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M:ETAL P:ORN F:RIDAY Freaky new silver bar

WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited March 24, 2023 5:31PM in Precious Metals

There's a website that sells crazy rare and expensive antique bullion (rarebullion.com) . I've mentioned them a few times here before. It's stuff I love to look at but probably won't ever buy--like vintage gold kilo bars.

One of the few silver bars they have offered in the past are chunky bars made by Manilal Chimanlal of Bombay, India (MC & Co.). They're unusual because you don't see lots of graphics on vintage silver bars. And it's one of those things that once you notice something, you begin to see it elsewhere. I've spotted a half-dozen of various sizes over the last 3 or 4 years, all weighed in the precious metal weight used in India and Southeast Asia: the Tola. A tola weighs 11.66 grams, or 3/8 of a troy ounce. I've seen these bars in from 5 tola up to 25 tola.

So these bars are neat because they're vintage--MC dates to the 1950s. They're graphic in design. They're very specific to a particular region. And Bombay changed its name back to its more authentic "Mumbai" nearly 30 years ago.

We had a thread not too long ago about if grading companies would start to slab vintage and antique bullion bars, and we even shared a few smaller bars that have already been slabbed.

So when I saw this one, I pulled the trigger:

Manilal Chimanlal Co. Bombay
5 Tola (X32)
Circa 1950
NGC MS61

We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame

Comments

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Weiss .... That is the first 'thick' slab like that I have seen. Thanks for the picture. Cheers, RickO

  • rte592rte592 Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I really like those.
    Something different for sure.
    Now, MS61?
    How the heck did they come up with that grading designation?

  • Bdog9027Bdog9027 Posts: 46 ✭✭

    So fricken cool 😍

  • dcarrdcarr Posts: 8,470 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @rte592 said:
    I really like those.
    Something different for sure.
    Now, MS61?
    How the heck did they come up with that grading designation?

    They are die-struck like coins and medals. So you can rate the state of preservation of the surfaces.

    Moonlight Mint
  • rte592rte592 Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 12, 2022 11:26PM

    @dcarr said:

    @rte592 said:
    I really like those.
    Something different for sure.
    Now, MS61?
    How the heck did they come up with that grading designation?

    They are die-struck like coins and medals. So you can rate the state of preservation of the surfaces.

    Yes but wouldn't you need a 10 point scale like with coins?
    It's not like these tola's are stamped out to be collected like coins.

    I've seen the other slabed ones on eBay.
    Label says cleaned.
    I'm just saying grading designation is subjective and it's a bullion piece used for commerce?

    Don't get me wrong, I really like it.
    Would like to pick one up for the collection, but not pay a premium for the slab even if it says Proof 70.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The slab was more important to me than the grade, and the straight grade was more important to me than the numeric grade.

    FWIW: The premium on these is already way high without a slab. Higher with the slab, of course, but already multiples of the silver value.

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • rte592rte592 Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 13, 2022 9:13AM

    @Weiss said:
    The slab was more important to me than the grade, and the straight grade was more important to me than the numeric grade.

    That's what caught my eye.
    The straight grade.
    I like it and it's different that checks the boxes for me.

    I picked up these a while back.
    I made the seller an offer and he laughed it off ..said he would wait for a serious offer.
    I paid 4x spot a week later.

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very cool, @rte592 !

    We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
    --Severian the Lame
  • LukeMarshallLukeMarshall Posts: 1,982 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Its a neat Piece Weiss, and its actually refreshing to see these ingots being authenticated and slabbed IMO.

    Hmmm, predictions and ramifications?

    I predict Ill be able to buy 10 different Engelhard 1oz Variety bars slabbed and authenticated in the future.
    Rammifications - Probably gonna cost alot more to collect em all (slabbed)

    It's all about what the people want...

  • MeltdownMeltdown Posts: 8,792 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited August 17, 2022 4:13AM

    .

    Click on this link to see my ebay listings.

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