What exactly is metal stacking and why are more people interested in it? I was once one of those individuals who didn't know what metal (silver/gold) stacking was. When I saw pictures of people who had coins or ingots, I assumed it was for collectors purposes. Now I know better.

Is it a good investment? Well this depends on a few factors. If you were able to buy when prices are very low and sell later on when the price rises, then you can make some profit. Most of the time it would take a long time to see a profit on what you buy.

So why even bother? Because you will have a physical currency on hand that no matter what happens, you can use to buy what you need. An example is Venezuela, where inflation is very high. Loads of paper money is needed to buy the simplest of things, while 1 troy ounce of silver traded can buy groceries to feed a family for awhile.

Also, if your lucky and score a unique coin/bar that is rare, then it could sell later on for a lot more. Like the Engelhard silver bars that have low mintage or are in the first ones that were poured.

What Is Metal Stacking?

The process of owning the physical gold, silver or platinum in hard assets for the future is known as metal stacking or commonly referred to as "silver stacking". This is because more people will have silver than gold for a number of reasons. Most people who stack silver do it against inflation or to have their own savings on hand.

Need To Know

• Best Coins:

  • The American Silver Eagle: The only USD 1 ounce bullion coin. Was first issued in 1986 and is made of metal mined within the United States. The most popular and also most minted.

  • The Canadian Silver Maple Leaf: Another popular bullion coin and was first issued in 1988. A cool fact is that this coin has 1 troy ounce like others and instead of three (999) like other coins, it has instead four of them.

  • The Austrian Silver Philharmonic: The only EURO dominated bullion coin is this one and it came about in 2008.

  • The Mexican Libertads: Beautiful coins that are minted in Mexico, but they do usually have a slightly higher premium than other countries coins.

  • The Chinese Panda: Okay I think this a gorgeous coin and more people will start to see it too. The first year of mint was 1983 and each year the picture changes. Be careful, these are known to have a high number of counterfeits.

• Junk Coins: In the U.S these would consists of coins minted pre-1965 and have a percentage of silver or gold in them. You will find dimes, quarters, and half dollars that have 90% silver content. This was from when American was still on the gold standard. Other countries also have their own older coins that have a certain amount of metal in them. For a coin to be considered to be a cull/slick, the surface has to be more rubbed away, the dates can not be made out, and overall you can tell that the coin has been heavily circulated. Also look out for 1965-1976 Kennedy Half Dollars or 1971-1974 Eisenhower silver dollar coins, these both will have 40% silver in them.

  • Useful facts on junk silver: $1 face value of coins pre-1965 will equal 0.715 troy ounces of silver. So that would mean $1.40 worth of face value U.S junk silver coins will be equal to 1 troy ounces of silver. This is a good thing to know so you know what you are paying for spot and more.

• Graded Coins (Numeric): Not a good choice if you wish to use the coins as part of your stack. Graded or certified coins should be thought of as more of a collection. One that you will enjoy. These coins can have high premiums due to them being proofs or flawless in looks.

  • Be careful if you do by certified coins, make sure they are from a reputable dealer and be cautious of Ebay. There are many fakes out there and it can be hard to identify them if you do not know what you are looking for.

• What type of bars: The higher weight of a bar you buy will usually have lower premiums with them. You can buy bars in fractional parts like 1/10th or 1/2 ounces. It all really comes down to what you like or willing to spend. Hand poured bars will sometimes be a little less than shiny cast bars that are from a company, like the German Geiger Bars.

• Bullion Rounds: Another option is to buy generic bullion rounds. You can find ones that are simple, which will be cheaper. Others can be decorated, like with Star Wars theme or Jurassic Park for example. These will usually sell for less when you decided to sell, but will cost less and is a great way to increase your stacking weight. If you are staking in case of inflation, then these will work great.

Physical Stacking

The idea of physical stacking is where you will own the precious metals in physical form and not in bonds or stocks. Owning the physical metal itself is owning a hard asset that you are in control of, for better or worse. There can be pros and cons with this.

Having your physical metal on you allows you to liquidate it in a hurry if you need, you physically own it, and you do not have to worry about banks or other places losing it. There have been stories of banks losing a persons belongings in safety deposits boxes. If an incident ever happens it could be a benefit to have it on you to pay for things if you need.

The cons is if you do not store it in a safe location or you let others know about it then it can create a situation where you get robbed. Never tell anyone what you have or your safe combination.

Silver versus Gold

Which is better to invest in or have as savings? Gold cost more but is more easy to move if you need to in a hurry since smaller portions are worth a good amount. Silver on the other hand can be liquidated more quickly. You can also purchase more for less.

Purchasing silver over gold comes with another con. You will need more storage space compared to gold. For example, $1000 USD would give you about 54 pounds of silver, where that same amount in gold will only be about 18 grams. That is a big difference.

In addition, if you do decide on silver, then be prepared to store it correctly or it will tone over time. A cigar box or wood box can work great and by not touching it as much you will prevent oils from your hands getting on the silver.

Fun Facts

• JP Morgan Chase, a commercial bank holds the most physical silver in the world under one name, which is around 133 million ounces.

• Silver is considered more volatile when it comes to its price.

• Silver is used more for industrial use compared to gold. Silver can be found in electronics, medical equipment, reflective gear, and more.

• Gold can be recycled in many cases, where most things with silver in it will not be reused.

• Pure gold (elemental) is consider to be 24 karats. From there you will find 18-karat (75% gold), 14-karat (58.5%), and 10-karat (41.7% gold).

• It is thought that at the bottom of the ocean, there is roughly 15,000 tons of gold in artifacts, coins, and more.

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