If you stack physical gold or silver, you need a record of what you own. That much is obvious. What is less obvious is which fields actually matter and which ones are noise.
Most tracking systems either ask for too many fields (which makes you skip half of them) or too few (which leaves you blind when you need answers). The right list is short. Six fields. Each one fails in a specific way when you don't have it.
I'll walk through them, and at the end of each one I'll tell you the actual cost of leaving it out. These are not hypotheticals. Every one of these scenarios has happened to me or to someone I know.
Weight
Record the weight as it appears on the product. A 1 troy oz American Eagle is 1 troy oz, not 31.1035 grams. A 100g bar is 100g. The conversion is for viewing, not for storage.
What goes wrong without it: You can't calculate your total stack accurately. Worse, if you record everything in grams and your tool rounds, errors compound. After a hundred entries you might be off by a quarter ounce. You'll only notice when you weigh your stack physically and the numbers don't match.
Purity
The metal content as a decimal (0.9999) or karat (24K), whichever you prefer. The number must be correct. American Eagles are 0.9167 fine. Maple Leafs are 0.9999. Krugerrands are 0.9167. Silver Eagles are 0.999. Britannias are 0.999 (post-2013) or 0.958 (pre-2013).
What goes wrong without it: Your "weight" becomes a meaningless number. Two coins that look identical can have very different actual metal content. If you ever sell, the buyer will absolutely ask, and if you don't know, they will assume the worst case. Also: if you record purity wrong, you'll think you own more metal than you do for as long as the error survives.
Type
What is this thing. Silver Eagle, generic round, junk silver dime, 1g gold bar. Specific enough that you can answer "how many Silver Eagles do I own?" without going to look at the stack.
What goes wrong without it: You can't reason about your stack. Eventually you want to know things like "what percentage of my silver is sovereign vs. generic?" or "do I own enough fractional gold for emergencies?" Without type information, every question requires a physical inventory.
Purchase price
What the money actually came out of your account as. Including premium, including shipping, including whatever fees the dealer added. Per item if it was a bulk order. This is your cost basis.
What goes wrong without it: You can't calculate gains or losses. If you ever sell, you can't compute what you owe in taxes. Even if you never sell, you can't tell whether your dollar-cost averaging strategy is actually working. The phrase "I think I'm ahead by about 20%" is what people say when they don't track this. The number is usually wrong.
Purchase date
The day the money left your account, or close to it. Not the year stamped on the coin.
What goes wrong without it: Two things, both annoying. First, in many jurisdictions tax rates differ for short-term vs. long-term holdings. Without a purchase date you have to guess. Second, you lose the ability to see your buying pattern over time. You can't tell whether you bought heavier in 2020 or 2023, which means you can't learn from your own behavior.
Dealer
The name of the seller. Online dealer, local coin shop, private party. Just the name, not their full contact info.
What goes wrong without it: Two scenarios. First, if you discover counterfeits in your stack, you need to know who sold them to you. Second, after a year or two of buying you start to notice you have favorite dealers. Tracking it makes the pattern visible. You think you spread your business around, but most stackers concentrate buying with one or two dealers and don't realize it.
The fields you don't need
Most precious metals trackers ask for things that don't help you and just slow down data entry. Here's what to skip.
Spot price at time of purchase. This is interesting trivia. It does not affect your cost basis, your future decisions, or anything else useful. Skip it.
Premium percentage. A derived number. If you have purchase price and weight and you know spot at the time, you can calculate premium. Don't store derivations.
Storage location. Belongs in your insurance documentation, not your portfolio tracker. If your tracker has this field and your tracker is on your phone and your phone gets stolen along with the metal, you've handed the thief a treasure map.
Serial numbers. Unless you own bars from refiners that issue them, serial numbers don't apply. Even if they do, only record them for the bars themselves. Don't waste a field on every coin.
Photos. Some apps want you to attach photos. This is for collectors, not stackers. If you own bullion-grade metal, the photo doesn't tell you anything the type and weight don't.
What this looks like in practice
For a typical stacker who has been at it for a year or two, the full record might look like this:
Item: American Gold Eagle
Weight: 1 troy oz
Purity: 0.9167 (22K)
Quantity: 4
Cost per item: $2,340
Purchase date: March 14, 2025
Dealer: APMEX
That's it for one holding. Multiply by however many distinct holdings you own. Five fields plus quantity, all of them with a specific reason for being there.
The audit habit
Tracking the right fields is half the work. The other half is making sure your records actually match reality.
Once a year, pull up your portfolio and physically count the metal. Match the count to the list. You will find at least one discrepancy on your first audit, and probably the second too. Mistakes accumulate quietly in any tracking system. The audit is when you catch them.
For most stackers an annual audit is enough. If you buy aggressively, do it twice a year. If you ever lend a coin to a friend or display one somewhere, do it the day you put it back.
The five-minute version
If you want the bullet-point summary:
- Track six fields per holding: weight, purity, type, purchase price, purchase date, dealer.
- Skip the fields that don't pay for themselves: spot at purchase, premium percentage, storage location, serial numbers, photos.
- Audit your full holdings list against the physical metal once a year.
- Use a tool that handles your local currency and live spot prices, because manual updates fail.
- Export your data periodically. Apps fail and so do spreadsheets.
Get those right and you have a real picture of your stack. Skip them and you'll find out what you didn't track when you actually need to know.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most important field to track for precious metals?
Purchase price including premium and fees. This is your cost basis, which determines whether you've gained or lost on your stack and what you owe in taxes if you sell. Without it, every other number is incomplete.
Do I need to track storage location?
Not in your portfolio tracker. Storage location belongs in insurance documentation kept somewhere separate. Recording it in the same place as your holdings creates a security risk if the device is lost or stolen.
Should I record spot price at the time I bought a coin?
No. Spot price at purchase is not used for cost basis or any practical decision. Record what you actually paid, including premium and shipping. That number is what matters.
How often should I audit my stack?
Once a year for most stackers. Twice a year if you buy frequently. The audit involves physically counting your metal and matching it against your records. Mistakes accumulate quietly in any tracking system, and an annual audit catches them before they become unrecoverable.
What format should I record purity in?
Either decimal (0.9999) or karat (24K), whichever you find clearer. The important thing is the actual number being correct and consistent. Pick a format, stick with it, or use a tool that converts between formats automatically.