What is the general view about keeping bars in what ever plastic covers they come with? Personally I would get rid of the covers and just stack all raw metal together?
Rip em out unless you want to keep them in original condition for resale - some bars come in plastic (NTR for example) that might stop errant dings by providing a cushioning layer, but for stacking and storage, metal on metal.
This would be the only reason. 999 fine is soft in silver and gold and when you're dealing with coinage, dings and scrapes can wipe any numi value from the coin quickly. If you're stacking purely for the metal content and spot market, then it doesn't really matter, although for the cost of a few cents, you can protect any potential numi premium they might have. That said, I'm a strong advocate of handling your money for pleasure. Silver and gold in the hand is one of the most enjoyable aspects of stacking in my experience.
Keep your coins and carded's in the capsules and cards they come in, and stack lumps in tall piles metal on metal! I don't have any nuggets yet, but I would probably store them in a protective fashion to avoid any damage or squishing.
How do we feel about cardboard 2x2's or 2.5x2.5's for coins that don't come in capsules? Half the coins I get arrive in bubble wrap. I've had a few 1oz art bars boast about coming in original mint sealed packages, but they're clearly soft PVC so I'd really rather not leave them in there long term. I saw what happened to my State Series wallets.
I personally hate them with a passion - I've seen coins tone inside them, or get the adhesive (if they're adhesively sealed rather than staple) so they're not much cop for protecting the numi value other than protecting them from KFC fingers. For anything with a numi premium such as a lunar or proof coin, kinda goes without saying they should be in a capsule. That said, I've bought lunars on the secondary market out of a capsule and still made a profit, however it wasn't as much compared to if they had been mint condition and protected in a capsule. For bullion bars, its all on preference, I've got a nice 1oz Englehard that came in a capsule. I left it in. I wonder if your referring to PAMP bars - the usually done thing there is to leave them in, besides for bulk purchases of PAMP stuff they usually supply a box for them, varying in quantity between products - be it 1oz silver, 1oz gold, 5g gold etc. I like to stack the rough stuff - I'd certainly never wrap up a rack of Ainslie ugly bars in plastic... sure as sure. RD
+1 You only need to handle one coin, the rest can stay nice and safe until they are consigned to the melting pot.
1oz Scottsdale stuff mainly. I would never open a 1oz Pamp package! The 1oz Scottsdale omnia rounds came individually sealed in soft pvc packets. I guess you're saying I should open them and put them in airtites. Man, pvc sucks!
I'm looking for Scottsdale coin AirTites for the 1/2 rounds but have had no luck. Anyone know where to get some that fit?
