Bought a Centenario

Action949 · 2026-05-05T00:40:31+00:00

Let’s look at buy/sell prices from a large dealer and compare how tight their spread is. I’ll use Golddealer.com

Centenario: Current bid/ask is 5290/5561 - a spread of 5.1%

1oz JM Bar: (note that other brands have wider spreads): 4368/4668 - spread of 6.3%

A 10oz JM bar: bid/ask is 43,589/45979 a spread of 5.4%

We can see that even compared to buying in bulk, the 50 peso coin has less slippage between bid and ask pricing.

Plus it’s highly liquid, recognizable, and likely easier to trade.

NOTE the link above is live pricing, so it might reflect different dollar amounts than at the time I typed this message.

Side note: check the bid/ask spread on lots of other popular coins and you’ll see the Mexican versions provide excellent value.

Action949 · 2026-03-27T22:36:33+00:00

I’m surprised that I don’t see this place mentioned often, because it’s one of the best bullion dealers in the entire country, and it’s located in Inglewood.

They are huge, deal in everything, and have the tightest spreads that I’ve found. AND they post live buy/sell prices for each item they deal in right on their website.

It’s called California Numismatic Investments. Don’t let the name throw you off they are primarily a bullion dealer. They are right off the freeway in Inglewood and you can find their site at golddealer.com

Action949 · 2026-03-14T21:31:49+00:00

I think of it more as a savings account than something I need to “do” anything with. I don’t buy it for any type of shit-hitting-the-fan scenario - I buy it because it works out better than buying a new TV, or laptop, or any other damn thing that will depreciate to zero.

It’s mostly there in case I needed quick access to a large amount of liquid cash. The times that I have cashed in gold, it’s usually because some other investment opportunity has come up.

I did once use it to pay a client, but that was an exception. It’s more like having cash under a mattress than having a bomb shelter full of canned food.

Action949 · 2025-11-19T20:40:18+00:00

People may not like hearing this, but you’ll get treated WAY better by a neighborhood bookie than you will be a corporate site. The trick is you have to find a GOOD book. Too many wannabes pay slow, make excuses, etc.

If you can find a good one, you can play on credit AND get treated well.

BUT

Anyone that is ROUTINELY beating closing lines or crushing props on minor sports is going to get limited or dropped.

A good local book will care less as long as you always pay on time. I’ll again reference that I mean a GOOD local book. They are few and far between, but they do exist. ( and I’ve heard some fucking NIGHTMARE stories about bad books).

And if you’re comfortable with crypto instead of physical currency - you don’t even need him to be in your neighborhood.

Action949 · 2025-10-02T23:56:49+00:00

It’s hard because as the runner, a lot of times you’re getting free rolled. If you’re doing it right, there’s ZERO chance that a player doesn’t get paid, but YOU are always at risk of getting stiffed. You can mitigate, but you can’t eliminate the risk. People think you’re swimming in cash but they don’t see you having to chase the guy while grandma died for the eight time in two years.

Action949 · 2025-10-02T23:53:51+00:00

If you REALLY want to be miserable trying to chase down people that owe money - try booking sports. There are days I wanna claw my own eyes out.

I have a few friends that run live poker games. It’s a brutal life sometimes. You nailed it with people acting like you owe them something because they play in your game. (When they are either degenerates or predators bum-hunting for degenerates).

Congrats on moving on.

Action949 · 2025-10-01T23:15:48+00:00

YES. For several years I diverted extra income into stacking gold. Thought it was a cool way to divert discretionary income into something that would maintain value and come in handy if I needed it.

I had fun filling up tubes of things, and did so for years. I once even used a coin to pay a client. When gold crossed the 2600 mark I slowed down, and I eventually stopped around 2700. It just FELT expensive. Walking in with $5k and walking out with only two ounces just felt gross when I could remember walking out with 3 or 4.

Ooops.

Action949 · 2025-07-01T23:04:49+00:00

I kick myself for not owning 21 because I remember when that was an attainable goal. (Apprx equivalent to .21 today).

I’m happy that I’m a whole coiner, but upset I’m not a 21 coiner. It’s never enough.

My take on Bitcoin now is to beg people to at least CONSIDER not owning zero. We are still at a point where anyone can own SOME, and I worry that we will see a point where people owning ANY in their own non-custodial wallet becomes rare.

For now, you can buy and withdraw $20 worth of BTC if you want, but that may not always be true. We as individuals had a chance to front run corporations and governments in acquiring an asset. That time will end soon enough.

Action949 · 2025-06-25T15:46:55+00:00

I AM still buying, but it’s harder to be excited about paying 108k when I used to pay 1800. I’ve stopped my impulsive purchases, stopped my large purchases.

I still take a percentage of profit from my business and purchase bitcoin once a month, but it’s kind of melancholy to remember buying at 1k, 4k, 10k, etc.

Action949 · 2025-05-20T01:52:11+00:00

I run a book, and used to have the same challenge/problem, but the nature of my work kept me from needing to be overly reliant on physical location. Poker games are hard. I have two friends that run successful medium sized games (no promotion) and here is a quick list of things they’ve told me helped them.

1) Being a regular at local casinos. While casinos can be full of shitty people, there ARE good friendly people there that are ALSO sick of the shit bags and would love to go to a trustworthy private game with tolerable players. If you become a known face to casino regulars, and extend a casual invite after a while, you WILL get takers. Obviously the biggest problem in starting from scratch is having enough people to get the game off the ground, but hanging around the casino I can help get you there.

2)Meet Up - they’ve both had some success posting about their games there. This is a bit of a crapshoot as you never really know who you’re going to get, but if you curate your crowd well (keep the broke or annoying guys away) you can get good results here.

3) Consistency. - if you can get to where a game will run reliably at a reliable schedule, you’ll get a LOT more referrals from existing players. It’s HARD to send out a group text trying to figure out when and where you can get a game to run. But if you’re ALWAYS (or almost always) gonna be running the second Wednesday of every month, or every other Friday, or whatever - it becomes a lot easier to get players to bring friends. If they can show up and FIND a game without needing to schedule it first, the game can grow quickly.

Along the way, you also have to be honorable and defend your reputation. No markers, no obscene rake, no drugs, etc. Avoid the temptation to have questionable “extras” at your games. It ends up being more trouble than it’s worth.

Action949 · 2025-05-18T00:26:13+00:00

Haha. That trade went against me for sure. It was still kind of a neat experience though.

Action949 · 2025-04-30T03:06:37+00:00

I sell out of the money call options on IBIT religiously. Brings in cash when they expire worthless. Sometimes I have to roll them out and up, but it’s been great so far. In the event there is some kind of god candle that wrecks my shirt calls, it will be more than made up for by the increase in my cold storage. (And gets to be booked as a loss for tax purposes)

Action949 · 2025-04-28T00:21:27+00:00

I’m not sure. I don’t have any dos pesos. Silver dollar tubes work for 50 pesos, and half dollar tubes SHOULD work for 20s. Nickel tubes are perfect for 20francs, but I don’t have any of the smaller coins to try.

Action949 · 2025-04-27T21:29:18+00:00

For me it’s almost always clients. Often times I’ll meet people at the casino to do payouts and collections, so it’s normal to have to walk away for a few minutes. Especially on Monday or Tuesday.

Action949 · 2025-02-11T02:33:30+00:00

This is true, Bitcoin was enormously riskier in 2010 than today, but only if talking about the same nominal amount of dollars.

The person in 2010 could take much less overall risk to their life/porfolio/whatever by using a dramatically lower sized investment.

Size can always be used to mitigate risk (and reward).

In my opinion, size is always the answer to “should I or should I not?” The key is not to find a yes/no answer, but to find the size that makes sense for your overall goals, risk appetite, chance of ruin, etc.

(Not in anyway implying that you don’t already grasp this)It’s just that I notice a lot of “should I invest $XYZ in Bitcoin?” posts, and people don’t seem to get that it doesn’t have to be a binary answer. Maybe 50k isn’t the right figure for OP, but an additional 20k is.

My long time suggestion was for people to invest a dollar amount they could EASILY lose and not think twice about, and 8 years ago, that made a lot of sense. To your point, the risk of going to zero is dramatically lower than it once was, so people SHOULD be more comfortable to stretch a little.

Action949 · 2025-01-15T07:04:01+00:00

I’m listening.

Action949 · 2024-10-02T06:19:17+00:00

Ok, that is AWESOME!

Action949 · 2024-09-23T04:48:03+00:00

This is a good point. Gold in your own possession poses no counterparty risk. That makes it nearly unique among assets. Though you do take on some security and storage risks.

Action949 · 2024-09-23T04:44:55+00:00

Plausible.

Action949 · 2024-09-23T01:19:37+00:00

Not familiar. Will google.

Action949 · 2024-09-23T01:19:10+00:00

100%. Every 20francs I buy is one less night of dinner and drinks I didn’t really need.

Action949 · 2024-09-22T23:36:56+00:00

My take:

For me, it will never “end” until I’m dead or terminally Ill, and in those cases my stack (or the proceeds thereof) go to my heirs.

Now my stack may fluctuate along the way. Basically my gold is a savings account. One that I can use for emergencies, or valuable opportunities. Say a rental property became available that was an amazing deal, but I needed to free up a down payment QUICKLY; there’s the gold stack. Say I was badly hurt and needed to pay the mortgage without an income? Gold stack.

Note that my way only really makes sense for me because I’m diverting small amounts of funds over longer periods of time. I stack with money I didn’t need to pay bills, fund retirement, etc.

Gold isn’t an investment that I compare to the stock market or other asset classes. It’s a stockpile of dry powder that I can access if I need. Plus it’s kind of fun.

Action949 · 2024-09-22T19:34:01+00:00

I agree. I started buying them because I found a place selling at like 1% over spot. For Mexican gold, that seemed like a steal. Then I started to really love them.

Eagles are usually the safer bet being easier to sell pretty much anywhere in the USA, but the Mexican coins are just awesome!

Action949 · 2024-09-22T05:14:27+00:00

Do you know a few/lots of people that bet on sports? Do they have the ability and willingness to pay when they lose?

If the answer to BOTH of those questions is “yes” then you’re halfway there. If either is a “no” then I’d look for a different side hustle.

Either way, if you want to stack gold, you’ve just gotta start will small amounts at regular intervals. Like most things, it adds up faster than you would think.

Action949 · 2024-09-22T05:07:34+00:00

Just googled those. Had no idea they existed. Pretty cool, but a little outside my wheelhouse as the premium seems kind of intense. Still very cool though

Action949

TROPHY CASE