Stacking, Is That What I Am Trying To Do?

I dont consider gold and silver investments. They are but carriers of wealth.
A silver 1964 quarter bought a gallon of gas in '64. It will buy a gallon of gas today, but first traded for fiat, or paper money. I've never expected to sell metals for gain, but they are a container of wealth.

If you are buying fractionals, you are paying mucho on premiums.

Hate to break you the bad news- silver has been a HORRIBLE investment the past few years, only a 4% return when you can do way more than that in the stock market. Gold is ho-hum. If you had picked palladium, then you would be up 34% on the year, not bad, but not as great as the stock market.

IF you not put any sort of money in the market, especially after Nov 16, you have squandered the opportunity to leave money for your niece.

Forget about stacking and buy some boring stock like ExxonMobile that has been around since the beginning of time, pays a stable, steady yield

You would have at the time, but with the majority of stocks they have not only recovered to their previous levels but they have increased in value as well. Many of the losses people realized during those times would have not occurred if they didn't panic sell. Obviously some companies did need to be sold and weren't going to recover, but many stocks were artificially low from the panic selling.

Well, I still don't trust the stock market. I'm too old, and as things are, retired. As things were back then, I got out several weeks before any indication of a market crash was evident. As I said, I have a sixth sense about some things, and I followed that sense. Except for my 10 percent loss for early withdrawal on my 401K's, I had, at the time, always made money. I watched things very carefully, and did that weekly, making adjustments to just what I was invested in. I might not have made much money, but if I had managed to stay in, my average yearly increase was in double figures. I've had a sense for the stock market ever since I was a child, when I played the Market just for fun. But enough of stocks, I am doing what I enjoy right now, investing in precious metals, even if I don't make any money. I get something that will have a decent return, and at the same time, enjoy looking at some of it.

I'd probably go for pre-1965 US half-dollars, quarters, and dimes, also known as junk silver or constitutional silver. You get some variety, can cherry pick nicer examples at the local coin shop, can buy large amounts easily or can make small purchases when you don't have a ton of money but just want to buy some. Also, they are very liquid and simple for your niece to sell when the time comes. I think you are doing a very nice thing for her!

cuzzx, So sorry you got hit by the stock market. That was what I was saying in an earlier post. So many small investors, and your investment is small as compared to the big boys and girls who play the market, got hit hard, or totally KO'd. My thought is that gold, silver and gems are always going to have a certain amount of stability. Yes, the values can go up and down, but for the most part, they stay within a certain range, so that is why I like these investments, especially since I don't have thousands of dollars or more to invest. I am limited to a few hundred every once in a while, which puts me down in the very small investor range.

hcuzzx: Don't "invest" in jewellery. You are not buying gold. You are buying karat gold. You are also paying a high margin to have someone turn a gold bar into a diluted round sheet or wire. Jewellery is not something you want to dump savings into. Jewellery is about showing off, it's about fashion, it's about looking and feeling good. Buy it if you appreciate art or want to be flashy, not to hold your wealth. Even with chains, possibly the lowest margin gold item is not going to hold up when you sell it. A wholesaler pays a premium, so think about that when you, the retail consumer, consider buying. Your best option is to go to an Indian jeweler who makes 22 karat gold, or just buying the most generic 24 karat bar. Karat gold is like sugar water compared to drinking water. You're paying for the alloy, the labor and tools, the marketing, wastage, the jeweler's insurance and rent, possibly the name-brand too... On the flip side, if you want to give a jeweler "old" gold to make a new piece you will receive a lousy product because the gold is "dirty" therefore risking porosity and most certainly lots of wastage, the alloys are different for each jeweler, so the melted karat gold doesn't metallurgically mix properly. I've dealt with this firsthand and have had to tell clients that it's entirely THEIR fault. A proper product will require a savvy manufacturer to first refine the old gold into 24 karat so that proper alloys can be used. If you want a cast product (ie, not made by hand, and cast pieces are what 99% of modern pieces are today thanks to 3d printing) you will be required to give the jeweler approximately 50 percent more gold than is required to get the gold to flow into the mold without porosity issues - you want the gold to shine, right? And if you want a fabricated piece (ie, made by hand) using old gold, there's a huge possibility that the karat gold will crack while rolling it to shape, and no sane jeweler will do this. The whole point of karat gold is its luster, since 24 karat and 22 karat don't shine the same way as 18 karat and lower, and it's a MAJOR waste of gold to polish high karats. Anyways, don't dump your savings into jewellery. Buy it because it's shiny and it looks good on you - no other reason.

Regarding silver jewellery, a simple ".925" stamp is not enough these days. I run into lots of imported garbage that even when brand new, although they look pretty spiffy, are a pain to resize, hence pricy. Most of them are silver plated, or have an unusually high copper content that make them turn pink when heated. They also don't even set the stones with proper bearings and will fall out with the lightest of taps on the mandrel. You cannot (!) trust the stamps. Ever.