What are the "requirements" for a silver round or medal to be "marked" . . . ?

ZoidMeister

I recently picked up a few interesting exonumia items, mainly because I liked the designs, but a couple I suspected, were minted of silver. Seller "felt" inexperienced, listed a lot of baseball cards, clothing, random "antique" items. Not much information on the medal except what was visible in the not so great photos.

So I get them in. Purchased at half melt IF they are silver. They have a bit of tarnish consistent with what you would see on an older silver round. The are 39mm in diameter, 31.1 grams just as you would expect for a silver round, but no edge markings or anything in the devices that would indicate silver.

I tried Googling and TokenCataloging the pieces to no avail.

So the question: If a minted strike is made of silver, is it required to bear some type of mark indicating such?

Thanks in advance.

Z

JBK

No.

If it is marked it must by law meet the stated purity, but you don't have to mark it.

CaptHenway

Rule of thumb. If it is not marked silver, it ain’t silver.

pmh1nic

Of course purchasing at half melt is a major red flag. Can you post a picture?

tokenpro

Be aware of registered hallmarks - another way to avoid numerically stating the purity. FM (Intertwined) does not mean .999 pure.

ZoidMeister

@pmh1nic said:
Of course purchasing at half melt is a major red flag. Can you post a picture?

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Sorry for the delay, work got in the way.

Z
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MasonG

Somebody sold one of those on eBay at the end of June. It was listed for $19.95, the seller accepted less as a "best offer".

FWIW...

Namvet69

Where's your magnet? Peace Roy

PerryHall

It might be made of pure German silver.

Snaps

My grandson made one for me. They had to pay $50 to make it. It doesn't stick to a magnet. I seem to recall they told me it was silver.

ZoidMeister

@MasonG said:
Somebody sold one of those on eBay at the end of June. It was listed for $19.95, the seller accepted less as a "best offer".

FWIW...

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That would have been me most likely. and yes, significantly less than the list price.

Z

MsMorrisine

$50?
A Princely Sum!

ZoidMeister

@Namvet69 said:
Where's your magnet? Peace Roy

Not magnetic. What makes me question is the weight. Exactly 1 troy ounce

Most "white metal" strikes come in at 28 grams +/-.

Z

ZoidMeister

@Snaps said:
My grandson made one for me. They had to pay $50 to make it. It doesn't stick to a magnet. I seem to recall they told me it was silver.

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Bingo! We need to get a bit more information on / from the minter if possible.

2020 dated makes me hopeful.

Z

ZoidMeister

@Snaps said:
My grandson made one for me. They had to pay $50 to make it. It doesn't stick to a magnet. I seem to recall they told me it was silver.

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Check to see if your copy is edge marked
If they make these live onsite, I doubt the collar has any lettering.

Mine almost looks like an overstrike on some other silver round. I can see what looks like ghosting of a host coin near the edges, but I cannot make out what it could be.

Z

thefinn

Even if the edge is marked, it could still not be silver. Look at all of the gold chains marked “14kt” that are just layered gold.
You can go to Mexico and buy chains stamped “.925 Ag “ for less than half of melt.

ZoidMeister

Does anyone from Texas know who mints these at the Renaissance Festival? It would be nice to contact them.

Z

291fifth

Even if they are silver they would be bought at a discount because of the lack of the marking of silver content. Bullion buyers of silver rounds don't want unmarked pieces. Many such items, if bought by dealers, end up going to the smelter.

About 10 years ago I sold a large group of .999 silver rounds (and I knew for certain that is what they were) that were unmarked. The dealer was willing to buy them but only at a steep discount.

jmlanzaf

@291fifth said:
Even if they are silver they would be bought at a discount because of the lack of the marking of silver content. Bullion buyers of silver rounds don't want unmarked pieces. Many such items, if bought by dealers, end up going to the smelter.

About 10 years ago I sold a large group of .999 silver rounds (and I knew for certain that is what they were) that were unmarked. The dealer was willing to buy them but only at a steep discount.

Depends on whether the dealer has an XRF. No risk premium

ZoidMeister

Well, I reached out to the organizers of the Texas Renaissance Festival to see if I could get contact information for those who run that vendor shop. I'll let you know what I find out.

Z

AUandAG

Learn to do a specific gravity test. If it is silver the test result should be 10 or so. Here''s a link for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2vA1qO2fA

bob

291fifth

@jmlanzaf said:

@291fifth said:
Even if they are silver they would be bought at a discount because of the lack of the marking of silver content. Bullion buyers of silver rounds don't want unmarked pieces. Many such items, if bought by dealers, end up going to the smelter.

About 10 years ago I sold a large group of .999 silver rounds (and I knew for certain that is what they were) that were unmarked. The dealer was willing to buy them but only at a steep discount.

Depends on whether the dealer has an XRF. No risk premium

The potential bullion buyers want them marked. If they aren't marked they are going to be discounted unless the dealer is buying with only smelting in mind ... which in the case of silver rounds usually isn't the case.

Snaps

@ZoidMeister said:
Does anyone from Texas know who mints these at the Renaissance Festival? It would be nice to contact them.

Z

There is no edge lettering on the coin I have. If you don't find any more info then hit me up. My daughter made a video of the coining process. Maybe her video will show the vendor.

CaptHenway

@jmlanzaf said:

@291fifth said:
Even if they are silver they would be bought at a discount because of the lack of the marking of silver content. Bullion buyers of silver rounds don't want unmarked pieces. Many such items, if bought by dealers, end up going to the smelter.

About 10 years ago I sold a large group of .999 silver rounds (and I knew for certain that is what they were) that were unmarked. The dealer was willing to buy them but only at a steep discount.

Depends on whether the dealer has an XRF. No risk premium

People do not want to buy them even if they trust the seller because they KNOW that they are going to encounter grief when they go to sell them. This advice is based upon years of coin shop experience.

CaptHenway

@AUandAG said:
Learn to do a specific gravity test. If it is silver the test result should be 10 or so. Here''s a link for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2vA1qO2fA

bob

I am a great believer in S.G. I could tell the difference between .900 and .925. But you can't expect this to be done every time an unmarked piece trades. I might have used S.G. to test unmarked incoming stuff before i bought it, but then I burned it.

ZoidMeister

@AUandAG said:
Learn to do a specific gravity test. If it is silver the test result should be 10 or so. Here''s a link for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2vA1qO2fA

bob

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Awesome video, I finally got around to watching it.
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@Snaps said:

@ZoidMeister said:
Does anyone from Texas know who mints these at the Renaissance Festival? It would be nice to contact them.

Z

There is no edge lettering on the coin I have. If you don't find any more info then hit me up. My daughter made a video of the coining process. Maybe her video will show the vendor.

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And now for the Paul Harvey "rest of the story" moment.

I was able to finally reach the vendor who makes these medals each year at the festival. Here is his reply.
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So, I gambled and WON on this one. One troy ounce of .999 Silver with a design I am smitten with, purchased for under $15.
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Z

MsMorrisine

Good news

Need to tell them to mark it even in tiny letters

291fifth

Unfortunately ... it still isn't marked and will be discounted. Buyers want them marked.

JBK

I want to know how they minted that at a fair. It must have been a huge press.

ZoidMeister

@MsMorrisine said:
Good news

Need to tell them to mark it even in tiny letters.

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I did write him back and request a copy of any "certificate of authenticity" or content they might have included with the original purchase.

@291fifth said:
Unfortunately ... it still isn't marked and will be discounted. Buyers want them marked.

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Fortunately, it ain't fer sale any time soon! With specific gravity and one of those fancy x-ray scope thingy's, I doubt I'll lose money on this one. But then again, I am a hoarder. I have 999+ incoming for every 1 outgoing . . . . .

@JBK said:
I want to know how they minted that at a fair. It must have been a huge press.

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My understanding is that it was using a drop hammer press, similar to what Ron Landis used decades ago.

Z

MsMorrisine

How many serfs were used to raise the hammer?

ZoidMeister

@MsMorrisine said:
How many serfs were used to raise the hammer?

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Wenches my man . . . . wenches . . . . . .
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( . . . . or was that "winches" . . . . ?)

Engritch was never my strong suite . . . . . .

Z