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Are we really stackers?


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Are we really stackers or just avid collectors of mostly modern coins?.

The stacking craze seems to have enveloped anyone who buys silver or gold, platinum etc, we get called stackers and compared to people who buy monster boxes of generic coins or massive ingots and then bury them under their outhouse for after the zombie horde or banks turn on each other in the hunger games.

It diminishes what we really are, which is mainly lovers of precious metals, coin collecting, amassing pension levels of intrinsic solid, hold in your hand wealth.

Calling us stackers belittles the effort and premiums we pay for that next coin, statue, nugget or ingot...we're not goldfinger or one of the hunt brothers, if we were wed not be paying two, three, ten times the spot for those illusive items or have a collection of Peter rabbits, snowmen, lunar 2s etc.

There is a big difference between stacking and collecting.

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Stackers are metal investors and savers. They buy the metal not the design, measure the value in ounces against spot price, and see the value of the metal in its economic attributes, mainly as to how it relates to the economic environment. 

A collector buys the design first, the metal only matters so much as how it changes the appearance. They may understand the underlying value of the metal but it doesn't matter so much as the design, the desirability, the collectability and various other intangible attributes. Sometimes the premium paid eclipses any value in the underlying metal and the link to gold and silver becomes irrelevant. With that in mind, I would feel belittled if called a collector, just as you have in mind the zombine Apocalypse when you think of stackers. ;)

They are different trades. You can do both. 

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4 minutes ago, KDave said:

Stackers are metal investors and savers. They buy the metal not the design, measure the value in ounces against spot price, and see the value of the metal in its economic attributes, mainly as to how it relates to the economic environment. 

A collector buys the design first, the metal only matters so much as how it changes the appearance. They may understand the underlying value of the metal but it doesn't matter so much as the design, the desirability, the collectability and various other intangible attributes. Sometimes the premium paid eclipses any value in the underlying metal and the link to gold and silver becomes irrelevant. With that in mind, I would feel belittled if called a collector, just as you have in mind the zombine Apocalypse when you think of stackers. ;)

They are different trades. You can do both. 

I do both but I'm not a stacker, nor am I a true collector..I don't spend $500 on a rare coin less it appeals to me...we all like good deals and perhaps so many of us have a small stack of generics but would I'm sure trade them away for a final piece to a collection we have or a more personal favorite, i see Whitman's as much as monster boxes...even when some on here have thousands of coins in their collections....I don't know if one of the sponsors has even sent out a box to any of the members...so we slightly stack as we believe the prices are low but collect knowing that the prices are more likely to stay or even drop on our 'investments' just because we like the design and hope one day someone else will..hopefully my great nephew.

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I’m a stacker. 

I buy for the weight. I dump quantities of it when the price is right. Occasionally I buy some silver or gold with a high premium when I know I can offload it later for a good price - and buy more weight (QB’s and Sovs for example). Very rarely something ‘cute’ catches my eye and I pick some quantity up. But mainly I buy cheap weight gold and silver. Yes I have some preferences to my weight. 

My stack is for pure financial gain and most of the time I wouldn’t remember what I have if I did not keep it itemised on my ledger. 

I don’t believe in a zombie apocalypse. Nor do I believe in a global financial melt down in my lifetime. What drives me? Having private wealth that I am able to liquify as easily as stacking currently allows me . 

I’m a stacker. 

 

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Don’t assume everyone buys rabbits, snowmen or the like.  I usually only dabble in modern coins unless they are particularly cheap and/or I like them.

I prefer to buy older coins that have some history and that are more interesting to me.  They are also less likely to drop in price like most modern coins do after any initial furore has died down.

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12 minutes ago, RoughDog said:

Looking at the latest group order and the huge amount of britannia's ordered.  Looks like there could be quite a few stackers on here.

 

But brits are not generics which are the cheapest you can get...if we are truly stackers wouldn't that be the coin of choice?...so called stackers here seemed to buy ASE's which are a premium coin for bullion...generics don't seem to sell in 500 oz monster boxes.

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7 minutes ago, DarkChameleon said:

But brits are not generics which are the cheapest you can get...if we are truly stackers wouldn't that be the coin of choice?...so called stackers here seemed to buy ASE's which are a premium coin for bullion...generics don't seem to sell in 500 oz monster boxes.

Cheapest Capital Gains Tax free in UK.

I would class someone who only buys silver and gold brits as a stacker.

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What does seem evident from the above thoughts and comments is that our community is a broad and diverse one when it comes to the reasons we buy/hold/sell PM coins and bars.

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8 hours ago, DarkChameleon said:

But brits are not generics which are the cheapest you can get...if we are truly stackers wouldn't that be the coin of choice?...so called stackers here seemed to buy ASE's which are a premium coin for bullion...generics don't seem to sell in 500 oz monster boxes.

1. A monster box of Britts boosts my stack at a lower premium (I buy more for less).

2. Generic rounds aren’t so popular in the UK and quite often are not as cheap.

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In my eyes, someone who tries to get one of each year, privi, etc is a collector. Someone who buys bulk and stores out of sight is a stacker.

The brits are one of the cheapest coins in Europe, so still fit with stacking.

Stackers need an exit plan and many feel Britannias are more liquid in the UK, so helps in that respect too.

If collecting for the sake of a collection, an exit plan is less important.

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This is a very good topic and one that could be debated till the cows come home. 

My view is that I am collecting a stack. My interest in the design doesn't take away from the fact that it's an investment towards my retirement.

Most people can only dream of buying a monster box (myself being one). But that doesn't mean that they are not stacking. one ounce at a time is stacking just at a slower rate and at a higher cost, this is just living within your means.  

 

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I would consider myself a stacker mostly. 95% of my stack is Britannia's. I have never collected a set so to speak, I just order what is best value at the time. Not necessarily cheapest as I have purchased queens beasts over Britannia's recently for the added potential premium down the line.
 

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I don't think any of us are ignoring spot value for now when we buy and the future when we or our inheritors sell...we may sell some to buy others, sell silver to buy gold and gold to buy silver depending on if we feel the value is with one over the other....I figured to collect so if the bottom fell out of the silver or gold or both then I'd have a nice collection, also being onky 50 I'm not in need of the funds directly and keeping a certain percentage of my pm's in generics I can sell if I think something else is better to own..I mixture of both stack, invest, collect and dare I say even metal detect which is the world's worst possible way to collect silver or gold.

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15 minutes ago, Fastnick said:

@DarkChameleon I reckon panning for gold in the UK has got to beat metal detecting hands down when it comes to the least efficient method of acquiring some of the shiny yellow stuff :D

Well we have to give at least a chance of getting gold, they don't even have black sand unless it's a tiny chance of gold in Wales.

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On 17/03/2019 at 06:39, DarkChameleon said:

Are we really stackers or just avid collectors of mostly modern coins?.

The stacking craze seems to have enveloped anyone who buys silver or gold, platinum etc, we get called stackers and compared to people who buy monster boxes of generic coins or massive ingots and then bury them under their outhouse for after the zombie horde or banks turn on each other in the hunger games.

It diminishes what we really are, which is mainly lovers of precious metals, coin collecting, amassing pension levels of intrinsic solid, hold in your hand wealth.

Calling us stackers belittles the effort and premiums we pay for that next coin, statue, nugget or ingot...we're not goldfinger or one of the hunt brothers, if we were wed not be paying two, three, ten times the spot for those illusive items or have a collection of Peter rabbits, snowmen, lunar 2s etc.

There is a big difference between stacking and collecting.

I would suggest not lumping us all into one box, since we're all from different backgrounds and different places.  And we're each doing our own thing.

For example, me.  I'm a stacker.  But I don't buy monster boxes, and I don't primarily buy the modern stuff either.  I primarily stack older silver US and Mexican coins, and after that I'll stack whatever cheap generic silver I can find.  Then after that, I'll buy what I consider to be collectible silver, or something that's part of a series that I like.  But first and foremost, it's about adding ounces to the stack.

Same goes for gold: first buy whatever is cheapest, then buy something more desireable when it's on sale.

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On 17/03/2019 at 14:56, KDave said:

A collector buys the design first, the metal only matters so much as how it changes the appearance. They may understand the underlying value of the metal but it doesn't matter so much as the design

I'm a stacker first, collector second. Having said that I must disagree with the above quote. While the design is important if we only valued the designs, not what they were on we may as well be collecting stamps. Some designs are also available in copper but while these can look good they're not worth anything. I'd rather have them in silver.

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Copper is worth something lots of people invest in copper my brother in law sparky makes decent money recycling it. Let's use your example, a copper coin is often so expensive compared to the copper price it's not an investment in the metal. That was the point. Such a collector is doing with metals what a stamp collector does with stamps, they are collecting the designs. 

There is the trap many fall into. There was a guy on YouTube who built his stack using coins he liked. When he added it all up, he had spent 5 thousand on a 3 thousand pound silver investment. Nothing wrong with doing that, but is it stacking?  

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Does it really matter?

It's like trying to differentiate between a passive investor, active investor, an bottom up investor, top down-investor, value investor, growth investor, speculator and trader.

They all have reasons for doing what they do, but they all buy (and ultimately sell) securities! 

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It doesn't really matter very true, people are just trying to make money, some from increasing price of the metal, some from the increase in premium. Call them what you want.

Somewhere in between - I remember perth mint lunar series used to be a good bet because the premium was low enough to justify the chance on the increase in premium, but near enough to spot that if the collector market dried up they would still have a decent investment in the metal and not need massive moves in spot to at least break even. The queens beasts coins are a bit like that. It depends what you want. The real differences between investment strategy comes at either end of the spectrum, some people paying many times the spot price for a 1 oz gold coin with a ship on it, and at the other end people buying or collecting scrap and throwing it in the garden shed like my brother in law. 

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When I started out a year ago I was adamant that I was going to be a stacker, not a "collector", and be hard-headed about what I purchased.  Then I started seeing the coin designs and the different series, and was bitten by the collecting bug.  So now I don't really have a coherent strategy, I just have an urge to continually accumulate for the long term.

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