KevinFlynn

Actually last week I received a little Christmas present, a guilty pleasure...
Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)

Actually last week I received a little Christmas present, a guilty pleasure...
Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)

Actually last week I received a little Christmas present, a guilty pleasure...
Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)

Actually last week I received a little Christmas present, a guilty pleasure...
Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)

Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)

 

 

The way I see it, yes.
There is a narrative of silver waiting for a breakout (e.g. Mike Maloney), which promoted silver. Silver is also an acceptable investment in the US, where there's no VAT in most states.
But VAT is killing the idea in Britain and most of Europe. It used to be a viable idea, the Silver Forum used to import VAT free silver from the baltic states, (for me) Germany had only 7% on silver coins, but those times are gone.
I say you can put a couple kilos aside as a speculative investment if you're adventurous. If silver does explode, you will at least participate, but don't build your investment strategy on it. Getting some collectible coins will be nice and affordable in silver, if you can avoid milk spotting or tarnishing.
All in all gold does not have any of those problems. Fractional, or trade coins are good options for entry level investment. And if you want to speculate on silver maybe get paper silver.

Taking @Bimetallic's comment, I want to look into the subconsciousness of the silver stacking community...
The UK, Germany, and most of Europe raise a 20+/-% VAT on silver, but not on gold.
So why are we not more aware of VAT? Should the silver section of this largely European forum come with a disclaimer? Should we be on The Gold Forum ?
Why is there even a private silver market in the UK (or Germany - my insight - for that matter)?
Are people stacking silver because of a large American presence in Youtube silver stacking? Are we a herd of sheep in our own way that way?
Or would we think that everyone stacking silver is a Maloney follower and is stacking for the large breakout when the gold:silver ratio shoots up to 15:1?
 
I began stacking silver in 2010/2011 because seemingly everyone stacked silver. Also the expressed silver community seemed somehow friendlier than the expressed gold community - the lower entry cost had more small everyday stackers with more comparable achievements to me as a Mr. Small investor. In Germany, VAT looked negligible with the lower VAT of 7% on silver (I bought bars at 19% though). Wanting to own a multitude of 'hot' collectibles  (Lunars, Pandas) was more affordable in silver. I decided on a ratio of 1 ounce of gold to one kilogram of silver back then.
Fast forward to 2020/2021 I'm tending more to gold, with an occasional tube of silver thrown in. While that largely has to do with a better financial background on my side, I am feeling that the combined weight of VAT plus premiums on silver is brutal (all silver is on the higher VAT of 19% in Germany these days). And the more I'm thinking, the more I the facts are being hit over head the more silver is becoming a no no for me. I'm still thinking about buying silver collectibles - I'm feeling it's less of a gamble in silver, and that feeling is correct on the total worth aspect, but wrong on the relative return aspect.
 
So, what are we doing here? Are you stacking silver under VAT? Have your silver stacking habits changed?

Quarter ounce gold is a nice size for sets, I think. If bought at the moment of issue.
On silver and VAT, we had a thread collecting opinions: Why are people stacking Silver over Gold when there is a VAT on silver?

I got a whole set of Queen's Beasts in silver (plus a couple extras). I put them into the vault and did not look at them. When I finished the set this year I got them together and found a certain level of whiffing or smudging. They're still okay if looked at from afar, but it's not a pristine set. Now I know it's only bullion, but the price development tells otherwise. At that moment I realized silver cannot be a serious investment for me.
I would still collect any reasonably priced bullion series if I liked it, because it's cheap enough. And I would get any silver at melt or even spot (wishful thinking).
I envy our american friends as silver is different over there. And I would love to stack more bars. Cast bars are a thing to behold, but cast gold bars are out of my investment range.

The way I see it, yes.
There is a narrative of silver waiting for a breakout (e.g. Mike Maloney), which promoted silver. Silver is also an acceptable investment in the US, where there's no VAT in most states.
But VAT is killing the idea in Britain and most of Europe. It used to be a viable idea, the Silver Forum used to import VAT free silver from the baltic states, (for me) Germany had only 7% on silver coins, but those times are gone.
I say you can put a couple kilos aside as a speculative investment if you're adventurous. If silver does explode, you will at least participate, but don't build your investment strategy on it. Getting some collectible coins will be nice and affordable in silver, if you can avoid milk spotting or tarnishing.
All in all gold does not have any of those problems. Fractional, or trade coins are good options for entry level investment. And if you want to speculate on silver maybe get paper silver.

For wealth preservation, gold is where it's at, due to already stated reasons.
But silver is nice for collectibles and unique pieces which would be too expensive or too much of a risk in gold.
At least the way I see it.
 

Hello!
i’ve started collecting silver coins not so long ago and I was searching informations about platinum coins when I discovered this place. Many useful topics and great community… so I’m joining  
see you on topics,

Hello all. Brand new member and stacker. I've a few coins and bars and trying to figure out the best way to get more. Not sure if I should go junk or stay with pure. 

Quarter ounce gold is a nice size for sets, I think. If bought at the moment of issue.
On silver and VAT, we had a thread collecting opinions: Why are people stacking Silver over Gold when there is a VAT on silver?

Hello from Canberra, Australia.
Like many, I like the biggest chunks of gold at the lowest prices possible. In reality I stick mainly to 1/10 gold coins & sovereigns, particularly Australian sovereigns.
For something a little different, I have a penchant for QE II sovereigns in BU & proof & am eagerly awaiting the newly released 2022. 
I'm looking forward to trading with other collectors & stackers here & learning more about the hobby from a British & European perspective.
I am known as Shlomo Goldberg on the Australian Silver Stackers forum.
All the best & look forward to trading.

Just wanted to say hello everyone, I've just joined this forum and looking forward to buying/selling gold and silver
Any tips or tricks I should know about how to use this forum? Also apologies for my ignorance but what does BT mean I've seen this on some postings with regards to payments.
Thank you all and looking forward to talking again!
Ishy 

Okay, would it be wrong if I said I would marry the groom if I got that much gold 😁

Yes  I'm always in awe when I'm looking at brides wearing more than my net worth in gold 😙
And it does not look like low carat, I'm guessing 750 at least. How close to spot might those pieces be traded? My girlfriend is from SEA and she says gold jewelry is not traded by weight but by perceived thickness 😗 Ah, well...
I am regularly thumping my nose at turkish jewelry shops here.
(light version)

The way I see it, yes.
There is a narrative of silver waiting for a breakout (e.g. Mike Maloney), which promoted silver. Silver is also an acceptable investment in the US, where there's no VAT in most states.
But VAT is killing the idea in Britain and most of Europe. It used to be a viable idea, the Silver Forum used to import VAT free silver from the baltic states, (for me) Germany had only 7% on silver coins, but those times are gone.
I say you can put a couple kilos aside as a speculative investment if you're adventurous. If silver does explode, you will at least participate, but don't build your investment strategy on it. Getting some collectible coins will be nice and affordable in silver, if you can avoid milk spotting or tarnishing.
All in all gold does not have any of those problems. Fractional, or trade coins are good options for entry level investment. And if you want to speculate on silver maybe get paper silver.

I got a whole set of Queen's Beasts in silver (plus a couple extras). I put them into the vault and did not look at them. When I finished the set this year I got them together and found a certain level of whiffing or smudging. They're still okay if looked at from afar, but it's not a pristine set. Now I know it's only bullion, but the price development tells otherwise. At that moment I realized silver cannot be a serious investment for me.
I would still collect any reasonably priced bullion series if I liked it, because it's cheap enough. And I would get any silver at melt or even spot (wishful thinking).
I envy our american friends as silver is different over there. And I would love to stack more bars. Cast bars are a thing to behold, but cast gold bars are out of my investment range.

I got a whole set of Queen's Beasts in silver (plus a couple extras). I put them into the vault and did not look at them. When I finished the set this year I got them together and found a certain level of whiffing or smudging. They're still okay if looked at from afar, but it's not a pristine set. Now I know it's only bullion, but the price development tells otherwise. At that moment I realized silver cannot be a serious investment for me.
I would still collect any reasonably priced bullion series if I liked it, because it's cheap enough. And I would get any silver at melt or even spot (wishful thinking).
I envy our american friends as silver is different over there. And I would love to stack more bars. Cast bars are a thing to behold, but cast gold bars are out of my investment range.

The way I see it, yes.
There is a narrative of silver waiting for a breakout (e.g. Mike Maloney), which promoted silver. Silver is also an acceptable investment in the US, where there's no VAT in most states.
But VAT is killing the idea in Britain and most of Europe. It used to be a viable idea, the Silver Forum used to import VAT free silver from the baltic states, (for me) Germany had only 7% on silver coins, but those times are gone.
I say you can put a couple kilos aside as a speculative investment if you're adventurous. If silver does explode, you will at least participate, but don't build your investment strategy on it. Getting some collectible coins will be nice and affordable in silver, if you can avoid milk spotting or tarnishing.
All in all gold does not have any of those problems. Fractional, or trade coins are good options for entry level investment. And if you want to speculate on silver maybe get paper silver.

Hello everyone
I'm new here on the forum and I thought this query would serve as my "introduction".
I live in Europe and for a long time I have been interested in prepping etc. One area where I haven't prepped is when it comes to money, because I'm not really money-oriented.
However, I'm not blind to inflation and since I've gotten a better personal economy with time, I've wanted to get into silver stacking. I like the idea of it because of the off-grid nature of it, both away from electronics and the banks in general.
 
Now, I've looked around for quite a bit, trying to garner general knowledge of the business so to speak and now I'm looking to make my first purchase. From what I've seen these two get mentioned quite often when it comes to good stores. From what I've seen, I haven't found any good lists of actual store/sites, hence me asking. If you have any other that are equal or better, I'd love to hear of them.
EuropaBullion
GoldSilver
 
Secondly, I will be doing this mainly as inflation protection, not to continually trade that specific coin from that year etc, not as a collector basically. At least not to start off.
So the second part is this: From what I've seen, Europa Bullion's "Goddess Europa" coin and "Bull/Bear" coin, along with the Philharmoniker coin, seems to be the cheapest 1oz units, considering both coins and rounds. Am I correct in this? (in general of course)
As a stacker, should I be going for these (or any that are the cheapest) as the most silver for my money, or is there a good reason to buy, for example silver maple or silver eagles instead?
Or some of several?
Thanks in advance for any wisdom you may impart.

Welcome to the forum, and I have started as a stacker also. That quickly went out the door when I started collecting consecutive dates, then also different coins, and before you know it you are paying crazy premiums for that specific coin ;).
I like Goldsilver as a European dealer. Many on this forum can tell you otherwise because some had bad experiences, but my business with them has always been good. 
I also stack Philharmoniker coins, they come out cheapest and are also beautiful coins. There are 20 in a tube so a little less coins per tube than other mints use. But that means you don't have to spend much to have 20 coins protected in a plastic tube at once