How has the Silver Forum changed your buying habits/ collecting of precious metals and coinage

[Pampfan]

I thought it would be interesting to start a thread on how the silver forum has affected your collecting/stacking habits.

For me, it definitely gave me an insight into the world of sovereigns, @sovereignsteve, Mexican libertads, @Numistacker, and so many other items out there in world of collecting coins and bars that I probably would never have been exposed to had I not joined the forum a few years back.

Not to mention all the good people on the forum I have meet and dealt with and who helped me get some bars and coins to add to my collection.

the top 5 things I learned from the forum are:

1) sovereigns are a big thing - (I managed to get the 2017 proof one- probably my most favorite sov that I own.)

2) Gold libertad mintages have no ryme or reason to them - but I managed to get my hands on a 2014 1/4 oz gold - which had a mintage of only 350

3) Vat on silver sucks for you guys in Britain

4) the royal mint quality control is A+ (😉)

5) I started out collecting only pamp bars - but there is so much other cool stuff out there that I wanted after I saw it on the forum.

here are some pics of stuff I would never have picked up:(I apologize for the 2017 brittania - but I really like it)😜

[HawkHybrid]

I vote sovereigns...

now

 

HH

[jacobkenn]

As close to spot as possible made my first purchase from bullion by post not alot but taken me a year of stacking at as close to spot as possible to get my average price down to a potentially profit making price. This fourum allowed me to get the average price down because of  excellent bargains from members. if i didnt join I dont know how many other purchases I would have made from high premium sites or how long it would have taken me to get my average cost per ounce  down.

I've also dipped my toe into graded coins but only buying what i like and whats unusual because of members post on the site.

Keep looking at the queens beasts but I know once I start on them i won't stop until I have all if not most of them and that will soon add up in £££

[matrawr]

I started off buying bullion and that's all I was interested in until I came here.....now I'm more into collectable stuff!

IMO I think it's wise to have a mix of bullion silver and more collectable stuff but even then I would stick to just type of collectable silver.

[AuricGoldfinger]

Planned to stick to Sovereigns but this placed turned me into a Queens Beasts addict. Now i need my next fix!

[UKStacker]

The main thing this forum did was to open my eyes to the queens beasts.

My main habbits haven't changed.

[Stuntman]

This forum alerted me to the release date of the 2017 BU quintuple sovereign, and I got one of the last ones (RM site was saying over 90% sold when I bought).

The forum also confirmed my belief that Atkinsons is generally pretty hard to beat for gold coins, if you're in the UK.  I have used them multiple times and they remain my first choice when I'm after something new.

Also, this forum alerted me to the sovereign deal with Harrington & Byrne - coins are fine, the marketing goes in the bin.
And the forum alerted me to SilverStan and Silver-Trader - I have since bought from both of them and would happily do so again.

And finally - it's been interesting to read the discussions on Kinesis and on Platinum.  I'm in on Platinum although not on Kinesis (yet?).

[bluemoon]

Group orders for VAT free silver was the biggest change. Although I once saw an established bullion dealer with their prices all wrong, some coins even under spot, and so even adding the VAT, it was like buying VAT free silver for me. I front loaded on that one! But group orders and a feeling of community are the biggest changes here. Very nice too. Oh and much fewer SHTF doomsdayers than on the Kitco forums.

[AppleZippoandMetronome]

The biggest thing would be general education. When I first registered I spent ages just searching the forums and soaking up an endless amount of information. At the point I registered I had just been getting back in to silver and coins in general after a long break where I was focused on other things. A lot has changed and it was nice reading about all the bullion releases as well as other general releases I wasn't aware of. It was also very nice reading about UK coins in general since all I really knew were Canadian coins. I have learned about and bought a number of items I probably wouldn't have ever got around to because of what I have read and learned about here including everyone's favourite - Sovereigns.

The other big thing has been learning the ways to get cheap silver in the UK. Joining in group orders and placing some of my own orders from European dealers as well as buying silver directly from members here. At the time I joined most of the pieces I was adding in to my collection / stack were eBay bargains which as anyone who spends enough time on there knows are rare. Well rare for genuine coins anyway.

[RacerCool]

If anything, it's brought more of my focus to the sovereign-class gold coins, like the US $5 half eagle.  Because of this forum, I hope to have picked up a couple more half Eagles, and a couple of Sovereigns this year.

[RacerCool]

On 25/04/2019 at 05:46, Pampfan said:

 

It seems that a lot of folks don't like that particular Britannia design, but I like it.  I like that the mint puts out different designs, and that they experiment with different ideas.  Pretty much all Britannias are nice enough to earn a spot in my collection, though that doesn't mean my wallet would necessarily agree.  But they are all pretty nice.

[DarkChameleon]

I would never have started on a full britannia set, no dragons, probably not even began stacking as I was more collecting one of everything that I liked...no buying $200 plus coins which were not historical and considering ratio buying...I was almost exclusively gold and had been for 30 years plus.

[PansPurse]

Counter-intuitively, the forum has played a significant role in me curtailing my PM stacking, especially wrt silver. When I first came here I was struggling to put savings to one side, having spent soem time stacking PMs I came to realise that I could do that and have since been taking charge of my finances more and putting most of my funds into more productive investments. PMs are still a part of it, but I mostly buy shiny things because I like the look and feel of them.

[999magnum]

I've learned and still learn so much from the forum that I can't specifically say. Maybe the one thing that changed radically was the fact that I'm not a buyer of the cheapest, closest to spot silver anymore.  

[SiliconToad]

For me, direct impacts are:

• Silver deal threads have led to several impulse buys of shiny baubles
• Became aware that I must, MUST have variations of several coins that I thought were covered in my world bullion collection. e.g. incuse maple, oriental border Britannia.  
• Introduced me to the queens beast series that got me collecting the 10 oz silver versions
• Learned more about VAT in practice than I ever would have otherwise
• Gain insight into how other countries view precious metals as investment, hedge and collectibles, which is quite different from my usual circle and really interesting.

Among other things. 😊

[DarkChameleon]

6 minutes ago, SiliconToad said:

For me, direct impacts are:

• Silver deal threads have led to several impulse buys of shiny baubles
• Became aware that I must, MUST have variations of several coins that I thought were covered in my world bullion collection. e.g. incuse maple, oriental border Britannia.  
• Introduced me to the queens beast series that got me collecting the 10 oz silver versions
• Learned more about VAT in practice than I ever would have otherwise
• Gain insight into how other countries view precious metals as investment, hedge and collectibles, which is quite different from my usual circle and really interesting.

Among other things. 😊

Almost completed set of britannia's from 97 to now because of this place, my wife will never forgive me....should she ever learn of it...lol.