What is Silver Stacking?

So I named the blog 'Silver Investor', which is a little bit of a contradiction in terms to what 'Silver Stacking' is for one very simple reason. 'Silver Stackers' do not consider themselves 'Silver Investors' because their plan is not to ever sell, unless they have to. The term 'Silver Investing' or 'Silver Investor' implies that the metal will be traded in at some point. I see myself as a stacker. But likewise I want to leave my options open. Should the price of Silver sky rocket or the Gold to Silver ratio be in the favour of Silver then perhaps I would cash in. Who knows, but until that day happens I am happily stacking, investing.. You know what I mean.

Silver Bars stacked in a Vault

'Silver Stacking' is an American term that has made it over here to the UK along with this investment strategy. The word 'stacking' comes from the way that Silver bars or coins are stored, that is stacked on top of one another. I really like the term, it instantly conjures up those mental images of silver bars stacked up in a vault somewhere.

To 'stack' also means to have physical Silver or precious metals in your possession. A lot of Silver Stackers have very little faith in the banking systems or their governments with some historical interventions whereby governments in particular prevented the ownership of Gold and Silver. Reclaiming it and preventing ownership. This has happened in both the UK and the US in the past. To 'stack' Silver is to have it squirreled away somewhere, either in your home or in a secure vault but somewhere where you can get access to it.

Whether you call yourself a 'Silver Stacker' or a 'Silver Investor' the goal is the same. Stack or buy Silver, that is the real thing not an ETF or suchlike, with a view to holding onto it for the long term. If you are just getting into Silver Stacking then don't think that this is some sort of get rich quick scheme. Its a long term strategy and the bet is that Silver, being real money not currency, will out value paper currency in the long term. We'll get into why Silver is such a good long term investment in other posts.

To complicate things there is a third term that often gets thrown into the Silver investing mix. That term is a 'collector'. Collectors are hobbyist looking for rare, unusual or collections of pieces. Sometimes Silver, sometimes not. You'll often run into 'Collectors' when you are trying to buy Junk Silver. Junk Silver being old coins that contain a percentage of Silver or even Gold. There is a little bit of a collector in all of us and if you are going to be serious about 'Silver Investing' or 'Silver Stacking', you'll have to do your best to set aside any collecting mentality and focus on a disciplined buyer mentality... Even if you haven't got that Victorian Silver Crown yet.

So, in this brief summary of 'What is Silver Stacking' hopefully I have communicated well that Silver Stacking and Silver Investing are kindred spirits. The objective is to stack, stash or set aside Silver as part of a long term investment strategy. The only differences between a 'Silver investor' and a 'Stacker' is that an investor may choose to sell his Silver Stack at some point and Silver Stackers prefer to take possession of the majority if not all of their stack and keep hold of it.

Are you a Silver Stacker or Investor? Leave a comment in the field below.