Selling the Stack

[RacerCool]

I had accumulated what to me was a decent stack, with a variety of silver and a decent amount of gold.  I had been putting a pretty good amount of my cash savings into it.  Well, recently I had a large, unexpected expense that came up, and it required a lot more than the cash I had on hand.  So...I had to sell the stack.  All of it, except for five Morgans, one small gold coin, and my 1853 half crown.  I wanted to have SOMETHING remaining, so I kept those.  That hurt.  But I knew that if I really needed to, I could sell part or all of the stack, so...yeah.

So now I've started slowing rebuilding.  So far I have added three rolls of silver dimes, and one five peso gold coin.

*sigh*  Good times...

[CadmiumGreen]

@RacerCool, sorry to hear...but did your investment in your stack serve as the “preservation of wealth” to easily respond to an unexpected expense? At the end of the day, that should be viewed as a win and success! No emotional attachments 😊...yes, easier said than done, as I have yet to liquidate any.

Indeed...good times...I say that all to often at work. 😁

[RacerCool]

2 minutes ago, CadmiumGreen said:

@RacerCool, sorry to hear...but did your investment in your stack serve as the “preservation of wealth” to easily respond to an unexpected expense? At the end of the day, that should be viewed as a win and success! No emotional attachments 😊...yes, easier said than done, as I have yet to liquidate any.

Indeed...good times...I say that all to often at work. 😁

Nope, that's one of the reasons it hurt so much: it was the worst time to sell, with the market being so low for silver and gold.  So I actually ended up losing some of my investment.  But I knew that that's part of the risk.  On the one hand, if the economy goes off the rails, and silver and gold shoot up in value, then I'd be doing very well.  But on the other hand, if the exact situation happens that happened, then I'd lose some of my investment. 

The upside is that I still have everything else, including my health.  It's just "stuff", at the end of the day.  As Tolkien said by way of Gandalf: "If a man cannot let go of a treasure in time of need, then he is in fetters."  And I still have the means to rebuild, if not as quickly as I'd like.

[MintageSeller]

20 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

I had accumulated what to me was a decent stack, with a variety of silver and a decent amount of gold.  I had been putting a pretty good amount of my cash savings into it.  Well, recently I had a large, unexpected expense that came up, and it required a lot more than the cash I had on hand.  So...I had to sell the stack.  All of it, except for five Morgans, one small gold coin, and my 1853 half crown.  I wanted to have SOMETHING remaining, so I kept those.  That hurt.  But I knew that if I really needed to, I could sell part or all of the stack, so...yeah.

So now I've started slowing rebuilding.  So far I have added three rolls of silver dimes, and one five peso gold coin.

*sigh*  Good times...

What is the going rate on US silver coins, in the uk?  Example a mercury dime how much time face is like the average 

[CadmiumGreen]

@RacerCool, thank you for highlighting the  personal realities. I can appreciate how hard this was for you, especially with the highs and now lows in the PMS. If I may ask, how did you sell your stack?

[RacerCool]

12 minutes ago, MintageSeller said:

What is the going rate on US silver coins, in the uk?  Example a mercury dime how much time face is like the average 

I believe I got $1.20 per dime, and I had a lot of dimes.  SIlver was going for about $14.50 per ounce at the time.

[Lowlow]

5 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

I believe I got $1.20 per dime, and I had a lot of dimes.  SIlver was going for about $14.50 per ounce at the time.

That's on par with U.S. prices.

[RacerCool]

5 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

That's on par with U.S. prices.

I think I got hit the hardest with the gold.  Looking back, I should've kept my favorite gold half eagle, since I might've come out of it with the same amount if I didn't include that.  

Woulda shoulda coulda.

[Lowlow]

1 minute ago, RacerCool said:

I think I got hit the hardest with the gold.  Looking back, I should've kept my favorite gold half eagle, since I might've come out of it with the same amount if I didn't include that.  

Woulda shoulda coulda.

Every investor has their horror stories, I hope you will cut yourself a break and forgive yourself, you did nothing wrong.  Live and learn.

"You pays your money and you takes your chances"

[HelpingHands]

14 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

That's on par with U.S. prices.

I think both of you are in the US.

UK maybe a slight premium for the novelty, esp mercs.

[CadmiumGreen]

2 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

Every investor has their horror stories, I hope you will cut yourself a break and forgive yourself, you did nothing wrong.  Live and learn.

"You pays your money and you takes your chances"

Along with @Lowlow...you did what you needed to do and met your objective. There are costs in the business, and we all hope to come out ahead. Be proud in achieving a goal, and learn from every moment!

[Lowlow]

Just now, CadmiumGreen said:

Along with @Lowlow...you did what you needed to do and met your objective. There are costs in the business, and we all hope to come out ahead. Be proud in achieving a goal, and learn from every moment!

No doubt ... I mean think about the stories we normally hear ... "I already had a lot of debt, and then there was an emergency, and with my credit I couldn't get a loan, so I went and got a payday loan ...."

[MintageSeller]

3 minutes ago, HelpingHands said:

I think both of you are in the US.

UK maybe a slight premium for the novelty, esp mercs.

Yeah it’s hard finding at 12x most now are at 15x I was wondering how much in the UK. 

[RacerCool]

LowLow and HelpingHands, you guys are right.  Thanks for the reminder and encouragement!  

 

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Added 0 minutes later...

3 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

No doubt ... I mean think about the stories we normally hear ... "I already had a lot of debt, and then there was an emergency, and with my credit I couldn't get a loan, so I went and got a payday loan ...."

Oh boy...I've been exactly there, and done exactly that.  Those were some dark times.  Thankfully I'm out of that situation!

[Lowlow]

1 minute ago, MintageSeller said:

Yeah it’s hard finding at 12x most now are at 15x I was wondering how much in the UK. 

Being an active buyer in junk silver, my experience (based on history and translated to today's prices) is that the low end today is about 11$us per 1$us face value, the average right now at a small urban coin shop is anywhere from 12$us - 14$us per 1$us face value, and then on the high end about 15$us per 1$us face.  In bulk it leans towards the low end, of course.

[MintageSeller]

Just now, RacerCool said:

LowLow and HelpingHands, you guys are right.  Thanks for the reminder and encouragement!  

It’s all apart of the passion, we’ll build it bigger this time around. If you’re in the UK and interested in some silver let me know. I love mercury dimes but it’s hard to get a hold of them. I have loads of quarters though

[RacerCool]

4 minutes ago, MintageSeller said:

It’s all apart of the passion, we’ll build it bigger this time around. If you’re in the UK and interested in some silver let me know. I love mercury dimes but it’s hard to get a hold of them. I have loads of quarters though

I'm in the US, but I do appreciate the offer.  I will certainly be adding quarters to the stack before too long.

[Lowlow]

11 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

I'm in the US, but I do appreciate the offer.  I will certainly be adding quarters to the stack before too long.

I don't like the choices for quarters, it's a bit of junk silver that doesn't interest me.  We only have 2 reasonable choices (Barbers have too much premium) and that is either Standing Liberty quarters, or Washington quarters.  Standing Liberty quarters are old enough (up to 1930, not 1964) that they have numismatic value, so the only "junk silver" Standing Liberty quarters in the market are all in horrible shape, totally slicked out, you usually can't read the dates, etc.  Washington quarters are fine ... except that they didn't change the design after 1964, ... so you're stuck with having to actually look at the date (or look at the side to see if there is any copper) to differentiate between pre-1965 90% Washington quarters, and post-1964 worthless Washington quarters that look the same ... for that reason they don't interest me.

Many other junk silver coins such as Mercury dimes, Franklin Halves, Walking Liberty halves, etc, still have a low premium, and at a glance you can see that they are what they are, and know they are 90% silver without having to check dates, etc.  They're also in really good condition most of them, so I think they are a better choice.

[RacerCool]

6 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

I don't like the choices for quarters, it's a bit of junk silver that doesn't interest me.  We only have 2 reasonable choices (Barbers have too much premium) and that is either Standing Liberty quarters, or Washington quarters.  Standing Liberty quarters are old enough (up to 1930, not 1964) that they have numismatic value, so the only "junk silver" Standing Liberty quarters in the market are all in horrible shape, totally slicked out, you usually can't read the dates, etc.  Washington quarters are fine ... except that they didn't change the design after 1964, ... so you're stuck with having to actually look at the date (or look at the side to see if there is any copper) to differentiate between pre-1965 90% Washington quarters, and post-1964 worthless Washington quarters that look the same ... for that reason they don't interest me.

Many other junk silver coins such as Mercury dimes, Walking Liberty halves, etc, still have a low premium, and at a glance you can see that they are what they are, and know they are 90% silver without having to check dates, etc.  They're also in really good condition most of them, so I think they are a better choice.

You mentioned the reasons why I generally avoid Mercuries and Barbers: they're either slicked out, or they're in the numismatic territory and they're way more expensive than I want to pay for a roll of coins.  Hence I stick with Washingtons and Roosevelts.  And the only reason I do both dimes and quarters is for the sake of fractional variation.

[Lowlow]

7 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

You mentioned the reasons why I generally avoid Mercuries and Barbers: they're either slicked out, or they're in the numismatic territory and they're way more expensive than I want to pay for a roll of coins.  Hence I stick with Washingtons and Ikes.  And the only reason I do both dimes and quarters is for the sake of fractional variation.

That hasn't been my experience with Mercury dimes ... most junk silver Mercury dimes are in really good condition, with a few slicks, a few dinged up ones, but the overwhelming majority of the ones I get my hands on are in great condition and that's from a wide variety of sources.

That said .. of course you are right with Washington and Rosies generally being in even better condition .. like I said, I just don't like that they are the same design as non-silver quarters and dimes.  Same reason I'm not interested in the 1964 Kennedy half, which I actually think is a beautifully made coin.

The premium on Mercury dimes is about 0.10$us per 1$us face more than rosies, generally, which to me is worth it.

[RacerCool]

3 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

That hasn't been my experience with Mercury dimes ... most junk silver Mercury dimes are in really good condition, with a few slicks, a few dinged up ones, but the overwhelming majority of the ones I get my hands on are in great condition and that's from a wide variety of sources.

That said .. of course you are right with Washington and Rosies generally being in even better condition .. like I said, I just don't like that they are the same design as non-silver quarters and dimes.  Same reason I'm not interested in the 1964 Kennedy half, which I actually think is a beautifully made coin.

Hmm.  Maybe I just have bad luck or timing with regard to Mercuries.  I think I've had all of maybe two rolls of them, and that's because I found them to be around the same price as the Rosies when I was looking.

The Kennedys are usually easy to find in BU condition at decent prices.  The Franklins are more hit and miss, though those are usually pretty easy to find in decent circulated condition, so I try to mix it up with the halves.

[Lowlow]

6 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

The Kennedys are usually easy to find in BU condition at decent prices.  The Franklins are more hit and miss, though those are usually pretty easy to find in decent circulated condition, so I try to mix it up with the halves.

For halves I go back to the Walking Liberties, but you are paying a little more for them, about 0.10$us per 1$us face more than for a Franklin or a 1964 Kennedy.  I like the Franklins too, but there's just something about that Walking Liberty design that I love, it's purely aesthetic, no logical reason really for spending extra on them ... especially for a bullion investor.  It's a logical inconsistency I'm trying to understand within myself lol.  Edit - I might start investing in Franklins too, however .. it's a cool design too.

[RacerCool]

1 minute ago, Lowlow said:

For halves I go back to the Walking Liberties, but you are paying a little more for them, about 0.10$us per 1$us face more than for a Franklin or a 1964 Kennedy.  I like the Franklins too, but there's just something about that Walking Liberty design that I love, it's purely aesthetic, no logical reason really for spending extra on them ... especially for a bullion investor.  It's a logical inconsistency I'm trying to understand within myself lol.  Edit - I might start investing in Franklins too, however .. it's a cool design too.

I haven't paid much attention to the Walking Liberties, though I actually really like the design.  I guess I assumed they'd either be slicks or too numismatic.  But now I'll have to take another look at them.  Maybe if nothing else I'll pick up one or two really nice ones, just to have that lovely design in my stack.

As for the logical inconsistency, eh, I say don't worry about it.  I think it's fine to have some nicer coins, that aren't there for bullion stacking purposes. Makes it more fun and interesting.

[Lowlow]

8 minutes ago, RacerCool said:

I haven't paid much attention to the Walking Liberties, though I actually really like the design.  I guess I assumed they'd either be slicks or too numismatic.  But now I'll have to take another look at them.

Walking Liberty halves are in WAY better shape than Standing Liberty quarters in junk silver, that's been my experience.  There are a few slicks in Walking Liberties, but I'd say in my experience that is maybe 1 in 20, I don't think I've ever seen one that the date wasn't readable, and in my experience in terms of how good the coins are a good half of the walking liberties are (or would be) of collectible quality if it weren't for the fact that their dates aren't collectible - mid 1940's instead of earlier.

Standing liberties and barbers, no ... almost all slicks in junk silver from what I've seen.

[RacerCool]

4 minutes ago, Lowlow said:

Walking Liberty halves are in WAY better shape than Standing Liberty quarters in junk silver, that's been my experience.  There are a few slicks in Walking Liberties, but I'd say in my experience that is maybe 1 in 20, I don't think I've ever seen one that the date wasn't readable, and in my experience in terms of how good the coins are a good half of the walking liberties are (or would be) of collectible quality if it weren't for the fact that their dates aren't collectible - mid 1940's instead of earlier.

Standing liberties and barbers, no ... almost all slicks in junk silver from what I've seen.

Now that I think more about it, I should just focus on finding a good Standing Liberty, since the Walkers are very well represented in the silver Eagles.