Hey there everyone out there, Just abit about me Im located in Sydney, Australia. Ive been lurking for a couple of days and have been really interested in 'stacking' as you all call it. I would like to own some precious metals just for the sake of holding something heavy, starting off with silver. I just had a few questions before i start my stacking journey. 1) First off just some terms and concepts i have come across, i do not understand what 'fiat' means, ive tried search and google comes up with the car. 2)Secondly it appears that precious metals are traded for their 'spot' value, however a premium is charged on top depending on the form of the bullion, what is smallest but with little or no premium, if any? 3)Are dealers and/or the mint overpriced, and should they be avoided? 4)I dont understand the different pricing from 'dealers' compared to the mint, given that the mint actually produces the product, if and how are 'dealers' cheaper? 5)Is there any recommended physical retail places to purchase precious metals without getting ripped of? And just a few conclusions: Im not a big fan of online shopping so i do prefer to physically buy things, to avoid overheads such as shipping and the hassles of waiting around for it. I will be watching the sales section for things that might interest me, and would probably prefer f2f. I plan on attending this months sydney meet at ryde in hopes of learning more and even starting my stack, hope to see and meet a few of you guys there.
Hi and welcome to the forum! Fiat - paper currency Well for a start, premiums get lesser when you buy in bigger sizes I.e 1000 oz. If you were in Perth, you could do well just walking into Perth Mint and buying direct, especially for older style bars. Plenty of stackers in Sydney who could deal f2f.
thanks everyone for the warm welcomes and swift replies. i guess online buying is the way to go. also i have some scrap gold/old jewellery, how can i go about trading them? how do i calculate its value, is it simply spot price times the weight of the purity? or is it easier to simply pawn them off or sell elsewhere?
Welcome! If you want small, and low to no premium you will probably have to buy 'junk' silver, which is predecimal coinage and not pure silver, cheapest you are likely to find though, as little as 70 cents for a 3p coin. Even imaginary (unallocated) silver has $2 an oz premium and you don't get to hold it. Be prepared to be disappointed though, holding something heavy is going to cost you, 10oz bars look big in the pictures but they are small, and not very heavy at all. Even 1kg silver bars are not exactly as big as the silver ingots you see in films, and nothing can prepare you for the disappointment when you gold coins turn up and they are really tiny! A bag of junk silver at least makes a nice jingly sound and takes up a bit of space.
If you want to understand about fiat currency and precious metals and the whole currency / real money paradox, this video will explaine everything in a understandable way, it certainly opened my eyes http://youtu.be/DyV0OfU3-FU
