Stackaholics Anonymous

Hello Everyone, my name is FSF, and I'm a Stackaholic. Since I was a wee lad I've been drawn to the shiny, be it gold, silver, copper, or brass. As an adult, I work with metals by trade (structural and reinforcing steel) and I've found myself stacking quite a bit of that too. My stackitis has also branched out in unconventional ways , as I've begun stacking non-bullion goods as well. Old fiat, high-end music gear, project vehicles, etc. I've even begun to resort to an alchemy of sorts in order to sooth the savage symptoms of my sickness, but I plan on more detailed documentation of that in the future. As this is an introductory post, we'll keep to the basics for now.

This is most of my bullion collection, with some other coinage in there as well. Small for now, but I imagine I'll be growing it quite a bit as time marches on. I have a lot of other coins in the collection, but none significant enough to merit pictures.

This Franz Josef Corona 100 was the piece that truly inflamed my stackitis to the barely under control point it is today. I got it for $1250 USD at a time when spot was $100 bucks more. Even though the gold content is only .9802 as opposed to the .999 of something like the golden eagles, I still consider it a great score.

Though this pic shows more imperfections in the coin, I like the way the light plays off the relief.

I got this sweet hand poured skull off of Apmex a while ago. It was the first precious metal I had ever ordered online. I really enjoy the detail. I'm quite active on the barter section of my local Craigslist, and for a while I thought it would be quite amusing to order a bunch of these skulls and try to use them as currency when conducting trades. :D I'm weird like that I guess.

I got these rounds at a local coin shop mostly just to increase my bullion stock. The one on the right seems to have a bit of corrosion that I'll have to see about. There are a lot of coin shops and whatnot where I live, but I've only begun to frequent them. I'm trying to increase my reputation in a few so I can hopefully get my own random and unique, under the counter silver basket kinda like @fat-elvis.

I picked this 5 oz bar up today, once again mostly just to fatten my stock. It was $100 USD, so a bit more of a premium than I wanted to pay, but it was my first interaction with this particular shop owner and I liked the piece enough so I figured why not. I am trying to increase my rep, after all. I noticed it has the same mint mark as the skull I already have.

I've had this half dollar since I was a child. I don't even remember how I got it. It was probably the original source of my stackitis infection.

Along with the stackitis, I seem to have a bit of OCD. All coin change I receive on a daily basis I toss into a huge container so I can sort it at a later date. This buffalo nickel and steel nickel are fruits of that particular labor. I'm not too much into rarity as I find myself drawn more to straight weight in bullion, but it is cool to look at a piece of history. Hold it in your hand and whatnot.

Like I said, my stackitis isn't confined to just precious metals these days as I've found myself stacking this old fiat for the better part of a decade. Nothing too cool like the bills issued from specific banks, but I really liked the way this currency used to look. I guess it reminds me of my childhood. I have been thinking recently though, about trading it in for some silver or gold. I'm not sure. I do think there are advantages of keeping the fiat, as it's so liquid, and not everyone accepts precious metals as things are now, but I know in certain situations the paper is worthless. What do you guys think? I could use some advice from some more experienced stackers than myself.

That's pretty much it for now. I have some ideas for future posts involving alchemic equations I've used to turn junk metals into solid gold as well as my fantasic forays into becoming a beastly land pirate. Stay tuned ;)