There’s no government money that’s made out of gold or silver anymore. Our currencies are completely separate from precious metals. Counting, collecting and stacking silver is not just a hobby for some people, but a peace of mind, and an alternative way to save and invest.
What is silver stacking?
Put simply, silver stacking is the act of collecting, stockpiling and ‘stacking’ silver bullion.
Silver stackers are people who save silver bullion for the long term. They buy bullion coins, rounds, bars and hand-poured pieces of silver – then keep them safe and watch their monetary value grow. Their plan is to never sell, unless they have to or when the time is right.
For obvious reasons, most silver stackers like to keep their investment piles secret – but there’s a growing number of stackers who love to show their collections off on YouTube.
Where did Silver Stacking originate from?
For thousands of years, silver was used as the most common metal of currency across the world. It’s been mined since 3,000 BC! The first coins were minted and made in Athens before Spain became the largest silver supplier of mined silver. Over the centuries, silver has been unearthed and mined in many nations and proved a very popular currency.
The gold coin era emerged in 1837, after Germany adopted the gold standard and dumped its silver reserves. This unfortunately coincided with the discovery of a heap of silver mines. As Germany’s empire grew, so did the gold standard and, after being afraid that falling silver prices would cause a huge spike in inflation, nations quickly demonetized large silver coins.
The United States passed the Coinage Act of 1873, which halted the production of silver dollars and limited the legal tender amount of smaller silver coins to five dollars.
As more silver was discovered over the next few generations, silver prices continued to fall. In 1918, Britain faced a currency crisis in India during World War I. Indian industry, food, and soldiers were vital in Britain’s fight against the Central Powers. To pay for these purchases, the British government had issued more silver certificates than it had silver to back them. The US supplied that silver by melting some of the hundreds of millions of silver dollars sitting unused in Treasury vaults. The value of silver wasn’t looking very hopeful. And it was made even worse with The Silver Purchase Act of 1934 authorized by the government to nationalize domestic silver mines.
The Start of the Stack
People would collect silver and stash it, in the hope that the price of silver would, once again, rise to its former glory. And it did. Over the coming years, silver prices continued to rise as the economy as the US became its leading seller and removed all silver from its coinage.
In 1968, silver certificates were no longer redeemable for silver and demand grew an average of 16% annually during this period, while silver production grew less than 2%. The price of silver was lost from US treasury control and a troy ounce doubled in value. People continued to stack, and despite silver not being as profitable as gold, its steady rise in value meant committed stackers could see a great return over the years to come.
In 2011, the debt crises in E.U and U.S. sent silver to a record high. Despite increased price volatility, 2011 also marked the highest annual silver price in history. Physical silver investment demand hit new highs. Silver Eagle supplies failed to keep up with demand in 2011, due to a shortage of coin blanks. This drove more investors to purchase silver bars, which saw sales jump 67% that year. The supply shortages have also been felt during the pandemic which is seeing accelerating demand for the precious metal.
Why is Silver Stacking so popular?
- Even though silver isn’t considered as ‘precious’ as gold, it still plays the same role in a safe ‘stack’ – or collection – ready for a rainy day.
- It’s cheaper than gold, so comes with less risk.
- Silver bullion is a finite tangible asset. That means although it is vulnerable to market fluctuations like other commodities, physical silver isn’t likely to completely crash because of its inherent and real value.
- Many find comfort in knowing that this precious metal has been recognized for its value throughout a great deal of mankind’s history, and so there’s an expectation that it will endure while a fiat currency may fall to the wayside
Start Stacking with Bleyer
Get stacking with our collection and order from our website today. Or if you’d like to talk to a specialist on the phone, call our office on 01769 618618.
