I tried the $250 silver/gold crate. I received 5.5 ounces of silver coinage and a 1 gram gold bar. The value total was around $232 which is fair as it comes out to just 18 for the premium plus postage. And you do have to consider with coins the numismatic value in addition to the spot value. It would be challenging to find lower premiums with the variety. Only one con I see with this process - When you set a dollar amount there are challenges to meeting close to that range. For example, a 250 gold crate would sometimes net you a 1/10 oz coin but other times they may have to give you a 2.5 gram bar and a silver coin to make up the difference. In those cases I would prefer to cough up the extra 10 bucks and buy a coin to avoid the smaller gold bars but you would have to go through the extra work of finding a retailer that sells with minimal premium. It can be done but it will take you a bit of searching to do.