Liberty Silver Bar Features

  • Contains 10 troy ounces of .999 fine silver
  • Features the iconic Liberty Bell on side one
  • Boasts the Constitution of the United States on side two
  • Minted by the world-renowned Republic Metals Corporation
  • Ships in a protective, plastic sleeve
  • Approved for Precious Metals IRA’s

Use the code SILVER23 after you add the Proclaim Liberty silver bar to your cart to update the pricing to silver at spot price.

Take advantage of this limited time opportunity to buy silver at spot price with no premium. Add to your silver stack at the best price possible, place your order today!

This is a limited time offer, and limited to one bar per household/shipping address/customer account.

See our Silver at Spot Price Deals page to see a comprehensive list of all of the available spot price offers from trusted and reputable online bullion dealers.

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Silver Gold Bull Silver at Spot Price Deal

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silver at spot price deals

Silver Gold Bull Silver Spot Price Offer

The Silver Gold Bull silver at spot price deal includes a 10 oz Silver Bar that is custom minted by Sunshine Minting.

The obverse of the bar contains the Silver Gold Bull logo with a charging bull and the words “999 Fine Silver 10 Ounces”.

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The reverse of the bar contains Silver Gold Bull logo and the words “Build your wealth in ounces” with the bull logo ghosted in the background.

For a limited time buy this 10 oz silver bar right at spot price through the SilverGoldBull.com Website. Your order will ship for free with full insurance and tracking.

Every silver investor dreams of being able to buy their silver at spot price, and for a limited time we are giving you the opportunity to invest in our new 10 oz silver bar at spot price. This bar has been produced by Sunshine Minting, the world’s largest and most reputable private refiner of precious metals. The bar features a variety of finishes with our bull logo ghosted in the background on the back of the bar.

Take advantage of this limited time opportunity to buy silver at spot price with no premium. Add to your silver stack at the best price possible, place your order today!

This is a limited time offer, and limited to one bar per household/shipping address/customer account.

See our Silver at Spot Price Deals page to see a comprehensive list of all of the available spot price offers from trusted and reputable online bullion dealers.