Handling your hoard?

[DM1975]

OK, being new at this how goes it on handling this stuff? I hear people saying to keep em sealed in airtites, use cotton gloves, and stuff like that. Assuming that we are talking bars, rounds, silver eagles and the like, no numismatic stuff, no proofs, just BU ASE's and such, will touching them with your bare hands mess them up or ruin their value? I have just silver now and am mainly interested in that, but would like to know about gold as well.

[ttazzman]

numismatic stuff of course be careful

stuff that comes in air tights leave in air tights same with tubes

gold

.999+ gold i try to protect cause it is easy to damage...i limit protection to putting in tubes or slip covers
.9 gold i dont worry about

silver

what comes in air tights leave in air tights same with tubes

i dont worry about the rest.....silver tends to be dirty....i have found when you accumulate enough silver you quit worrying about such things

dont wash..clean..etc to any PMs...i will wear cotton gloves if i feel i must handle something that is BU.....

[Gcubed]

Finger prints come off in the melt. ;)

[cpthnsolo]

Silver is silver IMO so unless you're dealing with numi coins flip a few around for the joy of it :D. I certainly wouldn't handle .999 Au coins or bars though as they scratch too easily. That's why you should keep an AGE or Krug around so you have something to fondle ;).

[Chester-Copperpot]

Wouldn't worry too much about handling silver rounds or bars. I acquired a few rounds and ASE that had some tarnishing and just cleaned them just now. Just soaked them in hot water with baking soda, salt and some tin foil. Cleaned up pretty well and no damage.

[DM1975]

Thanks everyone. I plan on doing some numismatic stuff later on when I learn more about it, but for now I am just focusing on bullion. Definitely getting some Krugerrands and AGE's later on too. Right now I am just happy collecting the white stuff.

[Eroberer]

How to handle your stash?

Dump it all out on your bed and then roll on it like a dog with an itch on its back.

If you can't cover your bed you don't have enough.

J/k

I really don't handle my stuff. It sits away in boxes or bags hidden and I never see it.

[DM1975]

How to handle your stash?

Dump it all out on your bed and then roll on it like a dog with an itch on its back.

If you can't cover your bed you don't have enough.

J/k

I really don't handle my stuff. It sits away in boxes or bags hidden and I never see it.

Hell, I roll around in ammo most the time :) Brass and lead have been my two favorite metals for the longest time.

I do plan on stashing all of my metals away, I just gotta get them out of the package and into their hiding spots, plus I gotta wear a little of the new off as well ;)

[Irons]

I put all my gold in air tites for the hell of it, then you can handle them all you want. They are super cheap if you go to the source, and even a $22 coin deserves a 45 cent holder!

http://www.air-tites.com/

[Eroberer]

Do you use air tites even for sovereigns? I don't really think that would be necessary.

[~BS]

Ag really doesnt matter for bullion. Even if it's ASE's.

Gold is a different story. A GAE full of ding marks and scratches = not so good for resale. If gold moonshots, it probably would not matter though.

In that case, the starving masses will be knocking each other out trying to steal each other's inlay (gold) and amalgum (silver) fillings.

[Irons]

Do you use air tites even for sovereigns? I don't really think that would be necessary.

Yeah I do and you're right it isn't necessery but what the heck! Any BU gold I put in airtites but good old well circulated I keep in thier own pouch. At the bottom of the lake.
A great thing about airtites is the 1/10 size with the foam ring will hold many different size gold coins up to 1/2 oz! Yep, I'm cheap too!

[hydro]

Never EVER fondle your hoard.

You only pay respect with a 13-gun salute as your PMs sink to the bottom of the sea!

[techguy2]

Stopped by Houston Numismatic exchange last week...

They were MANHANDLING bullion. NO RESPECT. They took 3 100oz bars still in wrappers, removed the wrappers, and chunked them in a pile.

Guy asked for 100 ASE's, the guy pulled them out of the new tube with his bare hands, counted them (fingerprinting all of them) and then handing to the new customer.

Another guy brought in a sterling 'flag' bar collection in a nice display case for sale, prob 20+ years old, not a fingerprint or scratch on em... yup, they ALL went in a shoebox, weighed and dumped unceremoniously.

My thought: Buy generic rounds!!!!!

[MISRy]

Fondling is part of the deal. All silver gets fondle time, even Britannias. Gold gets limited fondle time depending on if it's 24k or 22 then goes to airtights for the boat trip. (I figure they're cheap and can't hurt.). Someday I'm gonna have a full tube of ducats to drive my kids crazy with.

SHHHHHINK, SHHHHHHINK, SHHHHHHINK, Will You Stop That!,... SHHHHHINK!... :D

[livtocruz]

I'm with Irons on this subject. All of my gold is in Air-Tites or slabs. Silver is in either Air-Tites, slabs or tubes that are taped shut. Bars are as they came to me, don't care about these. Currently those are all on the bottom of a lake with the GPS coordinates burned into my brain (and in my safe). What I do have however, is a couple of fondle pouches, one for Au and one for Ag. Can you tell what the gold coins are? If you get them all correct, to quote Don Rickles, "You win a cookie".

[MISRy]

3 - Cinco pesos, 2 - ducats, a 20 Franc, (probably angel) and a sovereign.

[DM1975]

Never EVER fondle your hoard.

You only pay respect with a 13-gun salute as your PMs sink to the bottom of the sea!

Sadly, my guns were on the same boat that sunk with my PM's :( Was a sad day.

[cpthnsolo]

What I do have however, is a couple of fondle pouches, one for Au and one for Ag. What's the deal with those silver aces? I'm assuming whoever made them only made aces, but how cool would it be to have a deck of 52 silver playing "cards" ;) :D !

[ttazzman]

I put all my gold in air tites for the hell of it, then you can handle them all you want. They are super cheap if you go to the source, and even a $22 coin deserves a 45 cent holder!

http://www.air-tites.com/

From my perspective......i dont think it would be practical or feasable to start breaking down mint tubes of 1/10 AGE's and tubes of 1 Ducat's to put them in air tites just so i could fondle them......personally i hate air tites......i tend to take coins out of them.......they dont stack well at all......slippery to move...etc.......i even hate slabs but they do add authenticity and value to some coins......i say if you want to fondle something get you a raw circulated double eagle coin and fondle to your hearts content get the full effect (no condoms)

[Irons]

From my perspective......i dont think it would be practical or feasable to start breaking down mint tubes of 1/10 AGE's and tubes of 1 Ducat's to put them in air tites just so i could fondle them......personally i hate air tites......i tend to take coins out of them.......they dont stack well at all......slippery to move...etc.......i even hate slabs but they do add authenticity and value to some coins......i say if you want to fondle something get you a raw circulated double eagle coin and fondle to your hearts content get the full effect (no condoms)

to each thier own

[livtocruz]

3 - Cinco pesos, 2 - ducats, a 20 Franc, (probably angel) and a sovereign.

Yup, yup, yup (no) and no. Check out the pic for 20 Franc (Ceres), the size of the English coin should be a giveaway. It's a 1/2 sovereign. I don't have the kind of scratch it would require to buy tubes of gold coins so putting what I get in Air-Tites is easy and cost effective.

[livtocruz]

What's the deal with those silver aces? I'm assuming whoever made them only made aces, but how cool would it be to have a deck of 52 silver playing "cards" ;) :D !

I've got 3 Aces (top), 1 Joker (top), 1 M-16 (center) and 1 Credit Suisse (out of the plastic). Here's a picture of the reverse sides. Yes the other cards are out there but I didn't want to pay a lot of money. I got what I could at the time off of Fleabay. The rounds are the centers of some casino rounds that were pretty rough on the brass areas.

[MISRy]

Yup, yup, yup (no) and no. Check out the pic for 20 Franc (Ceres), the size of the English coin should be a giveaway. It's a 1/2 sovereign. I don't have the kind of scratch it would require to buy tubes of gold coins so putting what I get in Air-Tites is easy and cost effective.

DANG! I *knew* it was a half sov but I didn't want to get flamed if I was wrong. No cookie. :(

[curmudgeonista]

Stopped by Houston Numismatic exchange last week...

They were MANHANDLING bullion. NO RESPECT. They took 3 100oz bars still in wrappers, removed the wrappers, and chunked them in a pile.

Guy asked for 100 ASE's, the guy pulled them out of the new tube with his bare hands, counted them (fingerprinting all of them) and then handing to the new customer.

Another guy brought in a sterling 'flag' bar collection in a nice display case for sale, prob 20+ years old, not a fingerprint or scratch on em... yup, they ALL went in a shoebox, weighed and dumped unceremoniously.

My thought: Buy generic rounds!!!!!
Yep, buy a little stuff that's already been handled to satisfy your urge to fondle and leave the rest alone.

I expect a discount on scratched and fingerprinted pieces compared to pristine BU, even on bullion. While it may not make any difference selling to a dealer that's offering wholesale across the board, it will matter if you try to sell to an individual.

[livtocruz]

DANG! I *knew* it was a half sov but I didn't want to get flamed if I was wrong. No cookie. :(

:signs14: How about a Pepsi. :pepsi:

[MISRy]

:signs14: How about a Pepsi. :pepsi:

WooHoo!:23_30_104:

[SNICKLE 1980]

i keep my 90 in a pile so i can run my hands through it. the gold is in plastic, but krugs can be handled too. i just don't have a pile yet, but when i do....now the eagles? i like to keep them nice and shiney so i keep them in the tubes. i only take them out once in a while. they need sunlight sometimes...

[TomD]

Hoard?? Oh, I thought you meant---

I handle Krugs, 50 Peso pieces, bars, etc. I've also got some stuff that I use gloves to photo it and that brief excursion is the only time it leaves the capsule. Drop or scuff a gold dragon and wave by-by to $1000. My 5 x 9 Maples have never been out of the card.

[keepitlow]

I don't handle em. I just box them up and cache in a secure place.

I bot for SHTF insurance. They are for emergency use only.

I'd tell you to do the same...buy and cache.

And if your lucky enuf to have a lady...spend your fondling time handling her instead of your PM!