A reference is the second of the three label fields you can attach to an inventory item, and it's the one that earns its keep when you use it consistently. Where a nickname is a personal name for a piece, a reference is structured — a serial number, a storage location code, a personal SKU.
Used the same way across your stack, references turn the Holdings page into a searchable index of where your physical metal lives and what it answers to.
This article covers how to set one, where it surfaces, and a few patterns that hold up at scale.
For the broader picture of the three label fields and how they work together, see How holdings work in Gold Silver Ledger.
The label mechanics overlap with Adding a nickname to a specific item. If you've read that one, the modal mechanics here will look familiar.
What a reference is, and what it isn't
A reference is free-text, just like a nickname. The hint under the field reads "e.g. serial number, storage location, or your own SKU" — that's the use-case framing, not a constraint. You can type anything.
The reason to have a dedicated reference field rather than just using nicknames is consistency. The field is built for codes you'll repeat across many items: every coin in your safe deposit box might get the reference SDB-3, every assay-card bar might get its serial number, every numismatic grade might get its certification ID.
Used that way, the field becomes a free-text index — one search away from pulling up everything with the same label.
What a reference does:
It identifies the piece consistently. The same code on multiple items lets you find all of them with a single search.
It surfaces in search. Type a reference into the Holdings search bar and the page filters to every item matching it.
It exports. References travel along with the rest of the per-item data in CSV exports of your holdings.
It pairs with the other label fields. A piece can have a nickname, a reference, and a date annotation all at once — they don't compete.
What a reference doesn't do:
It doesn't affect any number on the page. Cost, weight, current value, gain or loss — none of these are touched by the reference field.
It doesn't enforce a format. The app won't check that your storage codes look like storage codes or that your serial numbers look like serial numbers. The consistency is on you.
It doesn't auto-populate from anywhere. Dealer order numbers, mint serials, and grading IDs don't flow in from transactions — you type them in.
Opening the Edit Labels modal
The reference field lives in the same modal as the nickname and the date annotation. Three paths in, depending on which view you're using:
Group view: Drill down through metal → product → item, then click Edit Labels at the right edge of the expanded item's detail strip.
Item view: Expand the product row to reveal individual items; click Edit Labels at the right of any item row.
Card view: Click the pencil icon at the top-right of the card.
All three paths open the same modal with the same three fields.
Setting a reference
The Reference field sits in the middle of the modal, between Nickname and Date. Type your value, click Save, and the reference is applied to that one item.
Keep references short. They surface as a small chip in the drill-down rows, and a long string of text gets clipped or wraps awkwardly. A few characters to a short phrase is the sweet spot — SDB-3, MS-67, Roll 14, Order #44128, Vault A.
If you set a reference scheme up front and apply it as you record new transactions, you'll get the most value out of the field.
Retrofitting a system onto a thousand existing items is doable, but tedious. The Edit Labels modal updates one item at a time; there's currently no bulk-label control.
However, a bulk update feature is on our roadmap.
Where the reference shows up
References surface in three places:
As a chip under the item number in group view. The deepest level of the drill-down shows the item number (#1, #2, #3…) with a small pill-shaped chip for the reference, alongside any date annotation.
As a chip under the item number in item view. Expanding a product row exposes its individual items with the same numbered-row layout, so the chip surfaces here too.
As a chip under the product type in the card view. References show up underneath the item type (American Silver Eagle) and nickname (if one is present).
In search results. The Holdings search bar matches against references in addition to product names and nicknames. Type SDB-3 and the page filters to every item with that reference.
Patterns that hold up at scale
A few reference schemes that work well over time. Pick one or combine a couple.
Storage location codes: SDB-3 for safe deposit box #3, SAFE-A for the home safe in the closet, VAULT-1 for an off-site depository. The value compounds the more items you tag — one search and you have a list of everything in a given location.
Roll or tube identifiers: Roll 14, Tube B, Mint roll 2024-03. Useful if you organize bullion by the container it's stored in rather than by the storage room.
Serial numbers from the piece itself: For graded coins (PCGS-44293819), assay cards (PAMP-C0123456), or LBMA-stamped bars. These are unique by definition, so you don't get the index-style payoff — but they're the right place to record a number that lives on the metal.
Grading or condition codes: MS-67, PR-69 DCAM, AU-58. Pairs well with numismatic stacks where condition is meaningful and worth recording.
Personal SKU schemes: Some users build a short code like G-EAG-2025-12 that encodes metal, product, year, and item number. This is overkill for a 50-item stack and exactly right for a 500-item one.
Dealer order numbers: APMEX-44128, JM-91230. Useful if you want a per-item link back to the original invoice for audit or recordkeeping.
The one anti-pattern:
Mixing schemes inside one ledger: Half your items tagged SDB-3 and the other half tagged safe deposit box 3 defeats the index, because search treats them as two different strings. Pick one form and stick to it.
Combining a reference with a nickname and a date annotation
The three label fields are designed to coexist. A single coin can carry:
Nickname: Grandma's coin
Reference: SDB-3
Date: 2008
All three surface together under the item number in the drill-down. The nickname is the human-readable name, the reference is the storage code, the date is the mint year. They don't conflict and they don't overlap.
It's normal to set only some of them on a given piece. Most stackers end up with references on nearly everything (for storage tracking), nicknames on a handful of sentimental pieces, and date annotations only on coins where mint year matters.
Changing or clearing a reference
Same modal, same field. Reopen Edit Labels, type the new value over the old one or delete the existing text, and Save. An empty field saved over a populated one removes the reference from the item.
There's no separate "remove reference" button. The blank-and-save pattern is how you clear any of the three label fields.
Where to go next
How holdings work in Gold Silver Ledger: The foundation article — item-level inventory, per-item fields, and the three labels.
Adding a nickname to a specific item: The first label field, with patterns for human-readable names.
Adding a date annotation (mint year): The third label and what it's most often used for.
Filtering and sorting your holdings: How search interacts with references, including using them as a free-text storage index.