Introduction to Silver Stacking: Categories of Bullion
I think this is a good next step after the glossary yesterday. We'll build a little bit more backgroun knowledge, before we jump into where and what to buy over the next few days.
When you find somewhere to buy silver you might be overwhelmed when you get there trying to figure out what it all is and why the price varies to much.
I'm going to try to break it into some clean categories, but there is often a lot of overlap and sometimes it's even hard to pigeon hole the bullion in one way.
Generic Bullion: (coins/rounds/bars).
This is bullion that is 0.999 Fine Silver in purity or greater and mass produced. These can still be beautiful but mintage are generally wide open or very large. Many private companies make exceptional bullion and many countries stick there own annual 'coin' like the American silver eagle or Canadian Maple Leaf. Often people ask if they should buy rounds or bars, it's simply just a matter of preference, neither is really better in any way. You can also buy them in an size from 1gram to 10 000oz. When you get very small you will start paying high premiums and although as you get larger the premium will be less, this will also not hold their premium when it is time to sell. Often only dealers or refiners will buy they very large bars and there prices are very low. In my opinion the 1-10 oz size is your best range to concert early on. These will follow the value of silver closely and generally carry a small premium over "spot value" perhaps $1-$5.
Semi-Numismatic.
This is becoming a growing niche in the last few years. Many governments and private mints are releasing limited mintages of some really beautiful, fancy or unique silver. They will have a slight premium when compared to generics, but they also have a slight collectors value. This is often strongly debated if these will all hold there value in the long term. Some don't and end up in bargain bins as generic bullion, while others see a huge rise in value as collectors pick them up and there is lots of interest. (The steem silver round is a perfect example). This is a fun area to collect if you have that "gotta get em all" mindset like me, or want to display and showcase a few. I would say on average the premiums these carry would be around $5-$50, depending.
Numismatics.
This is kind of an untraditional use of the word, but is often used to describe silver that will carry a very high premium or collectors value. So it could be used to refer to both old coins that may be of a high grade or particularly rare and have significant value, and also what is sometimes called 'modern numismatics' which are coin like the ones often released by the Royal Canadian, Australia or British Mint in collectors sets, etc. There premiums can be very high, and I would suggest buying them only if you really love the coin. It is near impossible to speculate any potential long term value.
Junk/Scrap Silver.
I know I touched on this one in the glossary and also the "Just in Case" Post here. This is items that contain silver in a less pure form or somewhere under 98%. Things like silver wear, jewelry and older coins. I would only suggest these forms of Junk silver, since they are usually marked and easy to verify purity and weight.
Some people obtain silver from industrial sources like electrical conductors/components or go as far and extracting it from old photography chemicals or medical/dental devices. Although this can often be a very cheap source of silver, it's best left to the pros.
Poured Silver.
This is an excited new subset of the bullion market, but since silver is so malleable and easy to melt, form and manipulate there are a lot of amazing backyard artist and hobbyists that create some beautiful pieces. They can make things from pretty plain bars, to 3D statues and figurines with amazing detail. The premiums can vary widely on these pieces, but they are a growing and fun way to stack silver.
Graded Silver.
This is the last one I'll quickly touch upon. It's not something I stack, but it's out there. Silver bullion can be third party graded and then 'slabbed' under hard plastic to preserve it's quality. You will know you have a high quality coin and it may add a slight premium over the years, but once again this is hard to speculate and best left to the collectors.
Hope this helps and we'll take it one step deeper into the rabbit hole tomorrow
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The only buying I do anymore is current year Semi-numismatics. I feel it's the best bang for your buck being a stacker.
i love those sunshine mint rounds
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Upvoted and resteemed. Today's and yesterday's articles are basic to new and old stackers. There are many people that intend to be a member of our community but lack this knowledge. Our strenght depends in sharing what we know and helping others. Thanks for your efforts in disseminating what you know.
Thanks, I totally agree, it can be overwhelming for people just looking into the hobby.
I love these posts. It’s a knowledge smackdown. 😄 For example I learned about the coin flip v. medal flip in your last post. Thanks for taking the time to share!
Yeah, that one always caught me up, till i read the part b about medals turning sideways on parade, glad it helped.
Nice post. You could really go on and on about each of the categories there are so many choices now a days. It’s really up to what you like to stack. Best regards.
Yeah, there really is so much and it's not always a clear distinction.
Thanks for this continuation as a follow up to the previous post, I'm sure that by the time you come to the end of this series, you would have made a great silver student out of me. Well done for your usually simple way of explaining complicated things
Yeah, I hope to cover most of the big ones anyways, but there is always more to learn.
Sweet post bro, i think i was starting around 8 months before i knew all this stuff, haha. This is a great post for newbies
Yeah, I had no clue either and know my first few orders would have been way different if I properly understood this stuff.
Great general breakdown! I think it depends on what you are stacking for. I did a video on the types and whom normally is attracted to them. For instance, a lot of preppers like to stack Constitutional silver because of its silver content and already having a general monetary value. Thanks for sharing buddy!!
Yeah, that makes sense, I went into a bit more last night, but could always go way deeper, mostly giving everyone the basics without overwhelming them.
Another great post! This info is a resource for the silver/gold stacking community. Have a good weekend.
Thx, slowly giving everyone the basics, hopefully.