Which should I buy to kick off my stack?
- Thread starter MusicalStacker
- Start date
Guys,
Just on the milk spots issue, i keep hearing about them on the forum and as i am a newbie to stacking, are they really that big of an issue(milk spots).
if you get coins etc just over spot with milk spots say under $1 over, would you consider that reasonable, my thinking is that if the coins are purely for bullion value then it should not matter when it comes sale time, or am i misguided on that?
of course if i was buying for rarity and collectable ,then yes i get the milk spot issue entirely and definitely agree with not wanting items that have a history of developing them down the track.
I do have a question about the spots aswell, if i had two coins next to each other one with spots and one without and from a mint that does not normally produce items that develop them would the good coin develop spots aswell?
cheers.
Just on the milk spots issue, i keep hearing about them on the forum and as i am a newbie to stacking, are they really that big of an issue(milk spots).
if you get coins etc just over spot with milk spots say under $1 over, would you consider that reasonable, my thinking is that if the coins are purely for bullion value then it should not matter when it comes sale time, or am i misguided on that?
of course if i was buying for rarity and collectable ,then yes i get the milk spot issue entirely and definitely agree with not wanting items that have a history of developing them down the track.
I do have a question about the spots aswell, if i had two coins next to each other one with spots and one without and from a mint that does not normally produce items that develop them would the good coin develop spots aswell?
cheers.
Steel_Eyes
New Member
Does anyone want to make a comprehensive list of coins/rounds/bars that are notorious for spotting? Maybe there's already a thread for it, but I'd have to look. Canadian coins are the most noted, but I have quite a few of them anyway and about 10 elephants between this and last year. I buy a range of stuff and have less than 20 of any one thing.
I'm not that concerned about milk spots. Even Silver Eagles can get spots, so you basically roll the dice. I'll just be upfront about it when it's time to barter or make a sale.
EDIT: Oh, and JM Bullion's shipping is free when purchasing over $99. I don't think they changed it despite the "Free Shipping" claim at the top of the page.
I'm not that concerned about milk spots. Even Silver Eagles can get spots, so you basically roll the dice. I'll just be upfront about it when it's time to barter or make a sale.
EDIT: Oh, and JM Bullion's shipping is free when purchasing over $99. I don't think they changed it despite the "Free Shipping" claim at the top of the page.
mmissinglink
Active Member
BullionBuddy said:
I wouldn't worry about spots on a common bullion product that one paid a little over spot for.
As far as I understand, milk spots are prone to develop on certain coins where some residue from the detergent pre-wash that is used on certain coin blanks is "baked" into the metal during the subsequent minting process. That means that coins from the same batch may not get milk spots while others do develop them.
Certain environmental conditions after the minting process is complete will apparently exacerbate the development of milk spots on those coins that are prone to developong the spots.
So a coin that has no visible milk spots that had some of the pre-wash baked into it can develop visible milk spots over time or under certain conditions.
Under enough magnification, all coins have some sort of imperfection. Coins that are correctly graded in 70 condition are generally said to be flawless under 5 times magnification. I use a 10X loupe when inspecting my America The Beautiful "P" 5 oz silver coins that I receive from the U.S. Mint. Some appear flawless others not. Then again, these are the collector version of the coin series. I generally don't care about imperfections in the bullion version unless, of course, I am intentionally buying a high graded / slabbed bullion coin that I pay a high premium for.
Steel_Eyes said:
Yes, this is the right attitude. Integrity is the most important characteristic that we as stackers and collectors ought to embrace. Dishonesty and deception hurts these cross over communities.
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MusicalStacker
New Member
Alrighty... So, from what I gather, milk spots can look bad but don't bring down value? Why does silver gain value over time, like the 2005 Somalian Bullion? I am able to go over budget and spend $100. this is my cart. How should I adjust? Do they come with some sort of plastic? Oh... And what is too high of a premium? Is any of what I chose too high? Thanks.
[img=My cart]http://s33.postimg.org/fu45s4mrz/Screen_Shot_2016_06_05_at_10_10_14_PM.png[/img]
[img=My cart]http://s33.postimg.org/fu45s4mrz/Screen_Shot_2016_06_05_at_10_10_14_PM.png[/img]
MusicalStacker
New Member
P.s. I'd be making ^these kinds of purchases every 6 months. It's all I can afford. =(
Your list looks ok to me...it's a bit of everything/different forms of silver till you work out what you want to stack. (Which will change over time)
The only thing I would change is dump one of the elephants and add another eagle.
There's nothing wrong with a small budget, relatively speaking, a big part of the world population survive on $2 a day.
Just My opinion
p.s.I agree with BuggedOut on the milkspot issue
The only thing I would change is dump one of the elephants and add another eagle.
There's nothing wrong with a small budget, relatively speaking, a big part of the world population survive on $2 a day.
Just My opinion
p.s.I agree with BuggedOut on the milkspot issue
MusicalStacker
New Member
From what I hear, ASE's don't get silver spots. Should I get two ASE and one Somalian? I think I should definitely get a Somalian because of how much they increase in value over time.
yesMusicalStacker said:
MusicalStacker
New Member
Ok! Thanks. By the way, when will the 'New Member" group go away for me?
mmissinglink
Active Member
MusicalStacker said:
Bullion ASE's can have milk spots.
Get a Somalian elephant. Sometimes counting small percentages of premium on an order for just a few ounces of silver isn't worth it if you like a different slightly higher priced product....because you don't want regret to tarnish your purchase. Now, if this were kilos of gold you are talking about, then those small percentages can add up very quickly to a notable amount of cash.
What is too high a premium is really kind of subjective and can depend on many factors.
At this point in time, you should look to pay no more than .79 cents over spot for blobs (common, generic, bullion bars and rounds). Blobs are in the end, more or less, melting pot fodder in my view. I regularly get promotions from various bullion dealers for premiums around .79 cents on average. I've seen premiums as low as zero....but this doesn't happen very often and when they do, the advertised product tends to sell out quickly....naturally.
Bide your time....there will always be opportunities for low prices on blobs if you missed the sale that just past. And in the meantime as you are waiting for a good sale, you are accumulating more cash for which to convert to more ounces.
Now of course if you are interested in also buying collector items that have a limited mintage, there are different strategies for that which may not include simply waiting for the next sale. I did that last year (just waited because I assumed there was no need to hurry and get an order in) with one of the America The Beautiful "P" 5 oz silver coins and I was lucky to catch a second small batch that was released for sale by the US Mint after the initial quick sell out. In other words, I was almost forced to buy from the after market because I took a lackadaisical approach with a very popular, limited mintage collector coin. From now on, I will always order on the first day they go on sale.
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so what i get from the above and again correct me if i am wrong is,
if you are buying for purely bullion value then there is absolutely nothing wrong with tarnished,spotted ,scratched or otherwise damaged products?
if you are buying for collection value/future appreciation then be careful not to buy items with a known history of spotting occurring.
to missinglink your guidance on price of .79 over spot is a great guide for me to adhere to so thanks for your input.
if you are buying for purely bullion value then there is absolutely nothing wrong with tarnished,spotted ,scratched or otherwise damaged products?
if you are buying for collection value/future appreciation then be careful not to buy items with a known history of spotting occurring.
to missinglink your guidance on price of .79 over spot is a great guide for me to adhere to so thanks for your input.
Topherclaus
Active Member
thefinn said:
Nothing wrong with the bigger stuff, but it cooled be harder to flip down the track so good to diversify (I have kg coins and stuff, not being biased), plus it keeps this feeling like a hobby, which is great.
So yes, coins, bars, and rounds are a good idea. And there are so many amazing options. As for granules, I've always found it to have a decent premium on it anyway, so why not by some fractional coins? I've got some 1g maples which are hilariously tiny but pretty cool, and not that much more, if at all, thank granule.
I think if you want to protect your savings, even if silver takes a dive over the next decade or so, which would be entirely possible, then you should look at semi-numis. Things like Pandas, Kooks or Koalas. Essentially coins that change their design every year, or Lunar Series II. These coins become collectable very quickly, my favourite are the Pandas entirely because of the market for them. There are just so many Chinese that will want them. The Chinese don't buy silver Eagles, the Americans however, DO buy Pandas.
All of these kinds of coins quickly gain premiums, just look at these coins minted in previous years. Even if silver drops and stays low they will hold their value because once they are sold out, they don't mint any more of them.
All of these kinds of coins quickly gain premiums, just look at these coins minted in previous years. Even if silver drops and stays low they will hold their value because once they are sold out, they don't mint any more of them.
Pandahunter
Member
MusicalStacker said:
Mate not bad choices there, next time I'd recommend you switch out the Somalian Elephant for a Perth Mint Lunar if you want to dip your toes in the semi numi direction.
The market for lunars worldwide are greater and they are less prone to develop milk spots. The Somali coins look fantastic but I gave up on purchasing them this year after a couple of the 2015 Somali coins I had decided to develop milkspots even though I had them in air-tites.
Also yes, in experience milk-spotting does reduce your ability to re-capture the premium or receive an appreciation on the coin on the secondary market. To offload to a dealer in US i'm not too sure. Some have said you will only get spot, or spot plus 1 which is a safe bet to expect.