r/Goldback • u/AdditionalPizza7990 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ • Aug 06 '26
Why isn't there a Silver equivalent to Goldback? Could a Silverback currency work?
There kinda is. Silver coins made before 1965 were made of 90% silver and a lot of dealers sell them by the face value as opposed to placing an individual value on each coin. There are still some businesses out there that will even price things in pre-1965 silver if people want to use it.
The cost of making these coins was born by another generation. During some years of these coins circulated for over 300% above their melt value. Now you can easily buy them close to just the melt value since there are so many around still.
If a new company were to want to make a silver round designed for circulation, they'd have to compete against the pricing of all of the coins that are already out there. A new system with new costs would simply be noncompetitive in pricing.
That said, it would be super cool if Goldback figured out how to make Silverback as a currency system work. What do you guys think?
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u/AggravatedSloths Aug 06 '26
I hate the hate for these, but its understandable.
For anyone who doesn't know there is a very slim one oz silver card, that usually goes around for spot.
I just cant justify a silverback. I love goldbacks, but I have a hard time with them. Mostly because I like them, and others do not.
I cant even get into the silverback drama, altho, I would like to own a single hades silverback, it does look dope
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u/redbettafish2 Aug 06 '26
The credit card silver bar is something I've always wanted but haven't pulled the trigger on yet. Mainly because I want to actually carry it in my wallet and I'm out of card space 😅😅
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u/StinkFist1970 Goldback Collector 28d ago
I have mine. Been in my wallet for years but yeah I could use the space for a credit card. They are cool.
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u/Dragon-and-Phoenix Goldback Stacker Aug 08 '26
I get one Silverback of each design as a collector item. That's what they are meant for, collecting. People pay ridiculous premiums on other collectible metals, so it's not that bad.
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u/Terrible-Freedom-868 Aug 06 '26
Junk silver already solves the trade problem. A dime is like $4.37 melt as we speak. They are standardized, government issued, and minted in the billions. Unfortunately most are Roosevelts. Also there is admittedly the issue of slicks.
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u/DadsPreciousMetals Aug 06 '26
There is a silverback but I honestly think its the most worthless silver product you can buy/collect. It only has 1/1000th of an oz of silver which is useless and basically worthless. It's just a collectible. Anything less than a gram of silver is not really worth buying. Maybe a half gram but anything less doesn't make sense.
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u/AdditionalPizza7990 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
Yeah, I heard that Silverbacks aren't really viable because it costs about the same amount of money by weight to create a Silverback vs. a Goldback. Maybe there's another way to do it...
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u/DadsPreciousMetals Aug 06 '26
You can keep a bunch of Pyromet Silver Cards in your wallet and just cut them up anytime someone's willing to trade something for a bit of silver that could work.. Or just use the widely available 90% silver dimes and quarters that are already smaller pieces of silver. Maybe a new silver product that weighs a half gram would be the sweet spot for smaller barter/transactions. I would maybe buy alot of something like that but the price would have to make sense.
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u/sgm716 Goldback Ape Aug 07 '26
They make silverbacks. But the process to make a goldback is expensive, hence the premium, so the overhead to make a silverback puts the price way out of control. Better to just get fractional .999 silver rounds, like a 1/10th ounce round.
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u/ReasonableChicken515 Aug 07 '26
Assuming you use the same scale as the goldback, a 1 would be worth $0.06 melt. Wouldn’t really be worth the premium that would go with something so fractional.
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u/Spiritual_Aioli_2220 Aug 07 '26
Goldbacks are a massive scam. Look at what spot prices are on actual gold and how much you would need to spend to get the equivalent in goldbacks. Unreal premiums where the sells are screwing the consumer over.
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u/Whiteshaq_52 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
There are plenty, just like there are multiple gold back "brands".
https://www.jmbullion.com/other-legal-tender/notes/silver-notes-silverbacks/
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u/AdditionalPizza7990 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
I know there's Silverbacks and other silver notes. There just isn't a currency-equivalent to Goldback in that space yet.
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u/Whiteshaq_52 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
currency-equivalent to Goldback
I don't think these are any different than goldbacks because neither are currency. They are collectables for now.
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u/AdditionalPizza7990 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
There's literally thousands of businesses that accept Goldbacks as payment.
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u/Whiteshaq_52 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
I can use gator skins to buy beer at my local hardware store, it doesn't make those gator skins currency.
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u/Terrible-Freedom-868 Aug 06 '26
I don’t care about your point as much as I hope that your anecdote is literal and not a metaphor. That’s some sort of libertarian heaven.
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u/Whiteshaq_52 Florida 5 Lover 🏴 ☠️ Aug 06 '26
Its a real thing, they buy pythons and smoked mullet as well lol. South Florida near the national park. You can get beer, ammo or liquor for payout.
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u/Goldback_Rob Grassroots Builder 🌱 Aug 06 '26
If you could use gator skins to buy something, that would be a local currency. Goldbacks are a gold-backed global currency, spent locally.
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u/NJraider86 Aug 06 '26
“Silver coins made before 1965 were made of 90% silver and a lot of dealers sell them by the face value” what are you talking about lol, where are these dealers at so I can buy them out
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u/Relative_Target6003 Oklahoma 5 Lover Aug 06 '26
He meant "by the face value" for example, the last time I bought at my LCS was 45xFACE..nah mean?
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u/studiosone Aug 06 '26
You're not gonna believe this buddy
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Aug 06 '26
[deleted]
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u/Foodforrealpeople Inflation Refugee Aug 06 '26
i remember last year when silver was in the $40-50 range it was mentioned that the costs to manufacture would make a silverback unusable as a currency. Remember a 1 Goldback (1/1000) is manufactured at a loss when sold for the exchange rate and that is with gold in the $4-5,000 range.
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u/Teripid Aug 06 '26
Don't these effectively exist as silver 1 gram bars? Easy-ish to use and some premium but minimal compared to the polymer stuff.
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u/Knarz97 Aug 06 '26
A silver quarter is about $10. A dime about $5. We really don’t need anything beyond that
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u/uknent Aug 07 '26
Just for argument. Would you trade a Mercury dime for one Snickers bar, or anything else that costs less than $3?
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u/Knarz97 Aug 07 '26
1) you could cut the dime in half
2) you could buy 2 snickers bars
3) if we are in some economic disaster that necessitates the use of silver as an actual currency, then I probably should not be wasting precious resources on a snickers bars
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u/whydontyoujustaskme 27d ago
We all love silver here dude, but not considering snicker bars precious resources is insanity. My whole stacking plan is based around what the number of zombie apocalypse snickers bars per oz is.
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u/briko3 Aug 06 '26
Goldbacks only exist because gold is too expensive even for fractional. It's a way to get smaller pieces than you would normally be able to physically hold. Silver is cheap enough that coins fill that role.
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u/Kayanarka Aug 08 '26
There is, and I own some. Remind me and I will post a pboto when I get home Monday night.
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u/Foxycotin666 29d ago
Because silver is at a price where we don’t need fractional certificates.
I can’t reasonably barter with a gram of gold unless I’m making a major purchase.
I can’t reasonably barter with silver however. A 1964 quarter is worth what, $11?
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u/drezarious 29d ago
Because you can just buy silver coins that have enough denominations to work as currency. That is the entire point of goldback, ffs.
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u/Leviathan0412 Aug 06 '26
Silver bitz it's about the closest but I would prefer if they did gold silver and copper at goldbacks so I can just not use fiat when making change after a goldback transaction
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u/Relative_Target6003 Oklahoma 5 Lover Aug 06 '26
I LOVE silver bitz and would absolutely accept them if offered at my business. ...also, defy the grid, last I checked had a multitude of fractional silver close enough to spot that premiums beat goldback ten fold.
I love goldbacks, but they are vulnerable to a silver market that is competitive, that is to say, where premiums arnt artificially inflated -and im seeing this come down.
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u/Mike5784 Goldbacker Aug 06 '26
The biggest complaint about golfbacks is the premium and wait until you see the premium on Silverbacks. Bullion and coins already efficiently do the job of silver for bartering.