How long have you been stacking and what got you started?

mrpaseo

Hey folks, me again. I can't really say when I began stacking but not too long ago when I started posting on the Precious Metals forum here is when I started. I pulled a lot of stuff from my coin collection that had little to no numismatic value to get it started and sadly, I do not have accurate records on some of these items (I have a lot of paperwork to go through to see if I can get all the info up to date).

As for what got me started, the state of the economy caused me to do more research to diversify my savings/investment holdings. That said, I am no more smarter about PMs than I was on the first day (Sad to say). What I mean is there is no specific rhyme or reason that I can figure out that causes PMs to go up or down... It's more of a gamble so... diversify, diversify, diversify...lol. As it stands, PMs hold a very small percentage in my array of savings/investments but I like to think that percentage is growing.

Thinking back to when I was old enough to learn about PMs I am kicking myself for not buying Silver at $5 an ounce (Back in the early 90's). I wish I had someone that guided me back then into the PM world. Oh well, there is always the future. Maybe 25 years from now I will be kicking myself for not buying in at $25 silver...lol.

So what got you started?

Baley

I started in 1977. This has been my second major bubble to participate in.
Looking forward to a third sometime within the next 20-30 years, but not holding my breath for it on a week to week basis.
(my stack bored me from 1982-2002, with a few exceptions (1986, 1997, etc..)
it was really fun 1978-1980 and 2005-2011

roadrunner

I stacked a few gold and silver coins in the 1960's and 1970's but really didn't know what I was doing. I certainly wasn't a true stacker. I was too much of a purist collector to get caught by gold or silver bug fever. And I did
miss a great opportunity in 1977-1980.

"Stacking" began more earnestly in Sept 2002 after reading Jim Sinclair's article on otc derivatives in Maurice Rosen's RNA. At that point I knew we were screwed and gold was one way to protect yourself. I've always preferred old US gold to modern bullion, not because it has done better or anything (it hasn't). I've always loved old coins like the Saints, Libs ......one way to cover both bases. A pile of bullion would never be of great interest to me. I can appreciate a pile of 90% silver Walkers or Mercs....not so much a 100 oz Englehard silver bar or an AGE. A proof AGE I can appreciate though...awesome looking coin.

ricko

I started stacking in the early/mid nineties....did a lot of silver and began the gold journey.... Looking back now, great prices and I fondly look at those stacks. The reason I began was simply the idea that as the dollar went down in purchasing power, PM's went up.. generally. So, a minor epiphany ... Cheers, RickO

derryb

not long enough.

"Crash Proof" book by Peter Schiff

cohodk

Started in 1986. Learned that all that glitters is not gold. Abandoned religion.

Built a decent pile in 2008/09. Sold in in 2011. Started to nibble again about 3 months ago.

jmski52

Bought 100 onzas in 1974. Sold them about a year later, for a small profit.

I was reading stuff like, "How to Profit from a Monetary Crisis" by Harry Brown" and a couple other authors. It was pretty cutting edge stuff at the time, or so I believed. I still have 3 books by Harry Brown.

Bought my first gold piece in 1977 (a $20 Saint), and got pretty serious with bags of silver, some rolls of Sovereigns and some margin contracts later that same year. It paid off about as well as it possibly could have - and we bought an A-Frame in a lake development and my ex went to law school on the proceeds.

I didn't start stacking again until 1998, and I've been busy at it ever since. The vibes are similar this time around, only of a more serious nature - in my opinion.

chumley

I started stacking when silver was $18/oz. and I collect mostly 1oz rarer type ingots..........I wandered onto the precious metel forum and got hooked

Justacommeman

2005 in earnest.............I have a Wall St background and became convinced when all my friends on the street thought I was an idiot for even considering stacking.

MJ

Weiss

I'd been a coin collector since I was 4, then started buying and selling metals in the 1980s booms when I was a young teenager. Lost interest in the doldrums of the 1990s. But then with the opportunities and writing on the walls, I jumped back in with both feet in late 2003. It's in my blood.

DrBuster

Started in the mid nineties with some silver after college, some being a little but I still have it. Dot-com recession hurt me for a good chunk of years, ramped back up in maybe 2005. Slow and steady since then, 20+ years to go for this fat turtle.

Can't pinpoint anything in particular but grew up in a family where the market was always a topic and visible. Osmosis I guess, gotta pay attention to the monies to try to keep it.

s4ny

Started in 1964 when silver quarters and dimes still circulated.

Moved to gold in 1975 and liquidated in late 1979.

Started again in 1986 and sold in 1988. Resumed buying in 2008.

More seller than buyer right now.

guitarwes

Started buying rolls of 90% silver in 2004 when it was 4.8 - 5.1X face. Mostly bought it off ebay. All of that cheap silver has long been sold for a minor profit to finance alot of my non-rare "collector" coins........one of my biggest mistakes ever as I had a big pile of 90%. This was a couple years before I joined the CU chat boards and started reading the Precious Metals forum. Didn't grow up in a household that invested in anything and have pretty much had to learn things on my own.

Jinx86

Started in 2003, my junior year of high school. Used the money I had earned that summer from working on a custom harvesting crew down in texas working our way up to south dakota before school started. I didnt have a summer break, but made a killing and didnt have to spend a dime all summer. Had the extra cash and nothing to spend it on so was looking at cool things on ebay.....Silver one ounce bars at $7.80. I bought American Silver Eagles for my friends graduation gifts also.

Zubie

Hello, my name is Tim and I am a precious metals addict....

Dad has always been a big Morgan and Peace dollar collector, but, I never really got into coins/PMs until 2007 when I saw a 10oz 1998 Canadian Maple Coin. I thought it was the coolest coin ever and bought one. Started buying ASEs around $8-10 and watched how they took off over the next few years. Put every dime I had into PMs over the next 4-5 years and sold almost all of it 2 years ago to buy a house.
Now I'm just buying Lunar coins for the kids collection, ASE's for their future and 10oz-100oz bars for my retirement along with some 1 oz gold Pamps!

Konahead

Started in 1998 when i finally had some funds i could put away and forget about. I have added every year since.

TwoSides2aCoin

ex wife wiped me out at the turn of the century. Got custody of 2 girls full-time with no support. So, I decided it was time to make all the decisions and if I screwed up I couldn't say it was anyone's fault like a president or some b.s.

Pokermandude

In 2008 I won a nice sum of money in a poker tournament and was looking for investment options. Read some books and it looked like a DOW/NASDAQ/etc index fund was the way to go. Then I saw that the charts looked much much better in the books (written in the late 90s) rather than did the recent charts. I was getting back into coin collecting at the time as well, so I started branching out with precious metals. My first purchase was actually some platinum, then gold/silver shortly after.

WhiteTornado

I had a rebirth in coin collecting in 2001, same time as I found the PCGS forum. I was somewhat active, although not well-informed, in the years prior to that. I went on a hiatus from collecting around 2007 until a couple of years ago.

I started going through my collection and consolidating, sold off many items to concentrate on just a few categories of coins. Quality instead of quantity. Within the past year, I have gotten interested in obtaining PMs. Uncertainty of our future economy and being middle-aged is probably what triggered it. This forum has been a tremendous help and has pointed me to web sites, books, etc, I may have not otherwise encountered. I mostly deal with silver, which I have always liked, and is at a more realistic price point for me.