frac' pack stack

[ozben]

Hi,

I'm starting to stack silver and a tiny little gold.
basically for two main purposes,
firstly it's simply to have something better to spend my
money on.
I don't normally know where my money goes,
within a few days it's almost gone and I didn't buy
anything really, well i can't see it.
i'm finding now that in buying silver coins ect,
I don't spend much at all other stuff.

infact it was just last night, I though, hmm.. might call
a pizza, $15, but then thought if I didn't buy that
pizza, i could buy 1/2oz silver, so I made toast instead.

I still have no money, but at least I can look at the
coins knowing the're holding some value, so it's been
good, real fun too, going through online stores.
I start off putting everything I want into my basket,
then checkout to find i'd have to sell body parts to fund
the order, so I cull and end up with enough to buy just a
few coins, but it's still fun 'cos it kinda still feels
i'm buying them and i get satisfaction.

Secondly, i'm stacking for shtf scenarios.

I want to build a solid fractional stack that could see
me through any possible situation or time frame.
not for investment purposes, this would be a survival
stack that never got sold in normal times.

so I thought i'd ask for opinions as to what possible
situations I could find myself in needing different size
pieces of silver & gold? which would be best of the two?

Right now i've started with 1oz perth mint silver coins
and 1/10oz perth mint gold coins.
what about 10oz silver ingots? too big?
and 1/2oz silver coins? is it worth paying more in silver
value to have these small pieces in my frac' stack?

what about silver rounds with no officiality? who is
gonna believe me they are real silver if they just have a
silly company name on it?
and find silver ingots with websites stamped on them real
silly, why would I want my silver to have someone elses
web site plastered on it? I can't work that one out, i'd
rather have a nice clean ingot with just the necessary
stuff and put my own name on it if i had to.

Copper, would stacking 1kg copper slabs be something to
consider for a survival stack?
I understand the smaller size copper ingots or rounds are
basically a fun thing to have but the price above the
value of copper doesn't make it worth wile as I feel I
may aswell just buy more silver coins.

But 1kg copper seems a reasonable price, I think the
extra price over real value is better then having a huge
pile off scrap copper wire, much neater to work with in a
clean slab of copper and simpler to trade i think.

do you think copper will be beneficial to have in an
extreme shtf situation or best to stick with silver?
i've bought copper nails before and they were $1 each!

1/10oz gold coins, I love these little things and
although they are priced quite high compared to the value
of gold, they aren't too bad and i think whilst the're
under $200 I'll buy one every now and then.

is 1/10oz a good frac' pack size? or is it still too big
and could be too much to trade with? I can't bring myself
to buy the 1/20oz coins, i'm throwing away a silver coin
if I buy a 1/20oz which is a real shame as i'd love them.

any other metals I should have in my frac' stack?
what about aluminium? if I collected cans and melted them
down into a slab, would aluminium make a good trade item
in a shtf situation?

[Oldmansmith]

1/10 ounce gold coins are ideal. 10 ounce silver bars are fine, as are recognized generic rounds that have fineness stamped on them. 1/2 ounce silver coins are not worth the premium.


All my opinion of course.

[gringott]

Read a few old threads and you will answer many of your questions, or at least have what other people think.
I spend much, much less on garbage that I don't need since I started stacking, including worthless paper or digits.

Good luck and happy prospecting!

[ozben]

yep am reading through, will take years to find all i need to know,
so I was hoping small summaries of your general opinion would be enough
to put me on track before I find i'm on the wrong track.

oldmansmith thanks for that, yeah that's all one can ask for, your own opinion.
I never question an opinion unless it's a personal opinion.
would like to know why you think 1/10oz golds are ideal, do you think gold will be easier
to trade with than silver?

what about price? silver can't really go down too much more can it, yet gold has $1600 oz to lose,
what if gold went sown to silver and $30 oz? my 1/10 coins would be worth $3 each.

[latemetal]

What country are you in? I'm USA. Fractional gold first, look for well known foreign gold coins like sovereigns,2, 2 1/2, 5, and 10 mexican peso coins, swiss and french 10 or 20 franc coins. All these are under the 1/4 ounce mark. For cheap copper, save 1959-1981 pennies, as for squashed aluminum cans do not melt down, just sell for metal value and buy 90% silver coins.

[Rollie Free]

Not a shtf kind of guy. Without defining it I think that could lead to poor judgment. First off I don't look at "buying' metals but converting cash. I still have value/wealth, but in a different form. While frn's are obviously more liquid they are also, in institutionall form (banks, investments etc.) highly subject to confiscation. One of my favorite aspects of metals is that unless you're fool enough to buy allocated it is hidden wealth. I don't imply illegal or immoral, but hidden. Immoral is taking someone elses wealth.

I am not sure what you are going for on copper. While there is a market for it like anything else it is not a precious metal even though it is being presented as such by some online retailers. Copper 'bullion' is sold highly over actual market price. Several times over. I don't see any logical reason for this other than for the seller to make a killing. You might as well as buy magic beans from old peddlars.

If you are actually putting out cash why not just buy right priced silver and stay away from copper bullion?

You're on the right track though, make sure you are balanced on the rails.

[<SLV>]

You need 90% (US Coin Silver). It's got some history, is nice to look at, and doesn't mind being handled. That's a good route for SHTF fractionals.

[Silver Art]

Hi,

what about silver rounds with no officiality? who is
gonna believe me they are real silver if they just have a
silly company name on it?
and find silver ingots with websites stamped on them real
silly, why would I want my silver to have someone elses
web site plastered on it? I can't work that one out, i'd
rather have a nice clean ingot with just the necessary
stuff and put my own name on it if i had to.

is 1/10oz a good frac' pack size? or is it still too big
and could be too much to trade with? I can't bring myself
to buy the 1/20oz coins, i'm throwing away a silver coin
if I buy a 1/20oz which is a real shame as i'd love them.

Engelhard Prospectors and Engelhard silver bars as well as Johnson Mathey silver bars are the best brand of .999 generic silver to get IMO. There is nothing wrong with buying generic .999 silver rounds as long as it is stamped "1-troy oz" and ".999 fine silver" on it.

I would not rule out buying 1/20 oz gold fractionals if you can buy them for melt price or as close to melt price as possible. I have seen 1/20 fractional gold sell for melt price at past coin shows but you will have to seek those out by going to a coin show in your area if that it possible. However, you are right in that, generally speaking, 1/20th oz gold fractionals do carry large premiums over melt price and you would be better off buying 1-oz silver instead if you are looking to pay the absolute lowest premium possible. It all depends on the premiums that you find on the 1/20-oz fractional gold coins vs. the current local .999 generic silver premium that you usually pay.

[ozben]

I'm not into partial silver coins really, i'm in australia too so have little knowledge of US coins.
I prefer .999 silver and that's all i'll stack as it's easy to work out, 1 for 1, no calculating required.

[sharkkbyte]

I'm following a similar track; as far as a SHTF type scene I keep 90% silver, but I personally dont see things getting that way (BUT thats where the danger comes in so I prep anyway!) I try and organize for different scenarios; I primarily keep 1oz bars as my stack( easier for me to get few oz.s at a time rather than big bars) but i try and get Silver Eagles, maples and Phillies each year, a few of each, just as a collectible plus their recognition. I always worried that a private mint bar or round may be hard to sell if the buyer didnt recognize it or questioned its content, but any reputable or knowledgable buyer will know it for what it is.like others on here i stack mainly as a preservation of wealth, so I try and keep open to the possibility of selling if the price rockets just to offset some debt..the debt is measured in fiat , so if I can swap silver for FRNs and significantly reduce a debt then it has served its purpose! I have also discovered that with the "fad" of gold and silver popping up, we have had a few coin shows here that bring goobs out of the woodwork, opening up opportunities to sell a few pieces at above spot

[latemetal]

Since you're in Australia, you should look for the .925 silver coins, Shillings and Florins and Crowns. Whatever was good money in the past, will be good money today and tomorrow.

[rte]

Well I got a minute so I'll take a stab at it FWIW

I'm starting to stack silver and a tiny little gold.
basically for two main purposes,
firstly it's simply to have something better to spend my
money on.

Sounds good.
Getting debt free should be on the to do list (ie pay off credit)

I don't normally know where my money goes,
within a few days it's almost gone and I didn't buy
anything really, well i can't see it.
i'm finding now that in buying silver coins ect,
I don't spend much at all other stuff.

Doesnt hurt to keep receipts for daily purchases to track where all that money goes that heads out of your wallet.

infact it was just last night, I though, hmm.. might call
a pizza, $15, but then thought if I didn't buy that
pizza, i could buy 1/2oz silver, so I made toast instead.

A guy has to eat....as long as you finish the pizza or have left overs that you dont throw away (pizza tastes better than straight toast)

I still have no money, but at least I can look at the
coins knowing the're holding some value, so it's been
good, real fun too, going through online stores.
I start off putting everything I want into my basket,
then checkout to find i'd have to sell body parts to fund
the order, so I cull and end up with enough to buy just a
few coins, but it's still fun 'cos it kinda still feels
i'm buying them and i get satisfaction.

Buying by proxy and still ending up with a little to hold.

Secondly, i'm stacking for shtf scenarios.

Dont forget the rest of the supplies.
Beans and bullets,etc

I want to build a solid fractional stack that could see
me through any possible situation or time frame.
not for investment purposes, this would be a survival
stack that never got sold in normal times.

So a collection of sorts, >>> one of everything then.

so I thought i'd ask for opinions as to what possible
situations I could find myself in needing different size
pieces of silver & gold? which would be best of the two?

Loaded question >>> personal preferences apply.

Right now i've started with 1oz perth mint silver coins
and 1/10oz perth mint gold coins.
what about 10oz silver ingots? too big?
and 1/2oz silver coins? is it worth paying more in silver
value to have these small pieces in my frac' stack?

Gold from a 1/20 to 1oz is all good (even a Credit Suisse 1 Gram bar is nice to look at)
Silver from a 1oz to a 10oz bar is very stackable
A 25oz bar could double as a hand weight when you do your work out
Personally anything under 1oz is too small for me.(but if it's cheap enough silver is silver)

what about silver rounds with no officiality? who is
gonna believe me they are real silver if they just have a
silly company name on it?
and find silver ingots with websites stamped on them real
silly, why would I want my silver to have someone elses
web site plastered on it? I can't work that one out, i'd
rather have a nice clean ingot with just the necessary
stuff and put my own name on it if i had to.

Brand name is prefered,but anything that is real and .999 marked. (or 925 sterling for that matter)

Copper, would stacking 1kg copper slabs be something to
consider for a survival stack?
I understand the smaller size copper ingots or rounds are
basically a fun thing to have but the price above the
value of copper doesn't make it worth wile as I feel I
may aswell just buy more silver coins.
But 1kg copper seems a reasonable price, I think the
extra price over real value is better then having a huge
pile off scrap copper wire, much neater to work with in a
clean slab of copper and simpler to trade i think.do you think copper will be beneficial to have in an
extreme shtf situation or best to stick with silver?
i've bought copper nails before and they were $1 each!

I have no interest in storing copper.
You may want to look into silver and or gold jewelery.

1/10oz gold coins, I love these little things and
although they are priced quite high compared to the value
of gold, they aren't too bad and i think whilst the're
under $200 I'll buy one every now and then.

No argument there.

is 1/10oz a good frac' pack size? or is it still too big
and could be too much to trade with? I can't bring myself
to buy the 1/20oz coins, i'm throwing away a silver coin
if I buy a 1/20oz which is a real shame as i'd love them.

1/20 is still a good hold (gold is gold)

any other metals I should have in my frac' stack?
what about aluminium? if I collected cans and melted them
down into a slab, would aluminium make a good trade item
in a shtf situation?

Lead for bullets
Trade your cans in for PM's