Metal Porn: is it bullion or better? edition

Weiss

Recent reimage of a somewhat scarce late 20th century gold coin from Jamaica, struck by the Royal Mint in London. Some people feel pieces like this are just expensive bullion. But try to find one at any price, let alone near its bullion value.
Do you have a piece others might think of as bullion but you think of as a neat collectible?

1995 Jamaica 100 dollars
KM#172
Mintage: 2,000
Composition: Gold
Fineness: 0.9167
Weight: 15.9800g

PerryHall

I would think that your coin would bring a premium over melt in the right venue such as eBay but I'm not sure how much the premium would be. At the local coin shop you'd probably be only offered melt. Very neat coin.

jmski52

I have a few coins that I like because I took a fancy to them, and the longer I own them I tend to like them even more. That doesn't mean I'd find a vibrant market for them if I went to sell some of them.

It's a low mintage 1/2 oz. gold proof - what's not to like? There are so many ways to collect that if a coin or group of coins brings you pleasure or satisfaction - it's more than just expensive bullion.

The mints around the world are playing the low mintage game for all it's worth, and it's fragmenting the market into smaller and smaller pieces. This could make a coin harder to sell and realize a profit, down the road.

I've bought "collector bullion" that I know isn't going anywhere any time soon, but if a piece is aesthetically-pleasing and made of precious metal, and I don't get raped too bad on the buy-in, I'll still dabble in some of them. Like the Queen's Beasts, for instance.

GRANDAM

Some might call this just bullion,,,,, I call it a COOL blast from my childhood.

ricko

Often gold or silver coins with specific art, hold a special place in someone's memories. These with low mintage become collector items in a small segment of the population - and not all who buy them are coin collectors. Some want them for the memories they evoke. Those will be tightly held until disposed of by heirs or needs. Most will not garner long term numismatic value, but short term values are often disproportionately high. Cheers, RickO

Weiss

I listened to the Bob Marley greatest hits CD when I was working on my second, overwhelming real estate project years ago. Stressed out, broke, exhausted. It was a form of meditation and helped pull me through. So it definitely has that personal connection. But I'm just one of 100,000,000 Bob Marley fans, which is partly why these pieces are so scarce.

I like the low serial number on this piece, too.

cmanbb

I'm pretty excited about this pair coming in early next week.

I've always admired engelhard poured gold from a distance, but the premiums on these cool little gold bars are all over the place, and attempting to figure out any sort of pattern or predictability has become difficult at best without any info out there in regards to mintage numbers, varieties, with serial, without serial etc...etc... never mind the different weights.
Well, after following, documenting and watching these elusive little gold ingots for the past 3+ years, I'm very happy to have been able to add this sequential pair to my stack of Ag engelhards bars with a premium I can live with........ enjoy!

GRANDAM

Why would they pour a bar with a weight of 1.608 oz?

PerryHall

@GRANDAM said:
Why would they pour a bar with a weight of 1.608 oz?

It's equal to 50 grams.

GRANDAM

@PerryHall said:

@GRANDAM said:
Why would they pour a bar with a weight of 1.608 oz?

It's equal to 50 grams.

OK, that makes more sense.

Downtown1974

Loving it all! Well, I know all of my metal is nothing but bullion so I will spare you from any pics.

Smudge

If it is bullion, it is certainly "bullion with a premium" and to me that is collectible. My bullion dealer had a bunch of 20 franc gold pieces all for $255. Most were roosters, angels and Napoleon 3. Two were Napoleon 1. One an13a and 1 1807a. They are in vf-ef condition. I grabbed them. Bullion or collectible? I don't know, but if you can get something less common for bullion $ you may want to grab it.

ricko

@cmanbb .... I know those are gold, however, in your text you say Ag... Just to let you know...Cheers, RickO

cmanbb

@ricko said:
@cmanbb .... I know those are gold, however, in your text you say Ag... Just to let you know...Cheers, RickO

AKA.....adding gold engelhard bars to my stack of Ag engelhard bars.

ricko

@cmanbb ...Gotcha... read too fast... sorry about that... Cheers, RickO

Smudge

@ricko said:
@cmanbb ...Gotcha... read too fast... sorry about that... Cheers, RickO

I made the same mistake. You are not the only one.

NVU

@cmanbb Nice pair you have there, congrats!

@GRANDAM Cool gold pieces. I happen to have this hobo nickel in my collection with the same theme as yours

NVU

Some oddball you don't see often

ricko

@NVU ....That is a great, modern hobo nickel.... very nicely done. Who was the artist on that one?? Cheers, RickO

NVU

Andy Gonzalez. All his works are similar to one another. Once you see it, you would know it's from him

asheland

Love those gold Engelhards!

LukeMarshall

Nice JM Blob!

ricko

@NVU ... Thanks, I will google him and look at some of his other work. Cheers, RickO

GRANDAM

@NVU said:
@cmanbb Nice pair you have there, congrats!

@GRANDAM Cool gold pieces. I happen to have this hobo nickel in my collection with the same theme as yours

I like it,,,,,,is it for sale?

You know where I can get one like it?

NVU

I like it,,,,,,is it for sale?

You know where I can get one like it?

Got it on ebay a few years ago.....
I normally don't sell my collection. If you insist, you could have it at my cost. I need to find out how much I paid for it and will PM you for further discussion.

NVU

Keeping this thread on the topic
These don't come around often, especially the short and junky one.

cmanbb

@NVU nice junky JM

PerryHall

Those bars are very neat. Is there a problem with them being counterfeited?

NVU

There’s always possibility in that regard. But if you’re in the game long enough, you would have a very good idea to spot the fake ones.

NVU

@cmanbb said:
@NVU nice junky JM

Thanks, this style is extremely tough to come by. In fact, it’s the only one I’ve seen.

NVU

@LukeMarshall said:
Nice JM Blob!

Thanks. You have some of the neatest 1 kg type set and they’re sure belong in this thread

Meltdown

I've got two of these sets stashed away. Intended as bullion originally but sure have become collectible over the years.

ricko

@Meltdown ....That is a nice silver set... Is the reverse plain? Or just the commercial information? Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

@Meltdown said:
I've got two of these sets stashed away. Intended as bullion originally but sure have become collectible over the years.

I would love to own an Eagles Nest

johnny9434

i love them gold bars

Meltdown

@ricko said:
@Meltdown ....That is a nice silver set... Is the reverse plain? Or just the commercial information? Cheers, RickO

They're not plain. I can't exactly remember what's on the reverse. I looked, I don't have photos as I haven't taken them out of the box. I know the larger pieces have big numbers on them for their ounce weight. 10, 5, 2&1/2, etc.
They are pretty impressive for sure!

MorganMan94

@Meltdown said:
I've got two of these sets stashed away. Intended as bullion originally but sure have become collectible over the years.

That is awesome, I didn't even know these existed!

asheland

Awesome stuff!

LukeMarshall

@NVU said:

@LukeMarshall said:
Nice JM Blob!

Thanks. You have some of the neatest 1 kg type set and they’re sure belong in this thread

Appreciate that, & well... if you insist. Here are a few neat bars I do not believe I've shared with the group until now.

The NewPort Metals Co.

Rand Refinery Limited

Vintage Valcambi lil' & Big

And I can just imagine this Silver Smith in Hong Kong hand tooling this one

Hope you all enjoy!!
-luke

NVU

EPIC

Downtown1974

Incredible bars, Luke!

ricko

Very nice silver bars @LukeMarshall ...definitely not one's commonly seen. Cheers, RickO

rte592

Wow, Very cool.
What do the barnacles add to the value?

silversiren

What size/weight (approximate if you don't want to be specific) are these Valcambi bars? I'd not seen anything like these before, I'm assuming the assay stamp is the identifier.

@LukeMarshall said:

Vintage Valcambi lil' & Big

-luke

LukeMarshall

Glad y'all like the bars...

They are all Kilo bars as those are my favorite and seem to be my speciality.

The Barnacles, lol, contribute to the uniqueness of each bar (though I refered to them as scabs when first in hand).

As for value, you know things are worth what someone is willing to pay at any given moment...

I did have the thought that this could be slag that didn't homoginize with the bar and could contain all sorts of different metals. Some of these older bars are three 9s fine, so for a bar weighing 1000 grams, this may mean a single gram of non-silver may be a part of the whole... quite interesting if you ask me.

Cheers

ricko

The 'scab' or 'barnacles' do look like the slag we would get when changing the solder in flow solder machines... impurities picked up through the process.... Cheers, RickO

coinsarefun

I have noticed over the last several years there are some super neat bullion pieces being minted. I have several
different pieces as well as not often seen silver and gold bars.
The newest pickup is this very well done silver round.
.
.

GRANDAM

This is #2 in The Prospectors Series,,,,,, do you have #1?

@coinsarefun said:
I have noticed over the last several years there are some super neat bullion pieces being minted. I have several
different pieces as well as not often seen silver and gold bars.
The newest pickup is this very well done silver round.
.
.

coinsarefun

@GRANDAM said:
This is #2 in The Prospectors Series,,,,,, do you have #1?

No I don't, haven't seen that one.
However on a different note there is a 2 ounce Whaler round I ran across and been following to see if the price drops.
That one is so beyond cool

GRANDAM

The White Whale is #6 of 7 in The Privateer Series and 7 is the total. The series is complete.

Here is The White Whale for $52.60,,,,,, $23.40 cheaper that the link you posted. Also another in the series for even less than that price.

https://www.providentmetals.com/silver/silver-rounds-weight/2-oz-silver-rounds.html

coinsarefun

@GRANDAM said:
This is #2 in The Prospectors Series,,,,,, do you have #1?
!

Oh, yes, I did see that one, thanks for pointing it out. The problem is there are so many really well designed bullion rounds out there now I would lose money if I bought every one that I liked