newbie stacker

Discussion in 'Bullion Investing' started by oobaa47, Sep 25, 2017.

  1. oobaa47

    oobaa47 New Member

    Hi guys, just ordered up my first batch of silver this week (10, 5, and 2 oz bars). Just wondering how you store your silver to prevent tarnishing, spots, etc. etc. The bars, from what I understand, come in sealed plastic. Do you guys just keep them in the plastic it shipped in? How about the coins, do you just keep them in the hard plastic capsules, and then also use tubes? I read about tarnish strips and silica packs, so I'll probably purchase a few of those.

    I noticed on some youtube videos, guys seem to keep their bars exposed and loose in those monster boxes. Is that normal/ok? What about poured silver, any differences in how they are protected?

    I plan on starting small and just using the main online retailers, jmbullion, apmex, and provident. I'm going to check out their deals and just go from there. How are those 1oz coins direct from the minting company, do they hold there value over time? Jmbullion had some 1oz'ers from silvertown at just .59 cents over spot. I was thinking about grabbing a few of those but don't know if they are just as good to collect vs the american and canadian 1oz'ers. Thank you so much for your help!!
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2017
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  3. Jason.A

    Jason.A Active Member

    Don't worry about silver being exposed to the elements. Tarnishing is normal and natural. The only thing it would hurt is the premium you paid. If you are buying low or no premium silver bars, you have little worry about.

    I'd recommend buying 10 oz bars if you decide bars are right for you. They often come sealed in plastic from the mint. (A Mark, Sunshine, etc).
     
  4. SilverMike

    SilverMike Well-Known Member

    I leave my bars in whatever they arrive in.

    I just store my rounds and ASE's in tubes. Makes it easy for me to store and keep track of.

    I think you will find that people have different approaches to what they stack. Some stick to ASE's or other government coins, with the idea that it is easy to buy/sell these with little concern for counterfeits. Others don't like the premiums that the government coins incur, and prefer to stack silver rounds or bars. I've heard that those are sometimes harder to sell, but it seems like it is easy to find people to buy them...
    Personally, most of my stack is ASE's, but I do add rounds and bars when the price is right.
     
  5. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

     
  6. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    First off welcome to the forum, so do you consider yourself a collector or investor?
    I am actually a little of both mainly 10 OZ generic bars, but just recently started
    With designer brands such as Johnson Matthey and Engelhard, as far as storage
    And toning and tarnishing issues, if your simply an investor the condition of
    Your generic bars doesnt matter, so really you can just use the OEM packaging
    For me i usually give my bars a good polish and store them in actual 10 OZ
    Flips which can get on ebay for cheap ! i am at work right now but can post a
    Picture of the stuff i use to get rid of the ugly..
     
  7. oobaa47

    oobaa47 New Member

    Great, thanks guys for all the advice. Yes, that's one thing I noticed. A sale on jmbullion has 1oz silver rounds at .59 over spot, but with the ASE's, they are over $2 over spot. That's quite a premium.

    mpcusa, I'm going to collect mostly as an investor against inflation, geopolitical turmoil, and just to diversify my assets. I'm not going to do slabbed coins or anything numismatic (at least not yet!).

    Would you guys consider sites like jmbullion, apmex, and provident the main go-to sites for online purchases? Their prices seem really good. I think I'm going to just browse all three and pick up whatever they have on sale at the moment. That should give me a good initial stacker base and go from there.
     
    Santinidollar likes this.
  8. Dynoking

    Dynoking Well-Known Member

    The three sites you mentioned are probably the best. If all you want is protection against inflation, and geopolitical turmoil buying 10oz silver bars and one ounce gold bars "on the dip" may be your best bet. Some investment professionals recommend a mix that includes gold. Be patient. You will find the big three will have flash sales of silver at .29 over spot usually when the spot price is dropping. Remember precious metals are a long term hold. You have already figured out that buying bullion bars are a better buy than bullion coins. Explore the web sites and join the email lists of the PM dealers you have mentioned. One of them has a first time buyers special of silver at spot. You would be hard pressed to find a better offer than that. I would steer clear of any one who offers a deal too good to be true. Beware of the phonies and scams out there.
     
  9. Bman33

    Bman33 Well-Known Member

    Yes, JM Bullion, Apmex, and Provident are good sites that are well known. I stack 90% "Junk Silver" and ASE's. Just a personal preference. I traded most of my Generic Rounds and 10oz bars for gold a little while back. I stack 90% junk silver because I can get it at spot or slightly below spot. I stack ASE's because they are beautiful coins and so well recognized. As far as storage and upkeep I like to keep my silver looking pristine. So I never open my ASE Tubes and wear gloves if I have less than a tube and have to handle them. I place the tubes in zip lock bags with silica packs and 3M strips. I then place the bags in my safe and have a big rechargeable silica pack in there. I may get back into Generic Rounds and 10oz bars. If I do I like to keep my bars in the package and do not fiddle with them. Rounds I keep pristine too by buying in 20 round tubes and not opening them. I will buy some fun Bullion coins or rounds to collect and I keep them in air-tites.
     
  10. losthomer

    losthomer Active Member

    Welcome. As a relatively new stacker myself (less than a decade) I'm not sure congratulations are in order. I have a simple strategy: buy what interests you for as little as possible.

    I would also throw in there start figuring out what you buy and sell prices are going to be. You could also employ the dollar cost averaging "strategy" of which I'm not a fan.

    Good luck and don't spend the house payment on metal.
     
    WRSiegel likes this.
  11. WRSiegel

    WRSiegel Freshman

    One of my favorite sites to check is CompareSilverPrices.com. Sign up for each of the big dealer's newsletters, they usually have flash sales on different items throughout the week.

    I only buy government issued silver, but I haven't bought in a few months outside of a graded Lunar Series round, so I'm thinking I'll get a little gold next time around. And +1 to losthomer on not spending the house payment on metal. It's tempting to want something tangible to hold onto, but equities are recommended to comprise most of your portfolio. Another issue to think about with gold vs. silver is storage, if you stack for a while you may end up with a few full safety deposit boxes or a full safe, so I'd recommend keeping an eye on the gold vs. silver ratio if you're looking to trade over periodically. Best of luck with your endeavors!
     
  12. oobaa47

    oobaa47 New Member

    Great, thanks for all the advice. Yeah, I'm just going into it nice and slow looking for the best deals above spot. No plans on flipping any of it or thinking I'm going to double my money in 5 years. Goal is to have some fun with it and store it away and hopefully many moons from now, I'll have a nice little hedge against inflation and some diversification in my portfolio. Another goal will be to teach my kids some basic investment principles. They are already very interested so I think this is going to be fun.

    Has anyone heard or used golden state mint before? They have buffalo rounds for .59 above spot, seems like a good deal. I just never heard of them before.

    Also, what message boards are the most popular/best for bullion investing (besides this one of course!)?

    thx guys
     
  13. Vikki

    Vikki New Member

    I am very new to this and still researching. I see you found at jmbullion, 1 oz silver rounds at .59 over spot as of yesterday. Is that spot figure determined by subtracting the current silver asking price from the lowest asking figure? I am just looking to purchase silver as a way of investing and holding towards the future. I purchased 5 ASE to start with and realized it was a costly deal for me. Limited monthly budget. Would sticking with silver rounds to begin a better choice? Thanks!
     
  14. Deadline

    Deadline Active Member

    Golden state mint is a solid company, buy with confidence. Check out SD bullion and Ebay as well. Apmex is pretty high on their premiums so when you find something you like shop around. JMB has a 10oz. starter pack of rounds for spot.
    https://www.jmbullion.com/starter-pack/

    If your just doing rounds I wouldn't pay more than .49-.59 cents over spot. Wait for the weekly deals.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2017
  15. Deadline

    Deadline Active Member

    What you only need to watch is the "ask" price. There is spot, bid and ask. Spot is the price that the metal is trading at. Ask is the base starting price then the sellers premium is added on from there. So if the price of an ASE is at $21 and spot/ask is $18 then the markup or premium is $3 or roughly 16%. You want to try and get in around 7% or less. On ASE's that's going to be difficult but it is a baseline nonetheless. Here is some great info on investing in silver.
    https://www.jmbullion.com/investing-guide/buying-physical-metals/how-to/

    Watch the spot prices daily and buy on the dips. Come up with a plan and always take liquidity into account when making a purchase. FWIW when we say "spot" what we are really referring to is "ask price". Watch out for so called deals on denominations smaller than 1 troy ounce. Everything is based off of spot which is an ounce. Some dealers advertise a half ounce at .69 over spot but in reality you have to double that to get the real premium they are charging which would be $1.38 an ounce which for generics is way to high. Stick to common weights as well. 1 ounce coins, 10ozt., kilo's and 100ozt. bars.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2017
  16. Vikki

    Vikki New Member

    Thank you so much...I needed it detailed and easy to understand at the same time, which you did. Today I am going to purchase 1oz. morgan stackable(new), the spot price is $16.87, purchasing 5 by check at $17.46. This would be a good choice then.
     
  17. Deadline

    Deadline Active Member

  18. Vikki

    Vikki New Member

    My purchase will be from SD Buillion.
    https://www.jmbullion.com/1-oz-silvertowne-morgan-stack-round/

    Looking at the Morgans and generic rounds you mentioned, what is the difference in pricing, if any. The Morgans were listed on the weekly deals which I guess runs 7 days only. Would I be correct the pricing between both is about the same today only?
     
  19. Deadline

    Deadline Active Member

    The "our choice" is .39 per round but its a toss up as to which one you will get. It does say "new" so they are not circulated. Always read the description in full...
     
    Vikki likes this.
  20. Bman33

    Bman33 Well-Known Member

    Get the 10oz for spot on JM Bullion!
     
  21. oobaa47

    oobaa47 New Member

    Vikki: golden state mint also has .59 over spot per 1oz....they have buffalo rounds, they look beautiful.....sale ends tomorrow.....free shipping for orders over $500

    Bman33: yes! My next order from them will include those spot price rounds.....can't beat that....
     
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