My strategy. I LOVE MAPLES! What's yours?

Hi, everybody. Rather than starting an introduction, I thought I'd start a discussion. I am curious how everyone else stacks or saves or invests, or whatever you want to call it.

How do I compare to others? What do you think of my strategy?

Here it goes:

1. I buy Canadian Maples almost exclusively. I like their design better than any other bullion coin. I LOVE their security features and the ability to resell them assuredly with little question as to their authenticity. It also makes me feel totally confident buying.
2. I started buying one gold Maple a year. Now I have four, 2014-2017.
3. I also buy silver Maples. I have 45, mostly from 2015-2017, plus a couple from other years.
This is the focus of my bullion investing. Just stashing away a little extra in metals every year.


4. I also have a wide variety of other silver and gold that I was given as a kid, young adult, or simply picked up when I first started buying. However, it bothers me that it's not uniform, and my "stack" seems really messy and unfocused. This includes a couple hundred ounces of silver 10 oz and 1 oz bars, plus various world coins and junk US silver. Plus, a few more ounces of gold in older US gold coins and a few misc world gold coins.

5. Despite my desire to remain focused on bullion Canadian Maples, I have also recently started buying reverse proof privys. I must say, they are very, very, beautiful. I enjoy having a small "collection" going next to regular investing of bullion Maples.


How about you? Anyone similar in preference for Maples like me?

 

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Welcome in through the door. I am sure that you'll find loads of others with a similar motivation to yourself.

I also like the Maples - no gold yet but I have most years from the silver bullion range. In fact most of the Canadian bullion coins have pretty nice designs - I'm just not so keen on the milk spots!

 

My strategy is always to buy when I can get it for below melt - regardless of whether it's a coin, jewelry, bullion or even surplus computer e-waste.

If I can get a good deal on it, I'll buy it. To me, this is true "stacking" and maximizes my odds. I also treasure hunt whenever I can.

I have a numismatic side and there are a few coins that I've become infatuated with, but always realizing that they also have a melt value. Even copper cents.

I try to separate, sometimes the line is very fuzzy between numismatics and melt value - but I know where the line is.

I do buy bullion, but usually only bars. Modern coins have a premium that is rarely recognized when you go to sell - especially if you NEED to sell.

Anyhow, that's my strategy - buy at the right price - and know what the potential value is in the metal and numismatic value as well.

 

I don't stack much anymore. I like the design on the maple leaf silver. I once had (3) 1/10 ounce gold coins, but had to sell them because of hard times. I myself love the color of gold on the gold maple leafs. To me it's a more true gold color. Welcome to CT.

 

Weight. I want weight. I really don't care in what form. As long as it's .999 silver.

 

I love the Maple Design. Beautiful coin and with the Radial Lines now these are true gems. My only problems with buying Maples in bulk is the fear of getting milk spots. Because of that I will buy a single Maple here or there. I loved the Maple Supermans. I bought a few of those and sold them and gave them away as gifts.

With that being said, I love the ASE the most and I like to stack those, Generic rounds, 90%, 40%, and 10 oz bars. The Maples go into my miscellaneous category on my Silver tracking sheet. I really hope they do a Batman Maple this year.

 

Just for my own sake of enjoying their appearance, I worry a bit about the milk spots too. But, ultimately on the bullion Maple Leafs it doesn't matter at all. I purchase regular Maple Leafs for bullion investment, and I pay their small premium specifically for easy resale due to recognition and their security features. The radial lines and production date privy mark make them virtually impossible to counterfeit, so I know I am safe in my investment and can resell them easily.


Now, on the other hand, the few Reverse Proof privys I have started buying for collecting purposes are a different story. I worry about milk spotting on those. However, it seems reverse proofs have only a tiny possibility of milk spotting, so that's good. Plus, because I buy these for collecting purposes, I am only putting around $19-$23 into each coin and buying only one each and only a few total each year. So, while it would suck to see milk spots destroy their numismatic value, it wouldn't cause me any significant financial set back.

 

I tend to like the Maples as well. The $5.00 face does not hurt either, The way I see it anyways.

 

All in all, if it wasn't for the notorious Milk Spots I would stack Maples.

 

do you have any? no problems with spots here

 

I had a couple that had milk spots and sold them for melt value. That was all I could get. I bought some Superman Maples in bundles of 10 and those were gems.

 

i wonder if the previous owner stored them poorly?

 

I believe the Milk spots are the result of the Canadian Mint not how they are stored.

 

OK. I keep mine in a dry environment in flips and no spots

 

The problem is buying a tube of Maples. If you try to sell them and they have Milk spots you get no premium. The Canadians have some problem with their mint process that causes the spot before they leave the mint.

 

Milk spotted Maple Leafs still sell for a premium over spot. At least in my recent experience, around $2-$2.50 an ounce over.

 

I have no real idea if the more recent design hides milk spots better or if the RCM have developed a better process for them. Mine are stored nice and dry also but certainly the milk spits are noticeable on the old.

 

Years ago I bought some tubes of Canadian silver maples. Beautiful coins that did eventually get milk spots, although I did take them out of their tubes a few times and was not the best caretaker. I sold them and I believe I got a little over spot for them.

I will probably never buy tubes of silver maples again for various reasons. (1) Silver takes up too much space, (2) the premium on silver coins typically greatly exceeds that of gold coins (prefer buying NYSE: SLV for my silver exposure) and (3) I prefer the ASE’s to maples for the small amount of physical I have.

I did, however, buy the silver maple leaf privy marks for collecting purposes. Beautiful reverse proof coins. I keep them in air-tite holders.

I do have some gold maple leafs. The premium on these tends to be lower than other gold coins. I think the key is getting good prices and being opportunistic. eBay specials have had uncirculated $25 above spot. The gold maple leafs tend to be smaller (diameter) than the other coins but are quite thick. I do prefer the American Eagles and Buffalos to the maple leafs, but that is just personal preference.

 

In response to the original post, your strategy is fine.

I have been a stacker of silver and gold coins for the last five years. I started with mostly junk silver, then got into U.S. silver eagles, then U.S. silver proof sets and I have subsequently developed interests in Australian lunar coins, proof ASE's, and U.S. pre-1933 gold coins.

I have read many stories on CoinTalk about people getting into Roman coins or some other ancient series and then going off into one or several tangents that are nearly limitless - very interesting!

While I was stacking, I realized that I was developing attractions to coins beyond their bullion value. I see myself liquidating some of my stacks to delve into the pre-1933 gold coins, among others, in the near future.

Keep Stacking!

 

I enjoy the simple design of the Maple leaf. Very clean and beautiful. I also have been buying the reverse proof privy as well. That being said I also enjoy several other silver bullion coins. Libertads, American Eagles, Australian Lunar Coins, Kookaburras, Koalas, Britannia, Pandas, etc.