New to silver/forum

C

comeng84

New Member
Hi there

I'm new to Silver and new to the forum. This looks like the most active online community in Aus so here I am.

I have been looking to invest/collect Silver Bullion for a while and I have decided to pull the trigger. Money unfortunately is an issue, so I am starting out small.

With all the diferent options for Bullion available, is it worth spending the little bit extra to get bars that have a serial number? e.g. Souther Cross 1oz bars don't seem to have any number on them, yet other mints like Scottsdale or PAMP do.

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie out :)
 
In one ounce bars there is basically no point. I suppose if you had both a fear of theft and unshakeable faith that your insurance would pay out if you have recorded serial numbers then, maybe, but it's debated whether they are worthwhile on 100oz bars so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Certainly there are so many 1oz bars and rounds out there you aren't at all likely to track one down that's been lost or stolen because of its serial (imagine trying to find a $10 note you lost on the street using it's serial).

It's one of those things that's nice and if it doesn't cost you more you'd happily have it but if the bars with serials are 10% more expensive your essentially giving up a bar for every 10 you buy. If your starting out small then you want to squeeze every gram you can out of the money you have.

On the perth bullion website (perfectly reasonable prices but BiGs doesn't carry pamp) the 10oz pamp Fortuna that comes with a serial is $292 and from BiGs at 11th round the 10oz opm is $232. You might recover some of the premium on the pamp if you sell it privately on the forum here but likely not all of it and it will take a lot longer to find someone who wants to pay more for the same amount of silver. In 99% of cases if you sell to a dealer, they will give you the exact same amount for the two bars.

If your looking to pay a premium you may as well pay a little more and buy something that actually has collectible value that won't drop in price as fast if the silver price falls (a little insurance). It's not even that much now expensive. If you looked on the forums you could get perth mint lunar 1oz snakes, horses and goats for very close to what you would pay for a serialized pamp bar.

Anyhow, my point really is you should have a think about whether you want to buy all the silver weight you can or go for the higher end stuff. Either can be a good strategy if your thoughtful about how you invest but it's the stuff in the middle that will usually get you in trouble.

You've taken a great first step though, everyone here is pretty friendly (particularly when the spot is rising) and they've all been very helpful to me and saved me hours of research and helped me avoid some nasty pitfalls that new stackers often fall prey to.

Welcome!
 
Welcome to the forum. Really it depends if your looking at purchasing for an investment OR as a collection.
Many ways to go round things and i hope this forum will help answer some of your questions. :)
 
The margin is larger with PAMP than most all others. I would avoid higher premium bars on a limited budget. I will say that bars seem to appeal to the inner stacker, especially if you are starting out. Find an vendor you trust and decide what you want to do. Be careful starting out, there are many great reasons to convert some of your paper to metal but there is an urge to over buy as you discover all of the options you have to build your stack. Slow and Steady.
 
Hi there.

None of my bars have serial numbers on them and to my knowledge the serial numbers haven't been used to return anyone's stolen property.

There are lots of gimmicks that sellers use to promote their product but they all cost you a bit more money. You have to decide if they are worth it.

Stacker bars stack nicely on top of each other.
Minted bars have nice designs on them
Government issued bars, more trustworthy
Hand Poured bars have character

etc. etc.

If you just want the cheapest around go for a generic poured bar.

Edit: I have a small selection of bars, not really in to them but I would probably stick with Perth Mint 10oz bars from a dealer, check around for prices.
 
Starting out is a bit daunting at first. I started a year ago and couldn't decide what I wanted. I purchased a variety of different 1oz bullion coins and bars just to see which i liked better and what i wanted to do. I then invested in a 10oz Lunar snake... from there on i've purchased only coins, both bullion and proof. They simply are much nicer to look at... but obviously you need to be concious of the fact round things don't stack as well as rectangle. If you only have a small safe then you'll need to think about this (If you've not got a safe I suggest you get one).
 
Welcome to the forum. Keep stacking in small amounts that you can afford. Make sure to keep money on the side incase of emergencys and your silver stack will be bigger than you thought it could ever be in no time!
 
Welcome. :) I am pretty new here on the forum as well.

If I may, I would recommend starting with plain standard 1oz. Bullion coin over the 1oz bars.

Philharmonics
Kooks
Maple (Milk Spot) Leafs
American Silver Eagle

...and the like. Once you have some 'core position' then look for 1/2oz, 2oz, 5oz and 10oz coins, and if you really feel like it 1kg coin.

The coin is easily recognizable by most people and looks nicer than a plain bar.

Coin of weight other than 1 oz. could develop some collector appeal and additional price appreciation in a few years, see Lunar series coins.

Also there is a great app to help verifying the coin by the ping 'sound' it makes when gently tapped.

Look at the Google Play Store for 'Bullion Test' App.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pZnqp3bl3A[/youtube]


But then buy whatever you feel like, bars, coins, rounds, medallion, 'token'.... whatever....

Coin stack just fine in tubes, but then if you have little space bars may be preferable.

I traded all my bars for coin as I prefer only coins with the Queen on it as I wish to possess a piece(s)

of history in case she unexpectedly dies.


my 2 cent
 
My advice would be to run away, run far away. Before this hobby, I always had a lot of spending money. Now I have a SDB full of stuff that has only dropped in value :)
 
Ohh I totally knew the one on the left was a fake! That guy has a magical fingernail flick doesn't he? Sounds like he's hitting a triangle.

Honestly, I think the app is kind of useless. If you had a perfect 1oz fake like that, you could just compare the ring by ear, come to recognize the ring of silver on your own. All the app really does is reacts to a certain frequency as "good" and other frequencies as "bad". I'll be impressed when I can just put a coin on my phone and it just, it just knows man.
 
GreyGhost said:
Be careful starting out, there are many great reasons to convert some of your paper to metal but there is an urge to over buy as you discover all of the options you have to build your stack. Slow and Steady.
Click to expand...

Excellent piece of advice.


OP: Learn what's out there, and always keep expanding that universe -- because it's pretty large and grows by the week.

Build up a shopping list, making additions & deletions as you see fit.. And when funds are available & if/when spot price is satisfactory, that list makes things a lot easier when it comes time to act.

Definitely shop around, too, factoring in any shipping costs, PayPal / currency exchange fees, eBay Bucks, etc.


My only other suggestion is to consider diversifying, for all sorts of reasons. Bars (poured/cast/minted/extruded), coins, rounds, slabbed, etc. Low-premium, higher-premium. Old, new. Various mints, weights, sizes.

Buy what you like! And keep an open mind. :)
 
Hi welcome, I am quite new to stacking as well.

So lf you have not much money i would suggest 1oz bars. The Southern Cross are a good price and everyone in Australia recognises the SC.

If you start as i did with legal tender rounds like kooks and koalas you soon become a collector without knowing it chasing older dates and paying higher and higher premiums, then you start on the eagles maples Britannia,s then the generic rounds then the SBSS rounds! it can become obsessive and expensive with some poorly made price decisions on a coin you "think" you must have.

You could choose also if you wish to become a Perth mint "Lunatic" lol

I am now limiting myself to a new year of each Kook Koala ASE Maple and Britania, this will never break the bank and in between I will buy 1oz bars the odd 10oz bar some old Perth mint 1oz medallions when they become available at the right price. also now instead of chasing high premium silver I buy the odd 1/10th gold nugget coin. only 1 a month is 1.2oz of gold a year :)

Perth Bullion has some 1oz Prospector minted bars and the prospectors are really nice by design, I doubt they would ever re sell without a premium+.
 
Hi all

Well I have made my first small purchase from AJM Bullion. A few 1oz SC Bars and a 1oz SC button. This will give me a feel what stacks/feels the best. Thank you all for your input. Looking forward to getting them :)

Thanks for the gold tip too fishtaco, it a real good idea

Cheers
 
Perth Mint 10 ounce silver bars.

Save.

Buy one.

Save.

Buy another one.

Repeat.
 
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