Advice for a newbie on strategy

[aggiyama]

I've been stacking/collecting for several months and I deliberately set a low limit on what I would acquire the first year so I didn't get carried away and have any regrets. I figured if I acquired a few coins and decided it wasn't for me then they would simply be curiosities I could pass on to my daughter. I have already surpassed in less than six months what I had planned to spend over the year. My plan for the first year was 3 1/10th oz gold Britannia and three silver ounce coins. I already have that plus an extra three silver ounces and can't stop eyeing up other coins online. I am even tempted by larger gold denominations like 1/4 ounces or sovereigns. My original plan was not to buy larger gold coins until year 3.

So my question out there to successful collectors/stackers. Did you start out with a strategy?  Have you kept to it? Of those who have crashed and burned what were the common denominators? My original plan was to stack for value but I am enjoying the different silver designs so much that I am planning to turn that side of things into a hobby. Have any of you successfully changed a firm strategy so early in the game? Finally, has anyone else found this surprisingly addictive.

[Captdeano]

Welcome to the strange world o Precious Metals ,I started out with the same strategy or so i told my missus ,but the silver coins are so different from all parts of the world ,it is very very addictive ,   So far i have  around 4 kgs silver coins &small bars  .Also  3  Sovs  and small Britannia oh  and a 1 Ducat  gold coin which arrived this morning . Watch  out you just might turn into Golem    my precious  🤪🤪  Forgot to say this is less than one year !!!!

[Shinus73]

It takes time to work through the addictive stage - I’ve been at it for a decade and haven’t quite got there yet.

The good news is that after a decade I’ve been able to move from a silver 1 oz coin addiction to a gold 1/4 oz coin addiction.

This has been funded by reducing my target silver/gold ratio from 100/1 to 50/1 by weight. Almost there now.

You will change strategy every other week, it’s all fine.

[Bullionbilly]

1 minute ago, Shinus73 said:

 

You will change strategy every other week, it’s all fine.

Haha... thats sooooo true

[JunkBond]

It's not just me then.

[Martlet]

I've stuck with my strategy mainly because i drafted a loose approach that wouldn't restrict me.  an allocation to core investment, happens to be Queens Beasts (fortunate timing as this is interesting series and 6 mth cycle suits me); allocation to "collection" currently Britannia, Panda, Rwanda ship and lunar; allocation to buy what i like.  I've been tempted into gold, for which i have no strategy at present. 

[Norskgeld]

I started stacking almost a year ago and my plan was to spend approx £150 per month on bullion to supplement my pension when I retire in about 9 yrs.

I started with a few silver 1oz coins, because bars never floated me boat, and, because of the high premiums and VAT on silver, within a few weeks decided gold was a better option.

I buy 1/2 sovs and the equivalent coins from various European countries.

Just recently I have started appreciating slabbed numismatic silver coins so may dip my toe in the water at Coinex at the weekend.

I set a budget and stick to it.

I ignore the fluctuating gold price and buy my £150 worth each month. That way in ten years I will have amassed a tidy stack and the price I paid will have averaged out nicely through the ups and downs of the market.

When I sell I will do so the same way, selling bit by bit over a few years.

This strategy works for me and my personality.

My mate Scotty is the complete opposite and splurge buys on emotion. We have been stacking the same length of time and as he keeps telling me "I have considerably more gold than you"!!!...said in the brummie accent of Harry Enfield's famous sketch character.

[investorman]

I thought I would sign up and comment here, as I am also just starting out.

I am currently only filling about £14k of my £20k ISA allowance this year. I know that holding collective investment vehicles in a tax wrapper, almost entirely invested in equities, will give me the best return over the long term. So doing anything else will only decrease my future wealth.

However, I started watching some youtube videos, Backyard Bullion, and a guy in the US who hunts silver half dollars in coin rolls and thought, one Silver Britannia can't hurt!

Three weeks later, I now have:

2 x Silver Britannias

2 x Silver Maples

2 x Silver Eagles

2 x Silver Krugs

2 x Silver Libertads

1 x Gold Sovereign

I also have my eye on a 1/10oz Gold Britannia!

I keep telling myself its bullion, but then find myself paying a £10 premium for the Libertads just because they are cool. 

After the 1/10 Brit I may stop speculating on Gold and Silver and just increase my S&S ISA contribution, time will tell 😁

[Blockhead]

I started just over a year ago and apart from one 2.5g gold bar (which was as much a curiosity as an investment at that stage) I spent the majority of the first 6 months or so buying silver, mainly in 1oz bars and coins. 

I have recently adjusted to buy 5oz and 10oz silver bars/coins and 1/10 Britannias and 1/2 sovereigns. As much as I think about low premium over spot I also think about the aesthetics and what I enjoy actually owning, even if it is only bullion. So the strategy has been buy what I can comfortably afford and what is low premium but buy what I enjoy. 

My recent digression into silver pandas could prove my undoing, especially if it escalates to older gold ones... Then again I'm not the only one wanting to collect different years. 

[ShinyHunterTPT]

I've just made the switch to gold too 😭

[Thelonerangershorse]

Think my strategy can be pretty much summed up in 2 words...  

shiny!   want!

[terakris]

16 minutes ago, Thelonerangershorse said:

Think my strategy can be pretty much summed up in 2 words...  

shiny!   want!

^^ this!

[FFkook]

Not really a strategy here. But I have to say, sometimes I get carried away. Bought my first 100g bar in 2011 (really expensive but hey, what did I know about it). Bought 2 or 3 more. After that, bought 1, 10 and 20 g bars, sold them pretty quick because I didn't like them. Made a loss on them. I let it all rest untill this year and started again. Get carried away sometimes but prices are so low, that you can't really miss.. Only thing is, I only buy from money I don't need for savings or otherwise. So I have to restrict myself sometimes.. 

More of a hobby I guess, but it's a hobby that at least will pay out a little afterwards. Other than collecting beer cans or whatever there is you can collect..

[sillystacker]

your purchasing power generally dictates your strategy but id say just enjoy the stacking experience and te rest will follow suit - silver stacking is the best hobby in the world

[Lowlow]

I didn't really realize it until you started this thread, but yes, oddly enough I have stayed with the same basic strategy, for 30 years.  I've only bought when prices made precious metals a good buy, that's literally only three periods of time in my life, the mid-90's into early 2000's, 2008/2009, and recently.  I've never been interested in collectible coins, so I have no had to worry about spending too much on premiums.  I'm purely a value investor, which is why I'm here, now, instead of focusing somewhere else.

[Lowlow]

1 minute ago, Lowlow said:

I didn't really realize it until you started this thread, but yes, oddly enough I have stayed with the same basic strategy, for 30 years.  I've only bought when prices made precious metals a good buy, that's literally only three periods of time in my life, the mid-90's into early 2000's, 2008/2009, and recently.  I've never been interested in collectible coins, so I have no had to worry about spending too much on premiums.  I'm purely a value investor, which is why I'm here, now, instead of focusing somewhere else.

Maybe another way to say that is that when precious metals prices are low, I'm a buyer.  When precious metals prices are high, I'm content to sit and clink coins together in a stack and ponder the future fate of the ill informed little people.

[StackemHigh]

I've no real  strategy in buying or anything like that.

I collect what i like in silver that i can afford,  pick a collection buy a presentation box and go for it new!

I stack in gold, half sovereigns just below spot. Usually 2 or three a month. More if available.