Selling up experience?

[Hunter87]

I could be wrong but I don’t see many people posting on here about how they got on when the time came to sell their stack which I think is a real shame as the information could potentially help others avoid any pitfalls down the line. 
 

If any members would like to share I would be interested to know the following.

If you could do it all again what would you change?

Did you stick to mostly bullion? 
 

What metal did you stack the most of and why? Or did you have a bit of everything?

When you bought did you buy from dealers or second hand?

when you decided to liquidate your stack did you sell to a dealer or privately? 
 

Do you have any advice for new stackers?

 

If any one else has other questions please feel free to post them here so we can all benefit.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Hunter87

[365DaysofSilver]

4 minutes ago, Hunter87 said:

I could be wrong but I don’t see many people posting on here about how they got on when the time came to sell their stack which I think is a real shame as the information could potentially help others avoid any pitfalls down the line. 
 

If any members would like to share I would be interested to know the following.

If you could do it all again what would you change?

Did you stick to mostly bullion? 
 

What metal did you stack the most of and why? Or did you have a bit of everything?

When you bought did you buy from dealers or second hand?

when you decided to liquidate your stack did you sell to a dealer or privately? 
 

Do you have any advice for new stackers?

 

If any one else has other questions please feel free to post them here so we can all benefit.

 

Thanks in advance.

Love this! Great topic idea💡 

As a new stacker that only started this year, I would also be interested to hear from stackers that have been in the game for 10+ years!

[dicker]

Hi - good topic for conversation.  

I have not sold anything, ever (other than helping a fellow member dispose of his investments).

Personally, for me it is for the very long term and if I have to sell, it will be in dribs and drabs.  Some of the Au and Ag  has numismatic value but for the rest I will dispose of privately on the forum if it is still around.  

My experience helping a fellow forum member sell was that .925 was hard to sell.  
 

Best

Dicker

[SidS]

I once had a stack of sovereigns and halves, about £10 face in total. Purchased between 2000 and 2005 ($250-$350 Oz on average). Gold was on the up in 2009 heading towards the $800-$1200 oz, so I liquidated them and made quite a bit. Two thirds went to pay off a fair few things which needed taking care of.

The remaining third was spent purchasing some Anglo-Saxon coins. I wish I could say the latter was a good purchase, but they've mostly remained static or fallen in value over the years, so I lost out there. But such is the way with antiques and collectables, items go in and out of fashion.

So yes liquidating can lead to profits if done right, but those profits can be squandered!

Note I also cashed in before the peak of the market, imagine if I'd waited until the heights of 2011!

[BullionBob]

Firstly, I think you really have to enjoy the hobby of precious metals otherwise it would be easy to lose interest in continuing to make purchases. I have seen many new stackers / collectors enter the market and invest heavily, only to quickly lose interest when the hype disappears and then selling at a loss. Precious metals will rarely make anyone rich but they can be a fun way to accumulate wealth / store funds over a long period and of course hopefully retain purchasing power.

I would always encourage new stackers to make a few sales to become familiar with the process, as it can sometimes be time consuming and may not suit everyone.

However, it was only through experience and selling many items online over a period of time, that I discovered what worked best for me. I remember watching an old you tube video from 'Cull Silver', who is a long term stacker in the USA and he explained that he only truly learned what silver to buy once he had attempted  to sell some silver, and this really stuck with me and it's so true.

I guess if I was starting out again in 2021, I personally would focus mainly on bullion sovereigns and Pre 1920 British scrap silver coins, as they are highly liquid and tend to be a spot price play, and limit my premium purchases to a small amount of collectable pieces.

However, i'm sure many other forum members will have different views and ideas and that's what makes this community great.

Finally, there is a lot more resources available now online and via The Silver forum to help new stackers make educated decisions, compared to the limited information available 5 years ago and if you are unsure about anything, you can always ask question via this forum, prior to making a purchase.

Hope this helps.

 

Edited October 11, 2021 by BullionBob
.

[SidS]

I'll echo that. Although I don't bother with gold anymore, I do still buy silver from time to time. I tend to purchase pre-1920 coins off of eBay every once in a while. Cherry pick the better grading and problem free coins and retain those. The lower grade/damaged and butt ugly stuff, I pile on one side until I have a fair quantity and then chuck it on eBay to clear it.

I have never had a problem shifting pre-1920 coins, they sell like hot cakes, even the most hideous and horrendous of them - the ex-dipped horror stories that look like they've got leprosy sell just as well as the run of the mill worn stuff.

[365DaysofSilver]

Some amazing advice coming in already 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[Bigmarc]

About twenty years ago I use to work in Germany. I noticed bullion coins being sold from banks, in the exchanges in the airports and many coin dealer shops. That is where and when it started. I traveled a lot with work and most European countries seem to have this easily available and most of my expenses went on this new hobby. Back then you tube channels were virtually unheard of, I think I followed one (maybe shadow stack) not sure. At the time I never paid much attention to the price and just picked it up as and when.

 

If you could do it all again what would you change?

Buy only British coinage. Don't get me wrong I am a sucker for something that looks nice but it can be a pain if you want to sell, if you don't sell that often. I should have started with gold sooner also. It's not a good plan to have all eggs in one basket.

 

Did you stick to mostly bullion? 

In the beginning yes, wasn't until I stopped working away when I seeked an alternative. Moved on to mainly pre decimal.

What metal did you stack the most of and why? Or did you have a bit of everything?

I am a silver stacker through and through and only in the last year did I cash out on the hype and invest in some gold. I do stack copper and tin also but at some point this will be sold and spent on silver or gold.

When you bought did you buy from dealers or second hand?

Majority was bought second hand after about ten years. I never went in to this seriously until then. I lost a lot of money in shares after the credit crunch so moved on. 

when you decided to liquidate your stack did you sell to a dealer or privately? 

 I've done this three times now. eBay use to do max fees £1 so there was barely any cost involved in selling. I have also sold bits on here,. Gold and silver. Nothing wrong with dealers as it's instant money but if you are looking to maximize, then eBay is best bet if you can grab one of their promotions here is good but trust needs to be built.

 

Do you have any advice for new stackers?

Keep a open mind and try not to follow the heard. Ask yourself why you want to do this and what do you want to achieve (something I had never done). Some people buy a amount every month and some save and wait for the dip. Which one are you? If you haven't got a b/s filter don't watch any YouTube channel. Pick multiple platforms that you could sell on and build up a selling profile if you wish to play the market. Maybe start buy buying coin lots, take out the crowns and florins then sell the rest (i did this for a while on eBay). 

[Gordy]

4 hours ago, Hunter87 said:

I could be wrong but I don’t see many people posting on here about how they got on when the time came to sell their stack which I think is a real shame as the information could potentially help others avoid any pitfalls down the line. 
 

If any members would like to share I would be interested to know the following.

If you could do it all again what would you change?

Did you stick to mostly bullion? 
 

What metal did you stack the most of and why? Or did you have a bit of everything?

When you bought did you buy from dealers or second hand?

when you decided to liquidate your stack did you sell to a dealer or privately? 
 

Do you have any advice for new stackers?

 

If any one else has other questions please feel free to post them here so we can all benefit.

 

Thanks in advance.

Very good topic, i cant really keep on topic for it though as i wont get rid of my stack, i buy and sell as i go and always look to add to it and any gains offset what i buy so my treasure grows with minimum cost... hopefully... i love the silver and will keep getting an odd gold thingy but the shiny stuff gets me googly eyed... 

[Foster88]

4 hours ago, dicker said:

My experience helping a fellow forum member sell was that .925 was hard to sell.  

This surprises me or maybe it doesn’t.

I quite like antique .925 sterling silver and you can get some very nice pieces from cutlery sets to tea sets to even cigarette cases.

I’ve noticed since buying PM’s over the last 10 years that many now just seem to buy, especially antique silver for spot price.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the same. Although times and habits have changed and people no longer get their best silver tea set out for visitors, I still like it.

I used an antique set of silver teaspoons a few years ago and I’m sure I still have the blisters. 😆 Those things get bloody hot.

But silver is silver!!

[Roy]

9 hours ago, Hunter87 said:

I could be wrong but I don’t see many people posting on here about how they got on when the time came to sell their stack.

Why is that?  

[Alex944]

Early on in my stacking journey the best advise I had was ''know your exit strategy before buying something'' and that is really something to take into consideration. Gold and silver will always sell at a price, the question is only if you are happy with the price for which it sells. So in terms of purchases, if you are planning to hold for a considerable period of time (10+ years I'd say), it really doesn't matter that much what you buy as long as you enjoy it.

Now I've been dabbling a bit in buying silver/gold, and than trading off one of the two in favour of the other. In that regard, the higher liquidity the better, so sticking with popular bullion coins (Brits, Krugs, (half)sov's) is the way to go in my opinion. I've also bought a few  premium / collectable pieces for ''investment' purposes and I found it incredibly hard to shift them when I tried, despite some of these coins being absolutely amazing! But it taught me a good lesson about considering my purchases better. These have now been added to the long term stack and I'll figure out what to do with them in the years to come.

Bottom line really:

1) Know your exit strategy before buying
2) Short term buys - popular coins that are highly liquid
3) Long term buys - basically buy whatever you fancy 
4) Enjoy the hobby either way.

 

[SidS]

8 hours ago, Foster88 said:

This surprises me or maybe it doesn’t.

I quite like antique .925 sterling silver and you can get some very nice pieces from cutlery sets to tea sets to even cigarette cases.

I’ve noticed since buying PM’s over the last 10 years that many now just seem to buy, especially antique silver for spot price.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the same. Although times and habits have changed and people no longer get their best silver tea set out for visitors, I still like it.

I used an antique set of silver teaspoons a few years ago and I’m sure I still have the blisters. 😆 Those things get bloody hot.

But silver is silver!!

Yes I know what you mean about the blisters. Silver tea spoons really aren't a very good idea from a scientific point of view when you think of conductivity.

I've got a nice stack of cigarette cases and a fair few spoons/forks etc. Nice things.

I'd love to actually buy a full service set some day, all matching etc.

I do try and buy this stuff as close to spot as I can, sometimes though I have gone in on the heavy side on the odd item here and there. Especially on the Russian empire era silver spoons.

I wouldn't go any where near as high on continental silver, but something inside says Russian stuff has a good future market in the way that say Spanish, Swedish or Belgian never would.

[modofantasma]

As mentioned above at a low enough price anything will sell...

For an idea of what sells quickly take a look on the for sale section of the forum... You can see the market changes slightly over time, earlier in the year almost everything was selling quickly at quite a premium, now it seems like the semi scarce or collectible ish coins are perhaps a bit slower moving. 

If you buy lower premium say <5% then the price doesn't have to move a lot to put you in the green. If however you stack fractional and premium coins 10% 20 or even 30% it'll take a lot of movement of price to get to break even. Sure you might get some premium back on the 2nd hand market but you might need to wait for a while... I see the higher the premium the higher the risk.

I speak for bullion so proofs and graded coins may differ. 

[SidS]

12 hours ago, Bigmarc said:

Do you have any advice for new stackers?

Keep a open mind and try not to follow the herd.

...

Maybe start buy buying coin lots, take out the crowns and florins then sell the rest (i did this for a while on eBay). 

Yes to both.

I used to try and purchase lots with the larger coins (maybe not always the best sense as they can go higher than spot), but they are the better way of accumulating silver. Avoid threepences, they're just fiddly, annoying and lose a lot of their weight very quickly. If buying threepences buy on weight, not on face value (same could be said of others).

I'd also say know a little about the coin market too. It's getting harder to do. But say there's three Victorian crowns for sale on eBay, £25 each (ha yeah... right so cheap!) - 1887, 1888 and 1889. Know which order to buy them in. The 1888 would be my first choice (it's the rarer of the three), the 1887 would be my second (probably the best grader of the three), the 1889s are ten a penny. Highest mintage.

Also when coming to sell be bluntly honest, show the lots weight, tell them what's in it (I often list the dates and denominations). If some of the coins look awful, I actually state that they are dreadful, if some look great then maybe a separate photo of that one.

You'd be surprised how often playing on a coins weaknesses can actually get the thing sold.

I once acquired a fake Morgan dollar in a bulk silver buy from the States. It looked God awful, it was clearly fake to my eyes. I didn't complain or send it back as I'd got a good deal on all the other coins, but I knew I wasn't keeping it.

So I bundled it into a group of low grade and damaged silver culls, and put it up for sale on eBay. I stressed clearly that it was the most hideous and horrendous fake coin I had ever seen and that if it was genuine I'd go to the bottom of our stairs and eat my hat. Well I was inundated with questions from potential buyers who kept asking 'Are you sure it's fake? It could be genuine you know.' I'm like, no it is fake, so buy it as such.

The lot made a decent profit, more than I expected.

So being honest, brutally if required, seems to work.

[greendragon]

I had to sell mid covid to keep the business going

no grants or other eligibility , and self employed

It really hurts to sell proof sovs for less than spot because you need money fast

lessons learnt, 

even if you think you have enough cash for a rainy day, DOUBLE IT!

only stack what you are happy to sell, gold has low nutritional value

sterling silver coins do not sell well , its easier to sell .500 old coins than commemorative crowns

 

being philosophical about it , I DID put money into gold and silver for just such emergency's, or old age , whichever came first

so even though it was painful, it got me out of the sh*t

bear in mind that if the brown stuff hits the fan, it all happens fast

so you may not have the luxury of taking the time to advertise it and sell private, or in bulk, without taking a hit at a dealer

 

 

[Stuntman]

I have a numismatic predecimal coin collection (about 300 coins, a little bit of everything, some rare and valuable, some common and cheap), a physical PM coin and bar collection in gold, silver and platinum and a few gold bullion duplicate/spare coins.

I also have quite a bit of money invested in gold, silver and platinum ETFs.  The vast majority of my investments in silver and platinum are in the ETFs.

The gold spares/duplicates will be turned into cash once the gold price exceeds a certain value.  As will the ETFs if the  spot price for each metal exceeds a certain value.

The bulk of my numismatic predecimal coin collection will ideally never be sold in my lifetime, it will be passed on.  The PM coins and bars may be sold if I need to fund my old age, but I wlil aim to hold on to some of these items for as long as I possibly can just because of the pleasure of ownership. 

So for me - the ETFs are for selling, the gold bullion duplicates are for selling, and the rest is a collection that I would only sell if I absolutely had to.