Half Sovereign or 6oz of Siver?

[LongJonsSilverStack]

Hi, I'm a new member here and relatively new to stacking precious metals, I'm just wondering what most stackers would prefer to stack, I think 1 half sovereign is roughly the same price as about 6oz of silver, so say 6 1oz Silver Britannias or other government minted coins. So would you prefer the 1 gold half sovereign or the 6 1oz silver government minted coins? please explain your reason. Thanks.

[flyingveepixie]

Each to their own.

A lot of people have an aesthetic sentimentality towards silver but personally I'd go for the half sov every time.

Others may think differently.

Edited July 14, 2023 by flyingveepixie

[Sanctuary79]

Hi, and welcome.

From a personal perspective - I would pick the half sov, however, this answer would probably vary from month to month, depending on which I fancied.

I would ask yourself the question of what you want it for - for me, I love the feel of a 1oz silver coin, and to look at a pile of 6 x 1oz, looks nicer than 1 (relatively small) gold coin. However, for a store of value, and, most likely, ease of resale should the need arise, I'd pick the gold. Everyone recognises a sovereign, and a half sov is well within most budgets.

 

 

 

 

[Thelonerangershorse]

If you're planning to stack for the long term, I'd say the half sov. if you just buy 1 a month then in a year, 12 half sovs will fit easily in the palm of your hand, 72 brits is just short of 3 tubes and 2.5kg.

[monkey]

Hi @LongJonsSilverStack Welcome to The Silver Forum

You will probably get many different answers to this. I would make an action plan as to what your stacking for. Is it for a pretty shiny stack to look and and admire or are you stacking for financial and investment reasons?

I would personally take three things into perspective.

1. Is this a hobby purchase for something nice to have or an investment? If hobby, then buy what pulls at your heart strings most. If investment look below
2. If investing I would look at how much I already have in my stack and decide if it was a balanced ratio stack of gold and silver.
3. look at where the gold silver ratio is and have defined points where you would weight your precious metals purchasing to gold or silver. For example if the ratio is high like now i would buy more silver then gold with intent to convert silver to gold when the ratio has moved a good percentage in my favor.

I suppose you would also look into are you wanting to hold your purchase for any length of time or sell relatively quickly. I'm guessing by your question this would be in the context of a buy and hole purchase as part of a monthly addition to your stack?

I'm at a point now where I will probably start buying gold again as my stacks rather weighted in silver and the gold silver ratio has come down to a point where I'm considering getting some small percentage of gold in my stack again.

Hope that helps and enjoy being part of the forum

 

[Silverlocks]

12 hours ago, LongJonsSilverStack said:

Hi, I'm a new member here and relatively new to stacking precious metals, I'm just wondering what most stackers would prefer to stack, I think 1 half sovereign is roughly the same price as about 6oz of silver, so say 6 1oz Silver Britannias or other government minted coins. So would you prefer the 1 gold half sovereign or the 6 1oz silver government minted coins? please explain your reason. Thanks.

In the UK, VAT on silver ganks it for stacking, particularly if purchased from a dealer.  The spreads make it quite inefficient as a savings medium.  The spreads on a half sovereign are much lower, so (all other things being equal) you will get more of your money back.

If you're really looking to put a couple of hundred a month away, then get a half sovereign.  However, all is not lost with silver.  You can purchase off the secondary market at a price that will let you re-sell without wearing so much in the way of transaction costs.  Various regulars here buy monster boxes of silver coins and re-sell at a reasonable price; these folks are far more cost-effective than dealers.

There are also vendors here and on FB that sell sovs at a better price than the dealers typically do, although the conventional dealers are good value for sovs at the moment due to current market conditions.  

As an option, consider buying a half sov once per month, and maybe one or two tubes of Brits every year to have some silver that complements the gold.  If you can stretch to a sov per month or more, then so much the better.

The zen of using precious metals for saving is to buy enough that you're almost broke, and you then get in the habit of not spending money on c**p because you don't have the money to spend, but you do have some preciousssshiny things to show for your efforts that you can get the value back out of with relatively modest transaction costs.  This means that the money gets saved and stays saved.  You can still flog a few sovs if you really need it.  If you don't overpay and can live with a little volatility in the spot price (gold is pretty stable in this regard), the transaction costs are a few percent at most, so you can get your money back out without losing much on the transaction.  This is the 'pay yourself first' principle that you see in hagiographic biographies about rich people, and it works fairly well if you can keep your savings most of the time; i.e. don't spend money you need for something else.

In order to do this you need to get a bit of track record trading on the secondary market as you need to consider your exit strategy (i.e. how are you going to flog your PMs to get your money back out).  In the UK, the two places are here on TSF and various precious metal trading groups on FB.  It's worth your while just periodically buying and selling here to maintain a presence in the community.  You might even meet some like minded idiofine people here.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Silverlocks

[HonestMoneyGoldSilver]

Some good info above

My first purchases were gold, it's all I bought for years. I didn't consider silver as I was buying from the Royal Mint and when I put silver in my basket and saw the adjustments for VAT, I immediately took it back out again

Gold is the ultimate monetary security, everybody should own gold to protect themselves. Low-premium fractional like sovs and half-sovs are an excellent choice for potential future resale. Not everybody today can afford an ounce or a full sov so we must assume even less people will be able to afford them in future, making fractional more attractive

Buying on TSF you will get 7 ounces of nice silver plus change for the same price as a half sov (£185) (you could choose a mixture of Eagles, Pandas, Lunar Rabbits, Maples and Britannias from the same seller and have them delivered for £185 or less). You could also buy 8 Britannias at current prices of around £23/each for £184

Good advice is fiduciary - i.e. this is what I did/would do with my own money in your position. I would buy gold first and add silver later. Consider it like building a house. The foundations and structural supports aren't fancy and if you're smart, nobody will ever see them - this is your gold. The interior design is shiny and on view, it will likely be refreshed a few times in your lifetime - this is your silver

[JamesH]

I would prefer, and indeed do, stack sovereigns/half sovereigns but that’s me. My simple answer for someone new to this would be to begin by doing what brings you the greatest amount of joy. If that’s a half Sov, fabulous. If it’s a handful of silver, equally fabulous. By doing what you enjoy, that’s how habits are formed and how you’ll likely get sucked in like the rest of us 👍🏼

[Minted]

If it's a choice between a half sov or 6 silver Britannia's then I'd just go for the half sov.  Better value for money.  Takes up less storage space.

If you want to collect something with visual interest and different designs, then 6oz of various silver could give you more enjoyment.  Afterall, one tiny half sov isn't much to look at.

I have a bit of both myself. 🙂

Edited July 14, 2023 by Minted

[SidS]

Half sov.

[stefffana]

I am trying always to have in my stack approximately the same value gold/silver. So my answer is one month gold, one month silver.

I totally agree that having only gold is more convenient to stack, but the pleasure is almost 0.

Diversifying is more enjoyable and give me a little room to play the gold/silver ratio game.

I have in my stack gold and silver in many shapes and purities. My gold is in coins and jewellery shapes, my silver is in .999 bars, flatware and circulated silver world coins .800 to .925. I am happy with this and I will continue to build my stack in the same style. 

 

[theman73]

''Noteworthy is that in the instances of gold-seizures, US compulsory purchase of all gold in 1934, UK requiring all gold be submitted to the treasury in 1939 (outbreak of WW2), is that in both cases silver was excluded from that.'' (a forum member)

All the way for silver.

Edited July 15, 2023 by theman73

[ZRPMs]

Half sovereign. No hesitation. Tax on silver in the UK knocks it out of the running for me. If your a collector and like the silver coins, fine. For stacking purposes, gold. With silver your in the hole for 20% straight away. Even pre-owned carries at least 10% of the original tax as a premium. It might be argued that in this case your only in the hole for 10%. But. In an emergency. Try going to a dealer and getting much more than spot for your silver. Gold on the other hand. 

 

[Dankanugget]

Half sov

[theman73]

2 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

With silver your in the hole for 20% straight away.

You are wrong.

I guarantee that buying from me the Lunar Rabbit coins for £26 will not generate a loss, quite the opposite.

You are right at the same time but only if you buy your silver from dealers.

Your choice.

Edited July 15, 2023 by theman73

[stefffana]

3 minutes ago, theman73 said:

You are wrong.

I guarantee that buying for me the Lunar Rabbit coins for £26 will not generate a loss, quite the opposite.

You are right at the same time but only if you buy your silver from dealers.

Your choice.

Yep. The premium paid when buying silver from forum will be easily recovered when selling on secondary market.

Will be a loss only for those who will sell to dealers.

[ZRPMs]

3 minutes ago, theman73 said:

You are wrong.

I guarantee that buying for me the Lunar Rabbit coins for £26 will not generate a loss, quite the opposite.

You are right at the same time but only if you buy your silver from dealers.

Your choice.

But that was my point in saying "In an emergency. Try going to a dealer and getting much more than spot for your silver." There will always be individuals or even the odd dealer that are the exception to the rule. but you have to search for them. I'm not against silver. I did say " If your a collector and like the silver coins, fine."

I have silver coins, bars, rounds and other Items. From my experience silver has always been harder to move in a quantity and a value that makes a difference if you need it. Lets say you need £2,500 for a boiler replacement. How much silver do you need to move to cover that. Chances are its kilo's of coins, bars, etc and also multiple customers. If in an emergency situation (Wife and kids freezing in the middle of winter). What are you going to do. Gas man can come tomorrow but he want's paying tomorrow. Is it a dealer or multiple listings here, ebay, facebook, where ever. As with all post's on here, they are personal opinions not financial advise. 

Personally I have 6 times more silver than gold in weight. However, given the choice, and yes it is my opinion. Gold half sovereign every time. And, as its is my choice, how can I be wrong. We are only giving points of view here. To be honest I would choose gold over platinum also and I have some of this also just for a balanced collection. 

[Silverlocks]

17 hours ago, ZRPMs said:

But that was my point in saying "In an emergency. Try going to a dealer and getting much more than spot for your silver." There will always be individuals or even the odd dealer that are the exception to the rule. but you have to search for them. I'm not against silver. I did say " If your a collector and like the silver coins, fine."

I think this is the issue with silver in the UK.  You're essentially flogging to other stackers if you don't want to take a bath on the price.  This is getting a bit close to greater fool theory, as your market could tank for the same reason you do, and you don't have any other exit strategy.  With the price structure in the UK, this means that your value at risk is something like 30% of the value of your silver holdings, even without a change in spot.  Unfortunately there are no alternative markets you can flog it into, so you have a single point of failure in your exit strategy.  With gold the same thing can happen but the value at risk is more like 10%.

Edited July 16, 2023 by Silverlocks