Afternoon everyone…..
Stacking can be overwhelming for beginners….
There are so many types of items to buy. You have bars, rounds, semi-numismatic coins, collector coins, proof coins, numismatic coins, and constitutional coins. But which one is right for you……
Owning your own countries constitutional silver is a good idea in case of emergency. Whether it’s a bullion issued coin, or old silver coins from circulation. These will be your best bet in any emergency issue.
But….
Well anyone reading this post I assume has already taken the biggest step and have started stacking silver, gold or both. But there really is more to it then that when it comes to what you are stacking.
I’ve been collecting/stacking for just about forty years now, and this it what I have learned in that time during many different scenarios that have occurred during it.
First off I’ve learned to diversify my collecting/stacking. Since I was a collector well before a stacker, my mindset early on was completely different. But I’ll go over that scenario as well.
Here is why I have diversified my stack….
Buying any random silver coin regardless of its actual silver content (junk silver) is all well and good. But there is one reason it’s good and one reason it’s not really good at all. If you are stacking your countries constitutional silver (junk silver), then during a time of need to sell or barter with it will benefit you. Why because it’s easily recognizable by everyone. But if your stack is all random world silver coins, you will have much more difficulty using them this way. One because each country has a different percentage of silver in their coins. Not only that but most local coin shops will only give you roughly 80% of the silver value for them.
Why?
Because they are going to sell them to a smelter/refiner for 85-90% of spot immediately. They will not hold onto foreign coins to try and sell unless they are in collectible condition, which most junk silver coins are not in.
Being a collector at heart I’m not a big fan of stacking junk silver. But I do have what I consider enough for a situation like I described above. Again if you are stacking your countries junk silver it is fine.
Ten ounce bars are the hardcore stackers go to item. One ounce rounds, one ounce bars are fine but take up a lot of space and silver gets very bulky as you get further in your stacking journey. These are also very easy to sell when the time arises. Ten ounce bars take up about 60% of my stack. They are my go to buy in silver, big enough to add up quickly, easy to store, easy to sell. I keep these on hand as well to use when the gold to silver ratio gets to where I’ll do a swap. These will always sell for spot minimum, some will sell for higher.
Now for government issued bullion coins. Meaning American Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs, British Brittanias, etc. These sell for much higher premiums then generic bars and rounds. They are a must for any serious stacker. But here is the pros and cons about them. The premiums on them right now are to high for me to buy them, that’s my personally opinion. But I’ve bought them for years at $1.50-$2.00 over spot, so I’m not paying the $5 plus for an ASE I’ve got enough at that price.
The pros to having government issued bullion is that it will sell ALWAYS!!! And you will recuperate some of the premium back when you sell them.
Unless….
The silver price goes ape shit!!!!! I have lived through two spikes of the silver price over $40 an ounce. When silver spikes like that there is no difference in price for generic or ASE’s. I sold quite a bit of silver while it was on its way to $48 last time. I started selling at $45 thinking that was the top. I was close but you never want to wait till the peak, people stop buying. I sold both generic and government issued bullion, at three different LCS’s. They all bought my silver at $1 over spot it didn’t matter as long as it was .999 fine silver.
But if you need to sell at a non peak time government issued bullion does sell better and for more money.
Now to touch on collector coins. I don’t mean modern day semi numismatic coins. I mean historical collector coins in good condition or are rare. These coins sell for way over there metal content price. Why buy these? Because you can make WAY more money on them then waiting for the metal prices to run.
Most of my collection is worth more then double what I bought it at currently. It’s very rare that quality collector coins don’t appreciate in value. But you do need to have some knowledge in them. You can always start with graded versions to know what a quality coin looks like.
Here are some of my American Silver Eagles….
If you have any questions I’ll answer anything that I can….