I live on the west side and am at least 3 hours from Seattle. I am about half way between Seattle and Portland.
Why would I want to buy from a coin shop? From my rookie research it sounds to me like a good place to get ripped off.
I am coin roll hunting as well as metal detecting. They are both just hobbies. I do want to get some silver only as a bottom line protection to survive the collapse of paper money and clad.
Grumps, you don't have to get ripped off by coin shops. Just decide what you want to pay ahead of time. There is a dealer near me where I have bought Morgan dollars and have got a decent deal. I would never sell to this dealer tho.
I have bought volume junk silver coin from another dealer (when melt was lower), and got a good deal, right around melt value. You just have to shop around.
I have noticed private buyers on Craigslist trying to rip people off @ 7-8 X face, while local dealers and other buyers are offering 12-13 X face. ffd