Now on this site we have at times pondered over what we would stack it we had 50k to spend But what would you do if all you could currently afford was $20 per wk or $80 a month. (a) Would you buy 2 66rounds each week @ $10 each (you would have 100 at the end of a years stacking. (b) Buy 1 $10 state coin at say $19/20 (52 after 1 year) (c) Would you save for 4weeks and with the $80 buy 2 1oz kooks for $40 each (13 after 1 year) What plan would you come up with. I have often wondered if there was stackers on our site who are in this situation and only have small stacks but haven't given up the fight to have a nice little stack of their own. Fellow Stacker do not take me to task for the amounts stated above for a dollar or two each way. It could be interesting to hear other opinions and in particular from someone who has not a lot of fiat to spend on silver. Regards Errol43
i'd probably try for a monthly buy, some is better than none, the more you can get in one hit the lower the premium, but then it's also a race against spot.
I would actually buy the 66 rounds, and every half year sell off 50 or so on ebay to convert to investment grade bullion bars with the money, aiming for 3-5 ten ounce bars for a year's work.
As another short stacker, I face this sort of reality on a regular basis But I found the best way to deal with it was to simply save the fiat until you have enough for a decent purchase, especially if you're going to have to factor in shipping costs. Shipping on 20oz isn't as bad as 2oz. I have also been looking at other ways to earn silver as I have done recently with my little coin cleaning enterprise, which landed me 4 ounces of the shiny stuff. It was hard work, but you're getting paid in silver... totally worth it
Personally would go the 50c... Based on a small amount some day in the future would make the difference - also legal tender so you could claim to be a coin dealer if someone comes knocking wanting to take away .999 bullion... Ag
Hi everyone, a new stacker here. My short stack consisted of half a dozen pre-decimal pudding coins, up until yesterday How is it possible that a govt could seize precious metals? Would there be an attempt at compensation? SS
Honestly Id spend your time working out ways to earn extra income. It seems like you want to buy silver and to be honest $20 a week isnt going to get you very far.
Errol, I don't think your alone on that one - I think you'd be surprised how many people are pondering your same situation. A bit of hot air from an rookie stacker - if i may. I started out coin by coin (but was lucky that a few of those coins actually returned some nice numbers quite quickly), I was very excited when i started with some Perth mint Coloured coins, sold them, and walked into a bullion dealer and ordered my first silver 10oz bar and coin. Now i am well beyond that thanks to what was pretty much a doubling in the silver price from when i started (now i don't touch the coloured coins as i believe most are well overvalued short term). Main thing now is that if you want to own the silver, there is never a bad plan as long as you do some homework, buy well and accept that silver is not a short term proposition. Don't be forced to rush into anything, keep your eyes out for items that you know are well priced. Sure a lot of the bargains have dried up, but if you keep your eyes out you can still find well priced silver (whether it be 66ers, 1oz bullion etc) That's about as good as you can do "now". I would probably look at 66ers over bullion coins if both were on an equal footing. 66ers are common, but the fact remains, there isn't any more going to be produced. 1oz bullion coins on the other hand appear in big numbers too, but the thing with those is that if a certain mintage runs dry there are still plenty of alternatives for stackers (lets face it coins, bars, the wrapper they come in or whatever, people tend to "collect" as much as they simply "stack", so keep that in mind on the direction you head. Another option to what you have suggested - I am currently soaking up proof Kooks in the 1oz size as these can be found for around the same pricing as the bullion coins, less mintage than the current crop of uncirculated bullion coins, not as shiny given the age, but i think probably a better proposition long term and will probably soak up the bumps in the road better (who knows). Short term don't be afraid to trade or sell to advance your position. Nobody can predict where silver will head, so if you do trade, look for signs that will enhance your situation (i.e. this month is the end of calender year, there is likely to be some pressure on the silver price as investors cash in paper silver. Also there is talk of another rate rise in China - last time this happened silver was hit for a couple of days as investors got scared that the economy would slow down). Long term is likely to be in an upward direction for silver, Silver has been wonderful in the past few years but all the same remain cautious. Keep in mind that like every asset boom and there is always every possibility that things will go out of vogue as people throw their money into the next best thing. One thing is for sure - everything has a cycle. Keep events like the 80's in your mind every ounce you buy. Hope that adds something - the pro's can probably point you in an even better direction.
TTTTT I'm sorry I've given the wrong impression. I have quite a large stack and each week I add to it by some 3 to 4ozs. I was just thinking about some stackers who might be in this position. I started staking in 2008 when I thought the banks were going under. I took fiat currency stored and converted into silver. I'm not in a bad position actually. Regards Errol43
All the suggestions are good ones. I am not a trader, so I would save up and buy the coins I wanted. But the main thing is to buy.
I dont understand that. Why would anyone recommend someone purchase gold at a 40% + premium over SPOT price? The smallest denomination i would consider gold in is a 10gram bar. But generally i would stick to 1/2 - 1oz bars/coins. You can currently buy a 1oz PM silver coin for around 20-25% above SPOT. Dont get me wrong Gold's great, buy buying at a 40% premium i feel is crazy!
That's a bit like me. What did I do? Got a strategy! 1. Decided to go down a bullion path rather than numismatic. Don't care what the bar, coin looks like, it's history or how rare or in short supply it is, as long as it is as close to spot price as possible. Why? Coz I aint got a lot of money and don't wanna pay premiums for beauty. Sure, coins with numismatic value have the greatest potential for value increases, but in times of dire trouble you'll only get offered what they're worth in precious metal if your'e lucky and you might not be in a position to haggle. I'd rather buy a 1oz bar for $34 than a $1oz kook for $38. 2. So I buy stuff that's recognisable even by the average man or woman. 66 rounds to hoard coz they're small, cheap, fairly liquid and can be traded for goods and services quickly with those same men and women in the street if required in the future. Small ingots and bullion coins with low premiums when i can get them (last two i bought were 2 half oz constitution mint rounds a couple of weeks ago for less than spot) that can be cashed at dealers in the future for fiat or combined for bigger pieces. 3. If a lump sum payment comes in eg tax return i'll buy larger 10 oz or 20 oz bars in silver to trade for gold in the future or bullion quality gold sovs to hoard. 4. And coz i'm a hedonistic pig who requires materialistic gratification and can't save money but needs to satisfy my urge to buy stuff, i'll find someone who offers lay-by. Did this with a 2nd hand dealer. Lock in purchase price now and pay it off over 2 - 3 months, might beat the spot price climb if i'm lucky. Are there bullion dealers on this forum who can offer lay-by? Hope these ideas are helpful.
I really think some of the best suggestions have come out so far and I agree with them. However you really need to work out what your reason for buying is and what do you want from it. If you goal is say 100oz next year what do you need to do and how do you need to do it to get your target goal. If you don't have a goal you have nothing to aim for and you may get distracted. You may also want to look at swapping more as time goes on. Look at the GSR (Gold Silver Ratio) and work out what is the best way to go. Take last week and Silver at approx $30 that was a great time to swap for some Gold. You got more Gold for your Silver. Now a week later you would be better to swap that Gold back to Silver and hopefully you would have made a little extra. Now all of that would not normally happen in a week, but it is another way of making the market work for you. If you are prepared to risk a little and gamble a bit, you could also look at any first release coloured modern day numismatic coin. If you can get it on evil bay ASAP you will normally pick up an extra $20 - $40 if you are quick. If it is a dud though you can be stuck with some Silver that is overpriced. Keep an eye out for what is coming up and decide if something is there that may go well ? Higher risk though. Also being a lower end stacker have a look for some pre-decimal buys as well. You can at times get some good deals on these and you may get lucky with a few numismatics that could increase the value considerably. At worst you still have the silver price. These are on the lower end of the totem but still an option. Whatever you do, do something it may not be the biggest stack but in a few years 50-100oz could help a lot depending on what your reasons were. Good luck either way and don't be put off by a small start. Even if I had known 5 years ago to start and could have only brought 1oz a month that would have been an 60oz I would have had now. There is still a lot of time to run in this market yet so no time to panic. Just be persistent.
Eh? So you can buy some is the first reason. We are talking about someone who would have to wait about half a year to buy a 1/4oz piece. Second reason is that you don't sell a 1/20th at spot. Gold coins are priced at a % over spot - so the premium increases with price. Who cares what spot is. For 1/20th's, the reference is not spot, but the PM sale price for 1/20ths (or worst case the sale price for 100 1/20ths).
Personally i would not consider something with such a high premium, even if i was in that situation. I would MUCH prefer 3 oz of silver over 1/20th oz gold. A lot of people here work on a worst case situation. A worst case situation would be you selling your metals at SPOT. Therefore you would lose the huge premium you paid for the 1/20th coin. I also find the 1/20th coin very uninspiring, i gave one as a gift recently and never realised how small they are, absolutely tiny! You really wouldnt get very much satisfaction stacking such a small coin. Ainslee is a pretty mainstream dealer, have a look at the buy / sell spread today on the 1/20th oz coins. Sell: $109 Buyback: $70. Whereas a 1 oz coin Sell $1488 Buyback: $1403. Thats a $39 spread on a 1/20th oz coin and only an $85 spread on a 1 oz coin! I realise some people enjoy stacking the smaller fractionals, but if your looking purely at investment bullion and not numismatics i personally wound not consider them. I would stack silver and then do a gold swap later on. (if wanted)
Toss all the change from your pockets into a jar at the end of every day and you'll have more than $20 at the end of the week to buy whatever you like. If I were on that tight a budget, I'd go for the round 50c coins. At such a low buy-in price, you can dollar cost average very precisely if you're buying a few every week.
I wouldnt mind getting a few 50c rounds every week. Where would one obtain a few a week with low shipping costs? eBay or?
With such a small budget, you will need to scan ebay auctions for good deals, the 1966 50c piece is costlier as people know about it, i have been buying some old czech silver coins for below spot. buy from someone who combines p&h charges and than buy a number of coins from the same person. or for aroudn $20 you can look for Maria Theresa Thalers, they are 0.75 oz each. Great coin.
