KevinFlynn

If there is one thing screaming Gold, it is the 50 Pesos. Primordial.

Going through the discussion I realized myself chewing on three aspects: To differentiate my emergency funds from my savings or investing efforts. Being clear on that emergency funds means currency in a savings account only. Assessing what kind of emergencies could happen to me. I'm living an urban lifestyle, no house, no car, no family. The most valuable items that could break down are my notebook, smartphone, washing machine, dryer. Then to bridge an aforementioned job loss in this era of insecurity, or prolonged illness on a lower income. And last, me not being used to holding a larger sum of money as currency in a savings account, the majority of my portfolio being in gold and stocks. So needing to fight an uncomfortable feeling. Leading me to calculate a gap in funds from unemployment benefits or sick payments for six months, or three months of no income at all. Go with the higher sum, keep it in a savings account, don't touch it. Keep my normal savings rate towards my portfolio.

Thanks for the input. I take from your answers that I need to think of different type of emergencies. So far I was thinking about an illness, job loss type of situation where I wouldn't earn enough or no funds to cover my expenses. I'll now add the emergency that needs a whole lot of money NOW (and what kind of scenarios that could be). On liquidity, I'm pretty sure I'd always be able to turn gold into cash within one work day. Having cash in hand and electronic cash available, I would hope to be able to take that time. Given that I wouldn't keep that sum in cash at home, same as not keeping a larger amount of gold at home, I would need the chance to reach my safety deposit box anyway. Of course, the most liquid would be transferable funds in a savings account - it would just feel so 'uncharacterstic' to have that large a sum sitting around as currency 😏

Most investment advice tells us to hold 3 to 6 months worth of expenses/salary in liquid savings, like a savings account. Personally, would you hold part of this in precious metals? I will use some extra funds coming my way and will divert parts of my monthly invest into that non touchable emergency fund, and am thinking about dividing into One month salary in cash An ounce of gold per month The rest into a savings account

Today I received - actually, added to today... What I accumulated in Gold Mark Kaiserreich this year so far - I will get this to an ounce fine (four 20 Mark and one 10 Mark coins).

So, I recently got a Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle coin, as shown here It's basically about the weight and size of a modern one ounce bullion coin, but this used to be currency. I'm not new to historical coinage, but the heaviest I am used to are 20 Mark Kaiserreich, which are roughly quarter ouncers. Now I'm trying to wrap my head around the relative worth of this coin back then and the sum of money it represented. A lot I would think. Would these have been handled in day to day business?

Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle A little worn around the edges, but not too shabby for a hundred years old...

Let me review what changed over the last two years: Primary wealth conservation or risk distribution stack One ounce standard bullion leaning towards American Eagles at the moment. Fractional coins Gold 20 Mark Kaiserreich Gold Vreneli 20 Franken Still valid, 20 Marks and Vreneli are easily affordable and bought. Have become my go to for fractionals. On Silver Maria Theresien Taler I cannot be bothered to hunt down cheap ones. Speculative stack On Silber, I stopped buying physical silver due to VAT. I am putting money into digital silver, as in ETCs and mining stock. Sitting on two Platinum Nobles, beautiful coins, waiting for a correction. Collectible stack My Silver Queen's Beasts set may be a keeper. Recently looked into selling my Silver Queen's Beasts spares (nothing too fancy). I doubt I'll go into collectible anymore. Odds and ends Silver bars (poured) Silver junk What I said about silver above.

Nobody will ever know what I do to my coins when no one is looking... 😁 On topic: If you have ever seen how your local bullion dealer handles coins you will realize that pristine condition is an idea reserved for investors that put too much thought into it. Will a collectors' value ever be realized? Isn't it like with a Rolex, that no one ever wants to be the person paying the theoretical collectors' value?

2023 already?

I'll sell when silver went to the moon and shift the sum into gold, maybe part into another asset class. Selling for cash makes sense for me when I either need money (shouldn't be), reach my endgame, which is essentially needing money during retirement, or can realize and reinvest a solid profit.

Wow, many thanks 👍 Yes, I still have them, they are nothing that I would give away. I talked to my mother in the meanwhile - our family friend was a regular visitor to the Americas, which makes sense in this context.

As I see it, gold is better for wealth protection. And platinum is not any more a gamble than silver. I think of it as a curiosity, as speculative as silver, but with more upward potential than silver. Nobles are very nice coins - I posted some Nobles pictures around here about a year ago.

If you can you Google translate this: https://www.gold.de/kaufen/platinmuenzen/isle-of-man/#informationen Very nice coins btw.

Cost averaging. But with silver I went digital to avoid VAT and premiums.

If it does, I'll be buying... The last time I bought gold as low as that is more than ten years in the past. My suggestion: read through the forums, put more trust in the experience of the posters than in technical analysis. Buy gold for stability, not for speculation, don't go all in, get a feeling for it.

Platinum is a speculative asset not unlike silver. But unlike silver it is severely undervalued at the moment. There is a not too small chance that platinum (once the most valuable of the classic precious metals) will rise to it's former value again. This made me put away an ounce or two. Of course VAT hurts.

I always found it sad that gold medals are not really gold (say 22 karat) - feels cheap 🙂

Guess what came in yesterday 😌

An early sign of milk spotting is when the producer is The Royal Mint...

Currently I'm of the opinion that buying silver doesn't hold anything over buying gold. I'm mainly looking at wealth conservation and not on profit, but I cannot ignore the feeling of losing 19+% the moment I'm leaving the store. I'll still hold onto what I have, in case of a silver to the moon scenario. I'm seriously contemplating to invest into paper silver, but I'll need to follow ETCs for a while.

I guess it's called The Silver Forum because of the silver buying iniatives that took place in times long forgotten... It's also smoother than The Precious Metals Forum... 😊 (Service Smiley)

It is possible, and yes it is a gamble (or call it speculation). Silver bought under VAT will make you turn a profit under the right circumstances. Long term investment horizon is always good, and going to the private market will get you a different buy sell spread. The general sentiment is that VAT will bite into that profit, especially when buying from and selling to institutional dealers. One can then say that a related investment into gold will have less of that problem.

Historical means old Degussa. Degussa was a German precious metals refinery (among other business fields) since before 1900. Degussa used to be a household name in regards to gold and silver. The precious metal business was sold to Umicore somewhere after 2000. The Degussa name has been sold around 2010, the new company became one of the largest precious metal dealers in Germany. So in regards to Degussa bars we think of three types: Old Degussa bars, produced by the original Degussa refinery - these bars have a characteristic "coffin" form, as can be seen in the photo (more pronounced on larger bars). Umicore bars, which are identical or very close to old Degussa bars (see here and here). The New Degussa does not produce it's own bars but has bars produced by other refineries, stamped as Degussa - like Valcambi (earlier) and Argor Heraeus (later). These bars are more flat and less "coffin" like. In my eyes: the old Degussa form is the most attractive due to it's chunkiness. While Umicore will deliver the form, the Umicore logo is very modern and industrial, while the Degussa logo is more classical. Then new Degussa bars are nothing like the old ones. I own some of those new bars (see somewhere above in this thread), but I'm not a fan. So, I do not know how old this bar is, chances are it could be a mere 15 years old, though the serial number makes that unlikely. Most important to me is the old form, an old Degussa has always been on my list.

Silver Bar, 250g, Degussa (historical)