Silver bullion picture thread

Kameo

Thanks 1jester! I'm first in line for the give away!

Ciccio

<< <i>I'm happy to announce the arrival of the first batch of the first all-Polish silver bars, completely designed and manufactured in Poland, by the Silver Mint of Poland, a brand new enterprise. >>



I like them jester! I checked the link, their pic shows a 2009 bar. What's the difference between last year and this year? Who was the manufacturer?

Will be those available in the US, what do you think?

One more question: what does BRUTTO mean in Polish? In italian stands for "ugly". I am just curious...

1jester

Et tu, Brute?!

Brutto means gross (total), or with tax. Netto is net, or without tax. 83 zloty equals about $30 each.

I see the miniature picture shows 2009 but that was just a project; the actual debut of the bars was in mid-December 2009 with a 2010 date on them. Click on the picture and it'll give you the correct design, with the 2010 date. They're minted at the "Polska Srebrna Mennica"and it is a rather new operation. The first batch was 100, and I special ordered a batch of 100 in mid-December for myself, which was only completed in the first half of January. Maximum mintage is 2000, so I already own at least 5% of total production. I doubt they will ever be offered in the States since nobody wants to bother with the formalities of customs and shipping, etc.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the quality. They weigh in at 32.04 grams each, and are very uniform, and stack quite well. Some are in Air-tites, but the rest are sealed in some kind of non-PVC hard foil which is in fact from the German firm Leuchtturm (Lighthouse) and the material is Optima, their top stock. So no issues of PVC damage or slime will ever curse these bars. I think the quality is a bit below that of PAMP, but not bad for a third world effort, no?

CoinHusker

Picked this up last week. 1994 D-Day set issued by the Royal Mint



1991-95, US, ONE DOLLAR, 38.0mm., .900 FINE SILVER ALLOY, 26.73 gms. WEIGHT COMMEMORATIVE. paying tribute to that momentous day as designed by US Mint engraver, Thomas D Rogers Sr.. The obverse depicts the perilous advance of an American soldier across a Normandy beach with the inscription, "In God We Trust", and "Liberty" while the reverse carries the insignia of The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force together with a quotation from General Eisenhower's D-Day message to his troops.

1993, FRENCH, ONE FRANC, 37.00mm., .900 FINE SILVER ALLOY, 22.20 gms. weight, COMMEMORATIVE, designed by Claude Lesot, illustrating a powerful scene from the Normandy landings as Allied troops, supported by air and sea forces, negotiate the hazardous beaches. The reverse by Pierre Gendis shows the flags of France the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States flying proudly behind the head of the famous Statue of Liberty.

1994, UK, 50 Pence, 30.00mm., .925 Sterling Silver Alloy, 13.50 gms. weight. The Allied invasion force filling the sea and sky is depicted on the reverse of the unique 7 sided coin. The dynamic design was created by John Mills and was inspired by his boyhood recollections of that historic day when looking up, at the sky and seeing it filled with the distinctively marked planes of the Allies, he realized that the invasion of France was underway. Raphael Maklouf's acclaimed portrait of Her Majesty the Queen appears on the obverse.

1jester

Thanks so much for sharing, Husker! They look cool. Do you have a larger photo?

CoinHusker

<< <i>Thanks so much for sharing, Husker! They look cool. Do you have a larger photo?

>>



Here's some of each coin.

1jester

That's cool. I like the French one, but the British one is more fascinating to me, perhaps due to the seven sides.

CoinHusker

<< <i>That's cool. I like the French one, but the British one is more fascinating to me, perhaps due to the seven sides.

>>



If I'm not mistaken, the Royal Mint made a Piedfort sized (double thickness) issue of this 50 pence piece as well.

gsa1fan

1jester; I can't read that websites information. You think they'd ship some bars to USA?

1jester

<< <i>1jester; I can't read that websites information. You think they'd ship some bars to USA? >>



I highly doubt it, but I'll ask.

CoinHusker

My big score last week, even though it was just 1.84 troy ounces, was this .999 silver Nebraska Centennial Medal for $2.85 on eBay. With $1.65 s/h, it cost me $4.50. Not bad for nearly 2 oz of silver.


edit to add: not pics of my piece, but exact same medal

1jester

Husker, that's a fantastic deal on a very pretty medal.

Tim, the producer told me that they might be able to bring them to market in Texas later this year. I have no idea what the details of that deal might be, but when I find out, I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, here are the latest additions to the stack. First off, thanks to Norseman for a few nice pieces of bullion and "junk" (beautiful American coins) silver, including my first Prospector, a 1/4 ouncer. I like these!!





And some one ounce rounds, the first one from a while back:













And a pretty interesting older art bar:





And another SRH Club bar, this time from Valcambi, and it looks like a very new minting.

OPA

I'm awaiting arrivals of these 1 oz Wildlife Bars ... Hamilton Mint .... Sellers scan

1jester

Opa, those are awesome works of art. Congrats on the purchase. Please show pics when you get them! I wonder if they are part of another wildlife set, because they're not from the set I posted. Those old Hamilton bars are really unbeatable, on par with Pamp, I'd say.

Tomohawk

1jester,

I LOVE the Footprints piece...are those available in quantity? Well, guess I could look myself, but any info you have would be appreciated.

bestmr

My silver

I can't figure out how to link the pictures in the tread so this will have to work until then.

Weiss

Copy the "direct link" info, click the little picture button at the top of the post window (4th button from the left, after the B, I, U buttons. Drop the copied info in:

mkman123

Bestmr, very cool! Keep stacking and pretty soon that jar will be filled up!!!!

OPA

<< <i>Opa, those are awesome works of art. Congrats on the purchase. Please show pics when you get them! I wonder if they are part of another wildlife set, because they're not from the set I posted. Those old Hamilton bars are really unbeatable, on par with Pamp, I'd say.

>>



Mike ... apparently there was a set of 12 produced by the Hamilton Mint, circa 1975 - 1976 ( Birds of America ) not rare, but not that common.







below are a few more Wildlife bars from different Mints. I don't collect them and they will be placed up for auction at one point in the future.

Classof67

Nice!

1jester

Tomohawk, I really don't know how many were produced (or are presently being produced, if any). I bought it online. I'd like to know myself about the history of these bars and rounds, so as always, I appeal to the more knowledgeable among us to chime in. BTW, if you are interested in this one piece, I probably could negotiate a trade with you.

Opa, I think I might have seen some pictures of some of those in that set you bought. Did you get the whole collection? And as far as the others you mentioned selling in the future, please remember me because I will be interested in them.

1jester

I finally found an old Fortuna by PAMP:





I picked up a few different Valcambi bars with the SRH Club inscribed into them. Notice the difference between issues.





And some more Credit Suisse SRH Club bars. One has some heavy toning on one side. Notice on these there's an extra AG stamped into the bars, whereas the SRH Club Credit Suisse bars I already have do not have this stamp. Of course, I can only speculate as to the meaning, but it might be AG for silver. I wonder how old this series is. The Valcambi versions seem to be of quite new mintage, as the background (field) of the bars exhibits a sort of wavy surface I've seen only on the newest bars.





And some old art bars.





















And another Italian bar.

OPA

Those Credit Suisse bars are almost as expensive as the PAMP bars ( on eBay $40+ for the 1 oz Credit Suisse) Great pick-up.
Most US produced bars are easily obtainable at only slightly above melt. Of course there are exceptions.

1jester

Thanks for the info, OPA. They're not cheap over here, but then again, everything is expensive. Over here, the most expensive bars are the PAMPs, when available.

Do you happen to know anything about the SRH Club designation, and that mysterious AG stamp?

OPA

<< <i>Thanks for the info, OPA. They're not cheap over here, but then again, everything is expensive. Over here, the most expensive bars are the PAMPs, when available.

Do you happen to know anything about the SRH Club designation, and that mysterious AG stamp?

>>



PAMP are also the most expensive bars in the US, with Credit Suisse right behind, Degussa is in 3d place & bringing up the rear and in last place is Heraeus... I have no idea as to the SRH designation or the AG stamp ... I've never seen that on any bars up for sale in the US>

AgBlox

<< <i>

<< <i>Thanks for the info, OPA. They're not cheap over here, but then again, everything is expensive. Over here, the most expensive bars are the PAMPs, when available.

Do you happen to know anything about the SRH Club designation, and that mysterious AG stamp?

>>



PAMP are also the most expensive bars in the US, with Credit Suisse right behind, Degussa is in 3d place & bringing up the rear and in last place is Heraeus... I have no idea as to the SRH designation or the AG stamp ... I've never seen that on any bars up for sale in the US> >>



You have an amazing stash Jester, I'm jealous.

I respectfully disagree with your Order OPA.

OPA

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>Thanks for the info, OPA. They're not cheap over here, but then again, everything is expensive. Over here, the most expensive bars are the PAMPs, when available.

Do you happen to know anything about the SRH Club designation, and that mysterious AG stamp?

>>



PAMP are also the most expensive bars in the US, with Credit Suisse right behind, Degussa is in 3d place & bringing up the rear and in last place is Heraeus... I have no idea as to the SRH designation or the AG stamp ... I've never seen that on any bars up for sale in the US> >>



You have an amazing stash Jester, I'm jealous.

I respectfully disagree with your Order OPA. >>



You're probably correct in your assumption .... the order is from my personal experience in purchasing... I'd be interested in seeing yours ( not US produced bars, just the most common overseas bars )

1jester

Thanks for the compliments, gentlemen, and the advice, Opa.

Here's some kind of St. Peter's commemorative, which didn't go without a bloody and vicious internet fight! LOL

JimDepot

Some recent silver buys and a new beer coaster.

1jester

Jim, that's a beautiful stack!! Now that you've got a beer coaster, when are you going to add some dinner plates?

1jester

I recently picked up this partial set of "Beautiful Switzerland" bars from Argor Heraeus. According to Axxa's website, there were three groups of about 33 each for 99 total bars (so far?). I have 18 now.









































Here are some other Argor Heraeus bars that came from the same source, but are not part of that set.

OPA

The Swiss bars come up for auction occasionally on eBay, but not by US sellers. It looks as if Argor also has a "rinse problem" with their bars, quite a few have developed the notorious "milk spots."

Great collection though.

1jester

True, the Berlin bar has some spotting, though I can't really see any on the other bars. I don't know what it's from, and thought it was perhaps due to holes in the packaging. But I'm sure it's possible to be due to the rinsing process.

Speaking of spotting, here are some Argor Heraeus bars with the PhilSwiss banner, and as you can see, the older-style packaging (top left) has serious problems with spotting. The newer style packaging seems to be of a different material and is harder, thicker and formed to fit the bar. I thought the spotting came from exposure to the elements (via a damaged package) but if it's due to a rinsing problem, why wouldn't all the bars have the same problem? I liberated the spotted bar from its package and treated it with MS70, which did nothing, and then with Ezest, which also failed to eradicate the spotting, even after soaking for 30 seconds. The jar recommends only 2 seconds. I don't have any experience using dip, and use it only as a last resort. Any dipping experts out there? Do I need to let it soak longer?





Here's a bar from Geiger; I don't know much about them but here's their website..





Here's an older Heraeus bar:





And some Degussa bars. This first one in the original packaging I also liberated because though I don't think it's made of PVC, Degussa's foil seems to be of some kind of vinyl which always tones the bars purple. It's now safe in a Saflip, after a refreshing acetone bath (as are all the bars except the newer Argor Heraeus ones).





Oh, and these were in official Degussa hard cases, which fit these odd-shaped bars exactly. Obviously no chance of PVC contamination here, so no acetone bath (a rare occurrence).





Some lovely tarnish on these:







A rare purchase for me, of a sterling silver bar (a mistake, but it's still nice).





And some weird stamp reproduction, of 9999 fine silver. After liberating this from its packaging, I nearly got cut on the super sharp edges.





This is a first for me, a Spanish bar. Has anyone ever seen anything like these? And is the number on top a serial number? Because if it is, it seems strange that a 100 gram bar would be made consecutively with a 250 gram bar.





And I wonder if the old pour bars are from the same company as the newer ones. By the way, these are 9999 fine, and the newer ones are super polished and shine like the sun.







Hope y'all enjoyed the tour!

OPA

I have no idea, why in the US the Hamilton Mint, and overseas, Degussa Mint, had to have odd dimension for their 1 oz bars so that you can't find holders for them. If anyone has an outlet that either has the Hamilton Mint or Degussa size direct fit holder available, please let us know.
Mike, you are accumulating an amazing collection ... you need the Dornier & Zeppelin Degussa bar to go along with the JU52.

1jester

Here's my first PAMP non-standard size: 2.5 grams





Some more Italian bars, first a JM 100 gram









And some "koala" rounds. Regardless of the denomination on the second one, I have my doubts as to its legal tender status. Clarification, anyone?

1jester

I received a 50 gram version of these mysterious bars with the EM moniker. I wish someone could tell me who produced them; they seem to be not extremely old. The 50 g bar was in its original vinyl, and I ripped it out of there and treated it to an acetone bath. These vinyl protectors I've seen on a number of bars might not contain PVC but they certainly do impart an ugly purplish tone to them. Anyway, I have some 10 gram bars of different sizes, and a 20 g, which is the same size as one of the 10s, and this 50 g.





And this Credit Suisse 100 gram bar in its original vinyl also had some ugly toning around where the vinyl had broken. Removing the vinyl of course protects from further damage, but I don't like how vinyl reacts with silver, permanently disfiguring it.







Here's another Italian bar, and it must be pretty old because it doesn't bother with even labeling the weight (100 grams). It does have the producer's jeweler mark on the obverse, confirming the manufacturer as Italian, and since I recognized the font of the lettering, I was sure it was legitimate. Later bars from this manufacturer have the weight included, and different sizes exist.



Now here's a stunning bar. It's 27.5 grams of 999 silver (fineness stamped on the reverse), but I have no clue as to the producer. It's done in extremely high relief, and burnished with an antique tone.





Two new art bars.

softparade

1jester

Nice SAEs, softparade! thanks for sharing.

1jester

I have a new favorite bar! LOL





A PAMP Statue of Liberty. Seen one of these before? It's not a recent issue, judging by the packaging.





A nice little Oegussa ingot, 10 grams.





My first 2001 Kookaburra:





A Polish collectible bullion issue, this one featuring the Salamander:





Some kind of half ounce sterling dinosaur round, featuring T-rex.

1jester

Well, too bad nobody's seen or heard of the PAMP Statue of Liberty.

Here are some more PAMPs - the complete series of 12 Polish cities, with a very limited production run of 1000. And this is an extremely rare set; though its mintage is only half that of the similar 14-piece Road of the Cross collection (pictured earlier), this is the only one I've ever seen for sale, and I've seen about 15 of the other set for sale.

OPA

<< <i>Well, too bad nobody's seen or heard of the PAMP Statue of Liberty. >>



I've seen them, but they are quite rare and only come up for auction, on average, twice yearly on eBay.

PAMP did a great job with all of their middle age cities from different European countries.

1jester

Opa, thank you once again for your valuable insight. I appreciate your help.

What other countries did PAMP make this series for? And when? Are they all new issues like this Polish series? I haven't seen any others, except for the Italian cities and topography series from 1978, which I have shown here.

Here are some other recent acquisitions. First, another Johnson Matthey kilo bar from Brussels, virtually identical to the one I got last year; even the flow patterns are identical. However, I'd like to ask if anyone knows why there are pits in the bottom. I've seen this phenomenon on other bars of other makes, but what causes them? After all, the silver is poured in from the top, leaving the flow lines. And if the mold is smooth, why would there be holes/pits in the silver? My new one is on the right, and weighs exactly what the other one weighs, 1001.0 grams.







Is this silver round actually from 1974? It has a nice concave obverse, sort of reminds me of a high relief St. Gaudens. The reverse, however, is flat.





Some modern rounds:

fivecents

64 ounces of silver in this big girl.

1jester

That's awesome! And quite beautiful. Is it exactly 64 ounces, or 2 kilos?

1jester

Here's a rare (mintage unknown) silver half ounce medal commemorating Lech Walesa's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize. It might have been produced by the underground (at the time) Solidarity Labor Union movement, as Walesa was their leader and was elected president of Poland right after the Iron Curtain fell in 1989.





Australia Lunar bullion: my first.



Here is what must be an ancient Degussa poured bar of 250 grams, a quarter kilo. It shares a resemblance to its Teutonic kin from Austria.

OPA

1 jester..... Is it my imagination, but it appears that your "Austrian" bar has been "tested" at some point recently ... looking at the big gouge ... You may be missing an oz or so in weight

OPA

Purchased this one from an eBay seller in Spain. "Fortuna" has a growing family now.

100 gram PAMP

1jester

<< <i>1 jester..... Is it my imagination, but it appears that your "Austrian" bar has been "tested" at some point recently ... looking at the big gouge ... You may be missing an oz or so in weight >>



Sorry to disappoint you, Opa, but those appear to be adjustment marks... This bar takes the old school approach to add extra silver to make up for the "missing" purity.



Very cool PAMP there, by the way!

OPA

Picked this one up on eBay...100 gram PAMP calendar bar. Issued by the parent company of PAMP .. MKS Financial sa. I suspect that these bars may have been issued to employees for outstanding service or whatever, but I'm not sure. The bar came in a nice presentation case, along with an acrylic stand to place it on ( nice office desk memento ) I have no idea what the highlighted dates indicated. Any help would be appreciated.

Ciccio

<< <i>Picked this one up on eBay...100 gram PAMP calendar bar. Issued by the parent company of PAMP .. MKS Financial sa. I suspect that these bars may have been issued to employees for outstanding service or whatever, but I'm not sure. The bar came in a nice presentation case, along with an acrylic stand to place it on ( nice office desk memento ) I have no idea what the highlighted dates indicated. Any help would be appreciated.

>>



Nice bar OPA! Is that proof-like?
The dates look holidays to me. US, GB, CH and JP on the left top corner shows the legenda.