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Coin shops usually charge a pretty hefty upcharge for transactions. The one that I dealt with for silver wanted $2 dollars an ounce above spot for a buy, and $1 dollar below spot for a sell.

This is true.
The coin shop has to be able to make money, and charging premiums is the only way to make sure that happens.
I try not to exchange money back into fiat, but, the one time I have done it, I used a coin shop to get money in hand that day. It worked out well for me at the time, as I purchased the 100ounce bar at 1800.00 Canadian, and sold it for 4300.00 USD.