I've searched and read through a few of threads, but the answer to this question seems to change as time goes on and it is certainly different for different people. I'm interested to get an idea of what everyone stacks and why. It seems rounds like the Scottsdale Omnia can be stacked for very close to spot, which seems like a no brainer. But as a round there seem to be certain drawbacks, such as seemingly easier to fake and very little potential for numismatic gains. Lunar coins have a different design each year and can have a numismatic value depending on which design is popular when it comes time to sell. Some years may have no numismatic value at all. Koalas seem to have no love. Kooks are very popular and have a different design each year, as well as a limited mintage, although this limit has been flexible in recent years. World coins like Pandas, ASE, Maples, Libertads etc all seem to have a premium in Australia, I'm assuming the transit cost. That's just considering the 1oz coins. Other questions include are bigger coins at closer to spot worth the liquidity trade off? Or are fractionals at a premium worth considering? So which is it? If you could only stack one sort which would it be? I'll kick it off, I'm leaning toward 1oz Kooks. I like that you can get the current year at a small premium, they are legal currency, easily recognisable, and have semi-numismatic value as each year is unique.
5oz lunars. Less premium, no liquidity problem at all (ie - there is no liquidity trade off), good numi potential. Edit to add: Oh, and one libertad for the boobies.
1oz Lunars for premium potential. Pandas have similar attributes, but the mintages are getting bigger.
only one ? carded roos - but you have to pay a high premium to get them why? low mintages - especially after 2000 - and high collector appeal
No takers on all those silly coins with the glued-on rhinestones? I agree with the carded Roos. They carry knockout premiums in my area (if+when you can even find them, which is rare).
2oz coins! The 2oz Kookaburra coins got dropped at the end of 2009! Perth missed out on a fantastic opportunity to continue with 2oz kooks but due to lack of leadership and the lack of forsight they missed out on massive sales as is evident by Perth's mintage pdf docs. http://www.perthmint.com.au/investment-bullion-bars-and-coins-mintages.aspx Perth are hog tied by the lack of resources from their board of directors (Dead Wood) to streamline and.. procure the resources to produce outcomes commensurate with what consumers want. Basically, the CEO does not have the capacity or skill to amalgamate and streamline Perth into one fluid organization! The only silver 2oz bullion coin produced by Perth is the lunar coin. The only silver 5oz bullion coin produced by Perth is the lunar coin. It's a no brainer what to buy.
Most of my Stack are Canadian Wildlife Series, but have an almost complete set of Pandas, Brittanias a bunch of 2012 ASE's and Libertads. I have to admit I'm looking at either the Kookaburras or Britannias (Providing quality control improves on the UK coins) as they change. Pandas too much supply in future, ASE, Maple and Philharmonic too dull, Libertads intermittent on supply - I can't guarantee they will be available when I have spare cash to invest. If RCM came up with a new set I'd probably go for that too but I can't separate the wheat from the chaff as they issue too many different coins and buying them outside Canada/US is a pain.
Man, travlegall, the RCM blows big bags of poop with their notorious white spots on every coin I bought from them (100's), and have since sold. I had maples, bears, cougars, antelope, and sold all, minus the premium, since they love their coins with white spots, and don't mind charging a premium. Ick. Okay, I digress. I love the 1 oz kooks. Just love them for their low mintage, changing of the brid every year, their semi-numismatic value, and at the end of the day, only 87,000 sets can be made up, because that's how many 2002's there are. So, I continue to stack all years costing between 32 - 39. Although, I did just buy a roll of 20 PM stick horses.
I can't get Kookaburras in bulk from my usual dealer who is offshore. I'd get them through somebody like AMPEX but they are a pain to deal with in the UK, and seem to think that my coins need to travel transatlantic on their own seat in 1st Class. The other US Coin companies are either deluded to price, unable to deal with bulk buyers or think outside the US and Canada there are Sea Monsters, Dragons and a great big cliff they fall off if they try to do business. What I'll have to do is get them shipped to a buddy in the States who is a lawyer and then pick them up every couple of years and bring them back manually and legal according to my travel allowance (avoiding the 20% I get stung with). It sounds like a pain but as I'm in the US every couple of years or my buddy is over here it isn't as much of a pain as you would think. Re your point on Milk Spotting. True but they have greatly increased in value. I've set myself a hard target of 26 of each and then I'm onto something else. 25 to sell and one set to keep myself.
Kooks are nice, reasonably low mintages at the moment, and the design changes each year. Also the Lunar series, and some Chinese Pandas. I would stack those 3, although I know you said only 1. lol.
If ever you need help with the kooks, I'd be more than happy. I've bought almost a 1000 (plus) kooks at APMEX. Their prices, and more importantly, the ability to buy in bulk is like no other place I've been able to find, unfortunately. As far as RCM wildlife going up in value...perhaps. But when I sold mine on eBay, AND disclosed that they have spots, trust me, on paper it may look like they've gone up in a value, but you won't get that premium if you disclose spotting, which everyone should, because it is the right thing to do. Heck, even apmex has coins listed under wildlife series: spotted coins (at a significant reduced price!!). Sorry, but the RCM sucks. And their attitude about the problem is even worse. I boycotted them long ago!
Hi Travelgall, I am from the UK as well. coininvestdirect have kooks, they are a bit expensive at the moment as I guess the 2013 is coming to an end, and the 2014 will be out soon. But I think normally there prices are good. I get stuff shipped to someone in Germany, and then to the UK so the VAT is 7% and all legal. What is the travel allowance for us Brits on bringing silver back from countries like the US etc? I ordered some bars from the Guernsey mint and was hit with a 20% import VAT. But what if I were to visit Guernsey, could I legally bring an allowance of silver back? Or would I have to declare it?
Oopsie!! LOL. After seeing the fake ones this morning, I confused them with sticks, because for sure I thought I got a stick across the head.
Actually, I will correct this and say just the Kooks and Lunar series. Because I checked the mintage's for the Chinese Pandas and it said 8million. I didn't realise they were so high!
Couldn't agree more Chris. Luckily I bought 100 oz of the 2012, but even then, you're looking at 3 million, I think. I'm done with the Pandas too. Maybe some collectibles or earlier years, but no more bullion. I noticed some spotting on a few of the 2012/2013 series. I think with the increase volume, it is hard to keep quality controls in check. Hence, why going forward it is only the lunar series and kooks I will go after. I know you like the Koala. Haven't gone for those, they mint to meet demand. 2011 had nearly 1 million minted, and I'm sure 2013 will be more. I hope to God they stick with 500,000 on the yearly kook series. By the way, those Stock Horses are not going like hot cakes online. . Oh, and no code from that other dude selling them for 55.00. I knew he was yanking the chain.
barsenault: 2012 kooks were 500,000. The 2013 are 1million. But 1million in my opinion is still a small number and great for investment. As the amount of people collecting coins has increased a lot. I will be buying 1 Panda of each year for my personal collection. But for long term bulk investment I think I might go down the Kooks and Lunar and Horses for semi numismatic plays. And the 1kg Perth Mint coins / whatever silver is nice but also cheap, at the moment Noah's ark 1oz coins, but haven't got any of those yet. So I will have a mixture of semi numismatic coins (the majority of my stuff.) Will be Kooks, Lunar, and Horses. and some cheaper bullion coins and bars (which I will purchase only whilst prices are low) 1kg coins, koalas, other 1oz coins etc etc. That's my plan. But if I could only stack one: The Kook I think. Premiums close to bullion products and also semi numismatic.
http://www.perthmint.com.au//docume...ra_Silver_Bullion_Coin_Series_1990_-_2013.pdf Says 1million? Was that going to be the original mintage and then they decided to keep it at 500k because of complaints?
I think it was because of complaints. There may be more behind the story not sure...price decline. But they stopped dead in their tracks and went back to 500,000. I hope they keep it at 500,000. If I had one, it would be the kook, for the same reasons...and I think more and more folks will think like us...perhaps driving up cost. But m fine with that, as long as the mintage stays low.