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Gold Stacking: Metal, Silver, and Coin Stacks

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Gold stacking has been around for centuries. Its hedging power against inflation is particularly attractive in this volatile market.

As someone who grew up loving pirate-filled tales, the concept of gold stacking certainly intrigues me, but is it really a good investment in 2024?

If you are considering this investment and want to know what gold stacking is, if it’s worth it, and how you can purchase your first metal stack, then this is the article for you.  

Interested in gold IRAs? Check out some of our top provider picks:

The bottom line:

Overall, gold stacking can be a great investment in 2024 and beyond if you’re looking to diversify your portfolio or invest in something that has tangible value.

You will want to do your due diligence prior to investing, as there are risks involved. At minimum, choose a reputable broker, have insurance, and use a secure storage place.

What’s the best place to buy gold in 2024? Click the link to find out!

What is Gold Stacking?

Gold stacking

Gold stacking is the process of acquiring gold bars, coins, and other numismatic items over time for your portfolio. Sort of like a pirate acquiring treasure (but not really).

It is becoming increasingly popular amongst investors who are looking to diversify. Why?

Because gold is considered a long-term investment. You can expect to hold on to your metal stack for at least 3-5 years, though many hold the investment for longer to help hedge other investments.

What is Silver Stacking?

Like gold stacking, silver stacking is the practice of gathering silver bars, coins, and other collectible items in your investment portfolio.

Differences Between Gold and Silver Stacking

The investment world has traditionally viewed gold as a safe-haven investment for those who want to secure their wealth. But both precious metals are popular options for investors.

Silver is often considered a more budget-friendly option compared to gold. This makes it an attractive option for those who want to diversify their investment portfolio but have limited funds.

That said, here are some important differences between gold and silver stacking that you should know:

Storage

Storage plays an essential role when dealing with gold or silver stacking.

I suggest storing your gold coin stacks within a security deposit box at the bank. There are costs involved with this method but they are often well worth it, thanks especially because of the added security and supplemental insurance coverage provided by the bank.

When choosing which metal to invest, one thing to consider is its ease of storage. Let’s look at an example.

  • At writing, $1,000 of silver weighs 42.88 troy ounces, whereas $1,000 of gold only weighs 0.5137 troy ounces.
  • This weight difference can make a big impact on your storage costs. Although silver is cheaper overall, it can be more expensive to store.
  • Silver can also tarnish, so it requires a space that is not exposed to the elements — which can add to your storage costs.

Don’t want to deal with storage? Investing in gold ETFs or gold stocks might suit you better than gold stacking. With minimal fees and a top-notch trading platform, eToro is one of our top brokerage picks for multiple types of assets.

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.

Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.

Market Volatility

Gold is a secure asset and is often preferred over silver during periods of economic uncertainty.

Why? Because silver’s value fluctuates more.

This makes the asset less secure. However, this can also provide an opportunity. Investors can potentially earn larger profits if they time buying and selling appropriately. However, this approach is not suggested for beginners.

Gold Can Be Easier to Sell

Gold boasts greater liquidity than silver and other metals. This is partly do to its worldwide trading channel. However, selling off accumulated inventory can be tedious and require a bit of expertise or a reliable broker, which typically involves fees.

What are the Best Places to Buy for Gold Stacking and Silver Stacking?

You can buy gold and silver through a local dealer or directly from a collector, but there are benefits to going through a reliable third-party broker.

There is a layer of safety and privacy that comes from working with a dealer and a minimized risk of scams. You can also buy directly from a government mint, which carries government-issued coins with guaranteed weight and purity.

While JM Bullion and APMEX are considered the gold standard (pun intended) when it comes to purchasing gold and silver, some other trusted options include:

Want to know more? Be sure to check out our article about the best place to buy gold online.

Can You Stack Other Metals?

Metal stacks

You have more options than gold and silver stacking to diversify your portfolio. Metal stacks of platinum, palladium, and copper can also be ideal for hedging against inflation or market changes. These, however, are considerably less liquid than their more famous counterparts.

Metal Stack: What are the Benefits?

Gold coin stack

Metal stacking investments keep on gaining popularity amongst investors, especially in times like these. Here’s why:

  •  2024’s market is riddled with uncertainties and this type of investment is seen as a shield from various risks associated with market volatility.
  • They are hard assets, which means they have a steady valuation unaffected by business cycles and are an excellent hedge against inflation.
  • They are excellent alternative investments to diversify your portfolio and are liquid compared with other alternative asset classes, such as fine arts or real estate. Though you need some capital to invest in upfront, you can slowly accrue it over time, something less possible with real estate or fine arts.
  • Gold can’t be hacked like other assets (ahem, crypto). Similarly, if you forget your password for your crypto wallet, you lose everything you invested in. With gold and silver, you have options if you lose your vault key or forget your combination.

Don’t have enough to invest in other assets like real estate today? Consider owning shares of real estate through a crowdfunding platform that does all the hard work for you.

Comparing the Different Ways to Stack

Bars
Coins
Rounds
Cost

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🙂
Transaction privacy

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🤨

Market liquidity

🤨

🤩

🤨

Ease of use as legal tender

🤩

Ease of international transport
🙂

🤩

🤨

Crisis hedge

🤨

🤩

🙂
Likelihood of counterfeit

🤨

🙂
🥵
Potential sale speed

🤨

🤩

🤨

How stackable?

🤩

🤨

🤨

Gold Stacking: Tips + Best Practices

Before Getting Started

Interested in gold stacking? I highly recommend that before you even consider purchasing a single gold coin, you:

  1. Pay off all high-interest debts.
  2. Add 3-12 months of emergency funds to a high-yield savings account.
  3. Maximize any matched retirement contributions to your IRA or Roth IRA.

Once that is complete,

  1. Set up a comprehensive insurance policy covering your investment.
  2. Set up a secure storage location.
  3. DO NOT mention your silver or gold coin stacks to anyone not directly involved in managing your funds or portfolio.

Not sure how to build up your savings? Start with a high-yield savings account.

Currently, M1 Finance is currently offering a great APY on their HYSA (most up-to-date rate below).

It’s a heck of a lot more than the national average of 0.25% for regular savings accounts…

Currently, M1 Finance offers 5% APY for qualifying high-yield savings accounts.

Understand The Value

It’s important to understand that not all gold or silver stacks are created equal. Before investing, educate yourself on the value and quality of the metal you’d like to buy to make sure that your collection is of top-notch caliber.

For example, the intricate designs on coins draw collectors to them. Similarly, the market for rare coins has grown. In fact, before embarking on purchasing gold or silver jewelry items, it may be wise to choose mints that offer government-issued coins with guaranteed weights and purities.

Find a Reputable Broker

Silver gold bull review

It is paramount that buyers purchase from reputable brokers and dealers. This will limit your exposure to counterfeits and add a layer of privacy.

Want a more comprehensive review of reputable places to buy gold? Don’t miss our article about the best places to buy gold.

Counterfeit Awareness

Be aware of counterfeit risks, particularly regarding silver stacks, since it’s easier to falsify than with gold investments. It’s critical that you do your due diligence by verifying the purity of the metal stack and validating its authenticity through reliable sources before making any purchase decisions.

Though they can be more expensive, reputable dealers often provide proof of authenticity, and are thereby well worth it in my book.

Security

Security. Security. Security.

This is not to be undervalued. Many insurance companies will not cover theft if they feel the items were not properly secured. They also may not replace your investment at its proper value. As the value of precious metals changes daily, you may not be able to control the price the insurance company sets for you.

Your safety is at risk if you secure the precious metals inside your home. However, many feel strongly opposed to securing their precious metal property inside a bank vault. They want to sell their property at whim and not depend on bank hours. If you feel this way, be doubly sure to invest in a quality vault of your own, keep it out of sight from visitors, and tell no one about its existence.

Best Practice: Store your metal stack in a secure location with low humidity and a steady temperature. This will allow you to diversify your metals with significantly less risk to the preservation of your metals. Security deposit boxes are most popular amongst investors.

Silver and Gold Stacking: Alternatives

Although gold stacking is a possibility for diversification, it can be less liquid than some assets, comes with high initial costs, has storage expenses, and can come with commissions and purchase fees.

Investing in Gold ETFs

Gold ETFs are Exchange-Traded Funds that seek to align with domestic physical gold pricing. These are suitable alternatives to their physical cousins as their performance is tied to the movements of gold but can be tracked and stored online or in paper form.

For ETFs as well as stocks, eToro is one of our top brokerage picks. 

eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.

Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.

Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.

Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more

eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.

Investing in Gold Stocks

Gold bars are great, but others find purchasing ownership stakes in stocks like Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD), a mining entity specializing in gold, much more appealing. They are far more liquid and much easier to “store.”

Not sure when to buy or sell your stock? Use a research platform like WallStreetZen to help you make decisions like this and more.

Gold IRA or Silver IRA

Gold and Silver Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are self-directed vehicles that allow you to hold physical gold or other approved precious metals as part of your retirement savings.

Unlike traditional IRAs, which only hold paper assets such as stocks and bonds, a Gold IRA, for example, gives you the ability to diversify your portfolio with a tangible asset such as gold.

This type of account comes with tax advantages and can be a great way to hedge your portfolio earnings from market volatility and diversify your retirement portfolio.

Patriot gold group

Patriot Gold Group is a wonderful IRA option, but there are others. Want to explore other options? Check out our article about the best gold IRA companies.

Consider Other Alternative Investments

Gold isn’t the only alternative investment out there. To further diversify, consider these top high-yield alternative investment platforms:

Final Word:

When it comes to diversifying, many savvy collectors and investors turn to gold stacking. I love it as an option for hedging against 2024’s inflation and market volatility.

Before making any long-term financial commitments or important decisions, make sure you set your financial foundation and consider the risks and fees carefully.


FAQs:

What is gold stacking?

Gold stacking is the process of collecting and investing in gold bullion or coins to diversify your portfolio.

Is it legal to stockpile gold?

Yes, it is legal to stockpile gold. Gold stacking has been used for centuries as a way to diversify one’s assets and protect against economic downturns. In most countries, the possession and storage of gold is not subject to any legal restrictions or special permits. However, it is important to be aware of your local laws and regulations regarding the ownership and movement of gold.

Should you stack gold or silver?

The decision to stack gold or silver depends on your individual investment goals and financial situation. It is important to do your research and due diligence as well as follow best practices for buying and storing your gold and silver.

Should I stack gold bars or coins?

When considering whether to metal stack gold bars or coins, it's vital to consider your investment portfolio. The most important thing is to purchase products that are certified as genuine by an independent, reputable third-party such as Silver Gold Bull.

Where to Invest $1,000 Right Now?

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Our March report reveals the 3 "Strong Buy" stocks that market-beating analysts predict will outperform over the next year.

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About the author

Angelina Allsop

Contributor

Angelina graduated in 2005 from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Global Business & Finance. She worked as a financial analyst for Northern Trust for three years and is now a full-time finance writer and digital nomad, traveling around the world with her husband. When she is not writing for WallStreetZen, she enjoys reading, writing fiction, and sipping on a refreshing beverage in a hammock.