Following a recent post from THUCYDIDES79 (buying $200 worth for his brother in law) I thought it would be very interesting to hear what S/S members might generally recommend as a "Starter Pack" for 'newbies'. i.e. pick a selection of your favourite coins or bars that represent reasonable value - with some 'variety' to spark further interest and perhaps educate a 'new' person. I won't set a price limit, but perhaps aim for the 10-12 ounces mark. (That's around $500 at the moment!). But smaller or larger suggestions are fine. Numismatics are OK - but Pandoras are W-A-Y outta line here! Gold is OK - perhaps a 1/10oz coin. Just be creative and go with the flow - or dare to be different. The main thing is to explain your ideas. (And if you ARE a newbie - what would you like?) (For the exercise, assume that a vendor would buy the selected items in packs of 20 (say) and would break them up into 'Show Bag Units' for resale.) If we get enough interest - or a strong enough consensus emerges - perhaps someone will offer to make up some Starter Pack Show Bags and see how they sell! Any volunteers? (The main aim is to offer newbies an interesting kick-off point.) Don't forget to suggest other useful items for the Show Bag: e.g. Digital scales or coin guides, accessories, flammable JP Morgan effigy, coin holders, or mounting cards, a CD or DVD .... etc.) Assume delivery is $10. I'll kickoff with something for starters: $92 7 x 1966 50c coins - Always a good talking point. Educates about 800 silver. Love their 'ching'! $40 5 x Post-45 Florins - Something older is always interesting too. Teaches about 925 Sterling silver $35 1 x 1937 Crown - Everyone should have at least ONE of these! $40 1 x 2011 1 oz Koala - A Current popular coin - good to have a least one to get to know them $40 1 x 2011 1 oz Kookaburra - ditto $40 1 x 2011 Silver Eagle - ditto $40 1 x 2011 Silver Maple - ditto $40 1 x 2011 Philharmonic - ditto $82 1 x 2011 2oz Lunar Rabbit - Something chunkier - a good foundation for the bottom level of the stack! $40 1 x 1oz Morgan bullion bar - Something non-coin for comparison purposes. $10 Delivery About 11.5 ounces in total. Price around $500 Explanation: Just a bit of everything; a selection of most current coins, plus some older ones, and a single bar for added interest. It would normally cost a lot to buy this selection individually. For $500 this is an educational beginning. The newbie could then purchase more of those coins that take his or her fancy. ON WITH THE CAPER... What would YOU recommend for the Show Bag ...
I was just talking to someone today on how to get started.No I said you dont need $3k to get started I said get a 10 oz bar and a couple of coins.
$500 is a bit low - say $1000 to make it serious. Sovereign - $350 10oz silver bar - $360 1oz ASE - $43 1oz Kookaburra - $45 9 x 1966 50c - $117 1 of each pre-46 92.5% predecimal (Threepence to Crown) - $60 1 of each post-46 50% predecimal (Threepence to Florin) - $15 Plus postage $10 = $1000 total. Single withdrawal from an ATM. Nice chunk of low premium gold with a free history lesson, a common silver bar, an example of a local & foreign government 1oz coin, a pile of 1966 50c to play with, and some educational predecimal to understand debasement.
Small correction - Post 45 florins are 50% silver, not Sterling. Love the idea though. Don't see why it should be limited to the 'newbies' but! Even seasoned stackers enjoy a little variety
Agreek with GP, approx $1000, something along the lines of: Silver - break into thirds: 1/3 silver bars - 10oz 1/3 silver coins - 10 x 1oz 1/3 predecimal If you want to add gold - sovereign/half sovereign; or 1/4, 1/10 oz nugget
Last week I bought 242 post-45 threepence under spot, including postage. Do you think it's worth buying more of these coins at a reasonable price? Or should I concentrate on silver bars? I'm a newbie stacker on a disability pension so it's hard for me to dodge the high premiums on the smaller bar and fine silver coins.
That's what we're here to find out. Stay tuned, and see what pearls of wisdom distill from the fingers of your fellow stackers...
Great idea for a thread. $1000 mite be a lil high for new stackers imo. And even then a full sovereign at $350 mite be a bit too much. 35% into gold. Everything that was mentioned is good. And with the 'large' number of 3pence coins, i dont think that it is a bad decision. If a stacker has more than 80 oz of silver ( 2 oz gold eqv) than i would see it as 'prudent' to have at least 2-3 oz of 3 pence sized coins. Especially if you get them at spot. My ideal stack ( not for newbies but for those accumulating silver ) would be Just for silver ( with other precious metals it would of course be diff ) up to 3% of stack in 3 & 6 pence coins up to 15 % 1966 50 Cent pieces up to 40 % kooks, koalas, 1 oz gov minted silver coins, (maples,ase's, philharmonikers up to 80 % 5 or 10 oz bars/coins up to 100% 1kg and 100 oz bars and regards precious metals allocation 75% SILVER 10% PALLADIUM 10% GOLD 5% PLATINUM
LOL.. Personally, if they need 'encouraging' or whatever to spark interest, take your friend/loved one on a blindfolded ride to your own stash and make their eye pop out of their head when they see your own stack (or part of it). When I showed my girlfriend my stash, she just went "wow".. I took her through 5 and 10 oz coins..lunars, kookaburras the 66 fiddies, kilo coins and a pile of 20 oz'ers to behold. That 'Wow' cost her nothing. If she wants to start her own stack, she had the opportunity to see what hers might look like and what she'd like in it so she can make her own choices. I go for - 1. Recognizable 2. Not to large so as to release too much of my silver at one time if I need to sell 3. Low premiums. If I had to only buy ONE type of silver, it would be Perth Mint 10 oz bars. Not too big, not too small - they are perth mint made, for god's sake and look like magic. If you had less than $500 to start a stack, by a 10 oz bar. Holding that little weight is assurance of your wealth to grow and remain protected. It's a nice feeling.
I think a show bags a great idea. When I started, only a coupla months ago, I had no idea where to start. Coins, bars or numistics etc. If there was a 500 dollar pack available, as a mixed bag, i would've gone for that, instead of getting ripped on feebay and ripped for postage buying just 1oz bars to see what it was all about. My initial free gift from Thucydides was what started me with coins. Actually, not just started me, but got me interested and aware in the differences between coins. Some only 50%, some 80% etc. I think it's a great idea, and i'm willing to hold the "stock" of showbags. Of course i'd have to adjust the volume inside as the price of spot went up. But I could handle that. Oh, and how do u grow tomatoes in winter?
My starter selection would be - Qty 1 1/10 oz gold coin like Britannia or Krugerrand Qty 1 Half sovereign Qty 1 USA Eagle Qty 1 Maple Qty 1 Libertad Qty 1 Philharmonic Qty 1 Kookaburra or Koala Qty 1 silver Britannia Would not see any merit in buying 1oz silver rounds or bars when coins are same price.
Yes I too stack a lot of $10 silver coins. Some time ago you posted about $10 coins and why you stacked them. I feel nearly the same as you. Do you have any preference for any particular state or states? I like NT & ACT for a particular reason. Do you prefer to stack U/c over proof? Can you get access to large buys or do you pick them in small lots (under 10) . I got into buying them over a year ago and I bought a lot of them well below spot. They are not the best looking coin but the fiat value of $10 makes them attractive for me. At present I'm going to buy another 31 on Thursday. I won't state the price as it but it is well under spot. Regards Errol43
Get em a 1 Kilo Kookaburra (or other), then say ...."i bought you a $30 coin" which will confuse them with curiosity and watch their delight when they open the parcel.
Another thought.... Perhaps some of our dealer members might contribute their business cards, or catalogs or even a certificate offering some sort of one-off get-to-know-you 'special deal'.
