Friday Metal Porn: "Non-poured" Engelhard bars

Weiss

@asheland 's poured Engelhard thread kind of forced me to revisit the later "minted" or "extruded" Engelhard bars that followed the beloved old poured bars.

I was fortunate that when I got back into stacking in earnest, my local shops had tons of 10 ounce bars (and silver was about $8-$10 an ounce, sometimes less). Nobody seemed to want it. So when I had the chance, I picked several of the transitional "pillow" bars, which came between the old pour type and the extruded types that followed. AllEngelhard calls these bars the 11th series:

I also grabbed a few of the really transitional bars, still horizontal but now proof finished 12th series:

And then there's the boiler plate 10 ounce vertical stamped bars. I only bought the ones still in pristine condition and still sealed in their original vinyl pouches. Because AllEngelhard differentiates the two types not by age or production (poured vs. extruded), but rather by orientation (horizontal vs. vertical), these later vertical bars are technically 2nd series. I kinda think they should correct that before it's too late and go in chronological order (earliest first):

My favorite is the MTB Statue of Liberty 10-ounce bar in its original sealed vinyl. They're not crazy rare, but I think it's a pretty bar anyway. Note the Engelhard "E" in the octagon half way down the right side of the reverse:

How about you? We had love for the old poured bars. Got any later Engelhard bars that deserve a shout out?

asheland

I have a few...

asheland

asheland

These are scarce:

This one is super scarce:

Weiss

For those unfamiliar, here is a comparison between the 10-ounce old poured bars, in this case a poured "10th series" on the left, and the transitional extruded and stamped "11th series" on the right. The differences seem obvious, but I'm guilty of purchasing one when I thought it was the other.

The earlier poured bars have an almost hand made look. Irregularities are normal, some have cooling lines, and they have that "ingot" look with sloped sides. Their backs often but not always have conveyor or mold lines.

The later machined 11th series have a consistent machine-made look, with crisp edges and a slightly domed top (sometimes called "pillow" or "pillow top" bars). Their backs are mostly smooth and flat, though sometimes have hex screw marks or even word impression marks from the stamping machines.

Most seasoned stackers would probably say the poured 10th series are more desirable than the stamped 11th series.

asheland

And these are cool:

asheland

They usually call those waffle backs:

asheland

This is the pillow top machined 5oz version:

USMC_6115

ricko

@Weiss.... I really like that 10 oz. Statue of Liberty bar.... Very nice. Cheers, RickO

OliverDePlaise

Ten ounce bars really make the most sense.

LukeMarshall

That Japanese Engelhard round is awesome.

I used to have a pillow top 5oz but sold it long ago... don’t have any struck Engelhard’s anymore in fact sent all my 1ozers to a stacker in Australia, I had a half dozen varieties they were excited to get.

Nice pictures and thread Weiss

jrt103

Very nice bars! I like the bulls horn Canadian bars the best