inventory management

[Jake0111]

Im looking to sort out my collection and keep better track of things.

How is every one keeping track of whats in there collection and what they have payed for diffrent things? 

[modofantasma]

Welcome to the forum 👍🏼

📝 Pen and paper for me

[Bigmarc]

Can't remember how to share a link. Go to main page and scroll down to user guides. There are some freebies in there 

[Jake0111]

@modofantasma thanks im finding it alot better than the facebook groups. 

Im just using notes function on my phone at the moment, not the best.

@Bigmarc thanks ill have to go and have a look about and find it.

[SiCole]

MS Excel

[modofantasma]

I imagine there are some fancy spreadsheets kicking about.

Some useful info to include. Item, weight, cost, date of purchase, mintmarks or die numbers, % premium, source

With using paper the obvious issue is if it were lost or damaged, take a photo now and again of the page so there's a backup if needed 

 

[Zeuk]

Google sheets, backed up and easily accessible.

[Bixley]

9 minutes ago, SiCole said:

MS Excel

Me too. I have a spreadsheet where I can enter the gold price and it calculates the profit or loss on all the bullion items. 

[Jake0111]

1 hour ago, Bixley said:

Me too. I have a spreadsheet where I can enter the gold price and it calculates the profit or loss on all the bullion items. 

That sounds a good set up, did it take you long to do 

[Bixley]

6 minutes ago, Jake0111 said:

That sounds a good set up, did it take you long to do 

Um, that depends on how familiar you are with Excel! It didn't take me long and I take a print out of it to coin fairs so I know to avoid duplicate items.

[Jake0111]

2 hours ago, modofantasma said:

I imagine there are some fancy spreadsheets kicking about.

Some useful info to include. Item, weight, cost, date of purchase, mintmarks or die numbers, % premium, source

With using paper the obvious issue is if it were lost or damaged, take a photo now and again of the page so there's a backup if needed 

 

I hope you carry that around the coin fairs with you 😀🤣

[ZRPMs]

I use Excel. You can tailor it to what best suits your own needs, and to be fair, if a technophobic idiot like me can use it, it can't be that hard. I've managed to get mine to track just about everything apart from the colour of my undercrackers at the time of purchase.

[dicker]

Excel for me….because so can make it do anything and then some.

[ShineyMagpie]

I use a small accountancy style book, so I can put date, item, where, how much. Its pocket size so I can then carry it with me if I wish. I also then number items sequentially as I add, this also then correlates to an excel document. I then put a tiny sticker on coin case so all things tie together. That's just me though.

[ZRPMs]

Just a quick question linked to the question. What do people track in their inventory? Is it at spot or estimated Numismatic value of the coin? or even both? Just a thought. I just track the spot price. However I know there are some coins in my collection that are worth at least double the spot price.

[Silverlocks]

35 minutes ago, ZRPMs said:

Just a quick question linked to the question. What do people track in their inventory? Is it at spot or estimated Numismatic value of the coin? or even both? Just a thought. I just track the spot price. However I know there are some coins in my collection that are worth at least double the spot price.

I run mine as a ledger, with a purchase price and a sale price, as well as weight and a taxonomy of types (Brits, sovs, gold/silver etc.), plus a separate column for what I paid for shipping.  Purchases go in as a positive quantity, sales or swaps go in as a negative quantity.  The spreadsheet is set up to calculate the delta from a per-unit weight.

One can open a pivot table on it and see quantities, and also add plan figures to do what-if analysis.  By cutting off at dates and excluding plan figures, it's possible to get a profit and (mostly) loss from it.  The spreadsheet also lists the counterparty to the purchase or sale, and a reference to an invoice number, or (if sold here) a number that can be used to identify the URL for the PM conversation about the sale.  I've not attempted to cross-reference the sales to spot prices, but the dates are available so one could also pull historical spot prices from the data if one felt so inclined.

Why, yes, I am a nerd.  What makes you ask?

 

 

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, ZRPMs said:

Just a quick question linked to the question. What do people track in their inventory? Is it at spot or estimated Numismatic value of the coin? or even both? Just a thought. I just track the spot price. However I know there are some coins in my collection that are worth at least double the spot price.

What it is, who I bought it of, price paid and spot at the time. Also have screenshots of a conformation in a separate file just incase I need the info one day. 

Do the same for all other assets to.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Bigmarc

[ZRPMs]

1 hour ago, Silverlocks said:

I run mine as a ledger, with a purchase price and a sale price, as well as weight and a taxonomy of types (Brits, sovs, gold/silver etc.), plus a separate column for what I paid for shipping.  Purchases go in as a positive quantity, sales or swaps go in as a negative quantity.  The spreadsheet is set up to calculate the delta from a per-unit weight.

One can open a pivot table on it and see quantities, and also add plan figures to do what-if analysis.  By cutting off at dates and excluding plan figures, it's possible to get a profit and (mostly) loss from it.  The spreadsheet also lists the counterparty to the purchase or sale, and a reference to an invoice number, or (if sold here) a number that can be used to identify the URL for the PM conversation about the sale.  I've not attempted to cross-reference the sales to spot prices, but the dates are available so one could also pull historical spot prices from the data if one felt so inclined.

Why, yes, I am a nerd.  What makes you ask?

 

 

Just curious, I've added to mine over time so my older purchases have some of the info missing. I have it in my annual accounts but not in my Inventory sheet.  For my sovereigns I have, Coin date and the obverse, then details of the reverse (only needed for the Victoria's really). Mint marks. Weight (only for a total). Date purchased and cost. Same then for the Half sov's. Followed by a similar table for other 22 carat coins and a table for my 3 and 4 9's coins. The totals are then collated from this sheet and my silver sheet which is similar to the gold. Then at a glance I can see the qty of my gold, platinum and silver by Cost, Weight of fine gold (not the other 2 carat of c**p in the 22ct), The spot value and then any increase or loss from spot less cost. 

I thought I was a bit OTT glad to know I'm not, or just in the company of other metal nerds. I must say you've given me a couple of idea's to add to the inventory sheets. My aim was to have 5 to 10% of net worth in PM's so using spot was a good way of keeping track in general. The new 2023 aim is to stay between 10 to 20% whilst filling date runs on the sovereigns.

[Silverlocks]

I haven't done any tracking W.R.T. spot at this point, although I've got the date of the sale, so one could probably correlate it to the closing prices on the day - which would be close enough but not totally accurate.

 

 

[ZRPMs]

49 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

What it is, who I bought it of, price paid and spot at the time. Also have screenshots of a conformation in a separate file just incase I need the info one day. 

Do the same for all other assets to.

I do that for my annual accounts, but for my inventory, for quick reference of coins. I suppose any numismatic value would be harder to track for several different coins as some will come into demand whilst others may loose numismatic vale as they become less sought after. I've probably got too much time on my hand's if this is what's on my mind.   

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, ZRPMs said:

I do that for my annual accounts, but for my inventory, for quick reference of coins. I suppose any numismatic value would be harder to track for several different coins as some will come into demand whilst others may loose numismatic vale as they become less sought after. I've probably got too much time on my hand's if this is what's on my mind.   

A member kindly sent me his spreadsheet once, had links to live spot prices, marsh numbers and all sorts of different values but unfortunately the majority on my holdings are by the weight. If I buy a mix lot of 200 coins I don't want to list every individual florin and shilling. So just have basic info and screen shots incase the taxman comes a knocking. Also handy to know when to sell. I have nothing of any numismatic value and Purley buy on metal content. 

I have created a spread sheet on my phone so I can quickly add up multiple coin lots to determine what bid I place but that's as complicated as I like to get.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Bigmarc

[ZRPMs]

4 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

A member kindly sent me his spreadsheet once, had links to live spot prices, marsh numbers and all sorts of different values but unfortunately the majority on my holdings are by the weight. If I buy a mix lot of 200 coins I don't want to list every individual florin and shilling. So just have basic info and screen shots incase the taxman comes a knocking. Also handy to know when to sell. I have nothing of any numismatic value and Purley buy on metal content. 

I have created a spread sheet on my phone so I can quickly add up multiple coin lots to determine what bid I place but that's as complicated as I like to get.

I suppose it all depends upon what you're trying to achieve with the spreadsheet. As everyone's reason for stacking/ collecting is different, so too will be the spreadsheet. I only go for bullion myself as well, however I do have some more collectable and numismatic coins that came with some collections I've bought in the past. I think I'll stick as I am, on reflection it serves my needs. 

[ShineyMagpie]

i run mine similarly to others, as i mentioned in a previous comment i use excel and a accountancy book, for those that are interested book wise i use a " Collins Ideal - A6 Single Cash Book (Ref 411)" provides lines and columns so you can put seperate info.... in my case @ZRPMs Item number (everything gets a sequential number, so i can cross reference and label on item), Date purchased,  Item Description, Gold/ Silver/ Other,  My buy price (including postage etc as that what i have tied up in the item), Sale price (when i have sold an item)

[ZRPMs]

2 minutes ago, ShineyMagpie said:

Sale price (when i have sold an item)

I've wondered if I should add something like this to the inventory sheets. Currently I only record this info in my annual accounts and once sold I remove the item from the inventory.

[ShineyMagpie]

3 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

Currently I only record this info in my annual

For myself I like to keep a historic track of it for a few reasons A) curiosity I can see how much profit or loss I had per coin C) I can see how long I kept it for, to achieve said profit/ loss. Therefore can influence my future descions.