Are 1920-1946 silver sixpences worth stacking?

[KleinerVogel]

I often feel slightly envious of our American cousins who can quite frequently still find free silver in their change. But for us Brits, we're not so lucky. Best we can hope for is an old copper 2p or 1p. With that said, I was wondering if buying sixpences is worth the time and money? I've noticed one of my favorite dealers sells them for 3 quid a pop, I have been tempted to buy a few just to own them, not because I think I'd ever make any kind of profit on them in the future. They are only a few grams of 50% silver I believe, so yes £3 does seem like not a great investment. I could be wrong though, which is why I thought I'd ask here.

I probably will get a few though regardless, just to own them, as I enjoy collecting coins, even non PM coins. But are they worth stacking?

 

Thanks.

[Bigmarc]

Put a wanted add on here if you want some. Should easily get them for less than £1 each. 

[JamesH]

Forgot I had these in the draw. Personally I think there’s something quite attractive about the sixpence

[KleinerVogel]

1 hour ago, Bigmarc said:

Put a wanted add on here if you want some. Should easily get them for less than £1 each. 

That sounds a better price! I have yet to dip my toe into the buying side of things here. Will look into it. Thanks.

1 hour ago, JamesH said:

Forgot I had these in the draw. Personally I think there’s something quite attractive about the sixpence

Nice picture, yeah i agree. I've never stacked "junk" silver before though, so not sure where to get started. Or what price is fair per coin. I would like to own a hand full though just to play with them from time to time. 😂

Edited March 9, 2023 by KleinerVogel
Spelling correction

[JamesH]

4 minutes ago, KleinerVogel said:

That sounds a better price! I have yet to dip my toe into the buying side of things here. Will look into it. Thanks.

Nice picture, yeah i agree. I've never stacked "junk" silver before though, so not sure where to get started. Or what price is fair per coin. I would like to own a hand full though just to play with them from time to time. 😂

Yes sir, that’s all I do with them. Picked them up as part of a larger sale in the metal ‘magic bank’ tubes. Make a nice item on a desk to mess about with once in a while 👍🏼

[FriedrichVonHayek]

I started buying Pre 1947 Silver a few months ago as you can buy it for close to spot and it is easy to sell to a scrap dealer for around 10% under spot which is a much better spread compared to buying .999.

 

[stefffana]

All the old british currency is worth stacking. It is very safe, there are not counterfeits (excepting of course rare years or denominations), easy to sell on the private market, so in my opinion it is a good buy if you can have it at spot. If you are after small pre 47 coins, I am very sure you can find on forum people happy to sell them at spot.

I will tag on here @davidcaia and @arphethean who can help you with kilos of pre 47 british coins, but there are many members who accumulated big quantities and will be more than happy to sell or swap some weight.

About having for fun, what can I say more? Just imagine a pirate treasure chest full of cheap silver, with no fear about handling, fingerprints, milk spots, with a certain intrinsic value. You can play poker with your fiends using real money, you can have fun with your kids numbering and counting...

Cheers!

Stefan.🤗

[Arganto]

Think of a budget for your first spend on them, put up a wanted ad, make a trade hopefully with someone who regularly sells in bulk and set up a regular trading relationship through DMs. If you become a reliable regular buyer you may get some great rates.

eBay has hugely inflated the perceived worth of old British currency. There will come a time where half decent examples will increase in value everywhere but current there is still enough of it around to not have to pay big premiums. 

Personally I just pick up the odd piece now and then because I like having an affordable bit of history that also happens to carry some intrinsic value. That said it has 'stacking' potential, just be aware that if selling to a dealer there is a reduction factored in to their buying price due to the lesser metal content, especially in the case of .500. So for example if you sell a kilo of .500 they won't necessarily give you the spot value of 500g of silver; it will be a percentage under that again.

[davidcaia]

Thanks for tagging me @stefffana, 

I'm a big fan of pre 47 coins indeed, I don't really have anything available atm, I tried to sell under spot actually a couple of weeks ago but there was no interest on here..

I always take the spot as reference, there is also no surprise to see dealers paying less and selling expensive but I suppose that's the business at the end of the day...

[SidS]

I don't know why you guys don't sell it on eBay (well I do, with the hassle and fees etc.) but eBay will get you higher sales prices in the long run. I never had any problems shifting pre-47 (or pre-20) on there.

I never had any issues with buyers of this material either.

Show some good photos, plus on scales for weight. Then list which coins are present:

Sixpences

1929x2, 1930x3, 1936x5, 1944x8 etc.

Don't forget to describe them as junk and utter c**p (if they are). I always did.

The buyers have no comeback then when they say, "It wasn't what I expected."

I once sold a load on there and listed a long list of defects: holed, bent, damaged, corroded, pitted, dipped, cleaned and generally ex-dug up cast offs. And they flew off the shelf. People like to know exactly what they're getting.

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by SidS

[Divmad]

On 10/03/2023 at 07:55, FriedrichVonHayek said:

I started buying Pre 1947 Silver a few months ago as you can buy it for close to spot and it is easy to sell to a scrap dealer for around 10% under spot which is a much better spread compared to buying .999.

 

Sorry, but why would you buy junk silver 6d's for close to spot, and then sell them back to a scrap dealer for 10% under spot?

[FriedrichVonHayek]

1 hour ago, Divmad said:

Sorry, but why would you buy junk silver 6d's for close to spot, and then sell them back to a scrap dealer for 10% under spot?

It's a far lower spread than buying .999 Silver.

[Bigmarc]

40 minutes ago, FriedrichVonHayek said:

It's a far lower spread than buying .999 Silver.

And it stays in the same condition you bought it in.

[stefffana]

21 hours ago, Divmad said:

Sorry, but why would you buy junk silver 6d's for close to spot, and then sell them back to a scrap dealer for 10% under spot?

Selling at dealer  under spot is only as an emergency quick solution. The stack of pre47 silver coins can be sold on private market for spot or even a little better. It is nothing to lose in stacking circulated old currency.

 

[artalien]

I'd say it is worth considering how much of the pre 47 or 20 is still out there. I wonder if anyone has estimates?

[SidS]

Pre-1947 isn't rare at all. There's tons of the stuff. Never a shortage.

Pre-1920 material however is growing scarcer. A lot of the lower bulk grade stuff is invariably getting worse condition wise. I guess a lot of the medium and upper grade material is now being sold separately as numismatic.

Anything pre-Vicky jubilee head is turning up less and less.

Only George V material seems as numerous as always.

[artalien]

2 minutes ago, SidS said:

Pre-1920 material however is growing scarcer. A lot of the lower bulk grade stuff is invariably getting worse condition wise.

I made the mistake of buying some of that, I am new to all things PM and coins but I'd urge caution when considering buying such stuff. Good grades are a different story ofc.

[artalien]

On 09/03/2023 at 17:04, Bigmarc said:

Put a wanted add on here if you want some.

Doing so is asking to be mugged in my experience. Better wait till a sales post is up.

[Bigmarc]

1 hour ago, artalien said:

Doing so is asking to be mugged in my experience. Better wait till a sales post is up.

Yes you are right, I was just trying to help the op as he was going to buy some 50% sixpences at £3 a pop. The are only really worth between 80 to 90 pence. 

 

[artalien]

3 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

I was just trying to help the op

And that's where TSF shines.