Buying Junk Silver?

[osan]

Does anyone buy "junk silver" on a regular basis as an investment or SHTF scenario? I like the coins instead of bullion because they're familiar to people and it looks like they're easy to sell. I also just think they're more interesting.

I bought some pre-1965 quarters, dimes and silver dollars recently off eBay. It's been more of a curiosity since I found the silver dollars my grandma gave me when I was a kid. So I don't really consider it a real investment right now, just something I hope preserves its value and can give it away to kids in the family as gifts. My main concern is it doesn't look like it will ever be legal to melt down the coins for profit.

I'm satisfied with what I have right now but I might buy a little bit every other month going forward. Any pitfalls or recommendations to doing this?

I buy things like sterling spoons when I can get them cheaply. I also have a fair to middling collection of "junk" fountain pens. Besides my calligraphic proclivities, shops sell them cheaply, particularly when they are not complete. Most of them have 14K-18K nibs, the values of which are substantially higher than the $5-$10 I pay for them.

Another SHTF commodity to have on hand is tobacco... and ammo.

If I had a vagina, I'd be set.