Got Coins? Take The Stacker Test
The other day my wife claimed she’d been a Stacker for longer than me. Naturally it was a big claim that took me a bit by surprise. She may as well have been challenging my manhood! Apparently she had been cleaning out some of her old junk stuff from her parents place and found some old Coins she’d accumulated from the early 1980s. Naturally I was very curious about them, but before I show them to you this got me thinking about what qualifies someone as a Stacker. So I thought I’d break it down into this very simple Stacker Test.
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The most important thing to look at when buying something is to identify where the value is coming from. It can be obvious with some purchases but a bit obscure or blended with others. Most commonly I think the confusion can come about when buying Coins and this certainly was the case with my wifes example. I believe there are 3 main factors to look at when buying a Coin to determine where the real value is coming from.
Coins can be made of all sorts of different metals. They might be 99.99% pure or they might be some sort of alloy. It can be tricky to calculate the actual metal value but if you aren’t doing that then you’ve already failed The Stacker Test. If the bulk of a Coins Value is coming from the actual value of the metal in the coin then buying these Coins puts you in the Category of STACKER.
Coins can be modern or historic and it can be difficult to properly assess what the Numismatic Value of a Coin is because Numismatic Value typically is derived from the rarity of the Coin and the demand for that Coin due to its scarcity. The easiest way to determine the Numismatic Value of a Coin when buying is to take the sale price and subtract the Metal Value. If the bulk of a Coins Value is coming from Numismatic Value then buying these Coins puts you in the Category of COLLECTOR.
Coins will generally have a nominal Face Value stamped on it by the government of the day that makes the Coin Legal Tender in its country of origin. If the bulk of a Coins value is coming from the Coins Face Value rather than from Metal Value or Numismatic Value then basically what you are looking at is Fiat Currency and so buying these Coins puts you in the Category of CHUMP.
So, armed with The Stacker Test let’s have a look to see if my wifes claim stands up. She has a few of these coins commemorating the Marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana from 1981. Here is the opened card.
They look so young and happy. It would have been hard to imagine the tragic events to come in those heady days of 1981....but I digress. Here is the inside.
I have highlighted in red the two most interesting aspects. The first is that the Coin is made of Cupro-Nickel, which means the actual Metal Value of the coin is tiny. Not a good start. The second is that the coin has a Face Value of 25 pence. Even though the coin has no actual Face Value printed on it, so it might be difficult to actually redeem for 25 pence. Even so, we can see here that the Face Value of the coin is greater than the Metal Value – so my wife fails The Stacker Test. Sorry my love, but it was a nice try.
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Whether or not the Coin has some Numismatic Value is a bit harder to ascertain. Considering I would like to stay married with my genitals intact I am going to go ahead and give her the benefit of the doubt and say that the Numismatic Value of these coins is far greater than the Face Value. Therefore she can claim the consolation prize and fit into the Collector Category.
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LOL I even with the save at the end I have a feeling someone is sleeping in the dog house tonight!
It's all good. I got clearance (belatedly) so I think I'll get away with this one ;)
You can put me into all three Category's... Stacker, Collector and Chump... I'm not sure if you're aware of my P.C. Theory, but I feel the Chump Category is going to do a killing if our U.S. Coinage is reset... Everything of Value will be reset... And guess what people will use to do most of their Buying, Selling and Trading with...??? So, I feel honored to be included in the "so called" Chump Category... lol...
I have read some of your theory and I wish you the best of luck with your Chump Change :)
lol... That put a smile on my face... But as I said... I'm all three and you would go nuts to see what my stack looks like in pretty much, each of the Category's... If anyone here is a Super Whale, it's me...
What about those of us who buy numismatics for under spot ;) Love the post!
I would put you in the GENIUS Category if you're doing that. What's your secret!?
Flea markets, junk bins, and auctions. I know people who make get way bigger scores from garage sales and thrift stores, I haven't had any luck with those though
Awesome post and as long as sbe is interested she can be a stacker, a collector or whatever she wants lol
Thanks! I'm always happy to teach and share knowledge if she asks me, but I'd never dare try and tell her what to do! LOL
Happy wife happy life! "...yes dear, you are the supreme stacker in this family..." :)
Haha. I will concede on many things to keep the peace, but I'll never go that far! :)
Great Post. I suggest you concede the Numismatic value and Place Her in Collector category.
You could create a new category: Cupro-Nickel Stacker . . .
sure Honey, Cupro-Nickel Stacker is Really a Thing
You should do this before you go to sleep...
That would be good for a laugh, but if she decides to start spending the weekly budget on Cupro-Nickel junk I might have a problem!
My wife has no clue on collecting or stacking. But she can spend it awfully quick....
Yes, my wife is very talented in that regard too....
They are all genetically composed that way....
Wow woo wee wah is that coin pure cupro nickel? And to think in 1981 the purchasing power of 25 pence, if you was to adjust it for inflation it could be enough to get a modern day shrinkflated toblerone.
My significant other also has a few gems in her collection such as the 1977 silver jubilee souvenir medal and the 1965 winston churchil commemorative crown, both of them smacked off their tits in solid gleaming cupro nickel
LOL. Those Cupro-Nickel merchants sure know how to make good coin don't they!
I'll take the shrinkflated toblerone thanks :)
I freely admit I'm not a stacker, unless you can count comic books (they are currently stacked in tubs). :) I also collected stamps (all with the date stamp since I was taking them off of letters we received), bottle caps (used of course), and for a time, don't ask me why, I would write down the license plates we saw on a trip. Actually, the reason for that was to find out how many out of state plates we saw. Why I wrote down the numbers, I don't know, and where the notebook is, good question. This was probably at least 40 years ago, so I doubt the cars are on the road still, along with plenty of the drivers, let alone the license plates.
I wonder if one of those could help solve a cold case, or exonerate someone by providing the alibi they couldn't get corroborated. Maybe I should find out what happened to those! :) I'm guessing my mother threw them away.
Sounds more like collecting than stacking, but there's nothing wrong with that. Those old comic books might be worth a bundle by now. You'd be surprised.
That's the main reason they're actually still around. Otherwise, I think my wife would have tossed them along ago. She doesn't like stuff just taking up space unless she has some use for them.
I'd have to get them looked at and such. I might wait a while longer to do that though. I've been meaning to subscribe to a monthly comic book valuation service, but haven't. The big book I've seen sold is rather expensive just to satisfy my curiosity. I do have some ballpark ideas, though, of which ones have some value over others.
Sounds like your comic book stack is something you should be writing about.
I've been thinking about that. I'm not sure quite how I want to approach it, though. I mean, I could do it from a collector's point of view, but that's not really how I came into comic books. It was more as a reader, and what the stories meant to me at that time of my life. So, we'll see what I come up with, whenever that is. :)
I definitely pass the test! 😂