I do collect coins, but not physical metals in general.
I don't recommend "physically" stacking for a few reasons.
- It's heavy
- It takes a lot of room.
- When the prices gets volatile, the very people you buy and sell from will stop trading! (this just happened not long ago. Hight spot price vs low demand)
- Many times, you may be limited on how much a buyer will take. (that won't always pay your bills)
- Many times if a dealer does continue buying, they will do so at a lower price to hedge their risk.
- If you do buy, buy small weights as bigger ones can be difficult to sell also. (also, you can sell smaller amounts rather than trying to sell large 10oz / 1kg silver bars)
Now, if you're a dooms day prepper, you can hold physical bullion and it can make sense. Just remember, silver and gold may not necessarily feed you right after a disaster hits. You cannot eat it and it won't keep you warm. (the exact opposite in fact)
If you want to buy silver or gold for the security / investment of it, I would go with physically backed ETFs.
- Zero risk of physical theft.
- It's digital, no weight or storage required
- High liquidity - You can buy and sell as much as you have almost instantly and you will get the going price for it.
The only downside is if an apocalypse occurs, you don't own the gold directly and they won't ship it to you. For the most part, it won't have a huge intial value after an apocalypse either. Not until some sort of working industry takes hold that actually uses it.
Remember, gold and silver have three primary uses.
- Jewelry - During an apocalypse, people won't be buying rings.
- Industrial use - Someone have to have a need, safe to deal with, and a way to put it to use. Otherwise, they won't buy it.
- Currency - Your neighbor may not accept gold or silver in barter because they cannot eat it. Though, they can definitely shoot you dead and steal it if you have enough of it!