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Can someone explain 100 mills of silver to me.

I saw this add on ebay. The title says "5 (1)TROY OZ 100 MILLS 999 SILVER ", but the description says "not solid silver". Is this misleading, or does 100 mills just mean silver plated? Here is the ebay auction.

Comments

  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A "mil" or "mill" or even "mille" is 1/1000th. In this application, it's 1/1000th or 0.001 of an inch.

    What you got there is gen-u-ine crap.
    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
  • Figured. image Thanks.
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,127 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It is garbage. On a par with "Authentic Reproduction!"
    TD
    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231


    << <i>A "mil" or "mill" or even "mille" is 1/1000th. In this application, it's 1/1000th or 0.001 of an inch.

    What you got there is gen-u-ine crap. >>




    A "mil" in most industry is what Weiss said. But in the jewelry industry, a mil is defined as 1/millionth of an inch. That is the case here. Some people will argue with me until they are blue in the face. But think about this before you do so. If those bars were 100 mills of silver by Weiss' definition, that plating would be 1/10th of an inch thick!!! Do you have any idea how thick of a plating that is?
  • AboutAgAboutAg Posts: 201 ✭✭


    << <i>I saw this add on ebay. The title says "5 (1)TROY OZ 100 MILLS 999 SILVER ", but the description says "not solid silver". Is this misleading, or does 100 mills just mean silver plated? Here is the ebay auction. >>



    We have a page on this at About.Ag/millssilver.htm (and have an ad that appears in Google when people look up 100 mills silver). Long story short, the CMC Mint made up the term "mill" -- the general belief is that it was intended to be "mil", meaning "1/1000 inch" (as in silver plated). Some of their products state ".100 mills" (which could be the correct amount of silver plating, worth $.04 at today's prices for a 1-ounce bar), others state "100 mills" (which would be bigger than a real silver bar).

    We reported this to eBay, but they don't care yet. They seem to like to get the bogus goods well into the market before shutting them down. Why, I don't know; the same thing happened in early 2006 with the fake Chinese Pandas that they let slide for about a year or so.

    It is fraudulent, but part of the problem is that they selling them to U.S. buyers through a company in Canada that gets them from China. And the U.S. laws aren't quite what they should be (they were written before silver/gold bars became popular).
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231


    << <i>

    << <i>I saw this add on ebay. The title says "5 (1)TROY OZ 100 MILLS 999 SILVER ", but the description says "not solid silver". Is this misleading, or does 100 mills just mean silver plated? Here is the ebay auction. >>



    We have a page on this at About.Ag/millssilver.htm (and have an ad that appears in Google when people look up 100 mills silver). Long story short, the CMC Mint made up the term "mill" -- the general belief is that it was intended to be "mil", meaning "1/1000 inch" (as in silver plated). Some of their products state ".100 mills" (which could be the correct amount of silver plating, worth $.04 at today's prices for a 1-ounce bar), others state "100 mills" (which would be bigger than a real silver bar).

    We reported this to eBay, but they don't care yet. They seem to like to get the bogus goods well into the market before shutting them down. Why, I don't know; the same thing happened in early 2006 with the fake Chinese Pandas that they let slide for about a year or so.

    It is fraudulent, but part of the problem is that they selling them to U.S. buyers through a company in Canada that gets them from China. And the U.S. laws aren't quite what they should be (they were written before silver/gold bars became popular). >>





    Once again, this is bad info. A "mil" in the metal plating industry is NOT 1/1000 of an inch, but rather 1/1,000,000 of an inch. In the machining and fabrication industry a mil IS 1/1,000th.....but not in regards to metal plating. How many times do I need to go over this before you guys stop posting bad info?

    Mil measurements in regards to metal plating....Please stop saying a mil is 1/1,000th of an inch....you are just plain WRONG!
  • CaptHenwayCaptHenway Posts: 32,127 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I saw this add on ebay. The title says "5 (1)TROY OZ 100 MILLS 999 SILVER ", but the description says "not solid silver". Is this misleading, or does 100 mills just mean silver plated? Here is the ebay auction. >>



    It is something that is not what it appears to be,
    like a transvestite. A sham dame!

    image
    Numismatist. 50 year member ANA. Winner of four ANA Heath Literary Awards; three Wayte and Olga Raymond Literary Awards; Numismatist of the Year Award 2009, and Lifetime Achievement Award 2020. Winner numerous NLG Literary Awards.
  • giorgio11giorgio11 Posts: 3,905 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I saw this add on ebay. The title says "5 (1)TROY OZ 100 MILLS 999 SILVER ", but the description says "not solid silver". Is this misleading, or does 100 mills just mean silver plated? Here is the ebay auction. >>



    Stay far, far away!
    VDBCoins.com Our Registry Sets Many successful BSTs; pls ask.
  • AboutAgAboutAg Posts: 201 ✭✭


    << <i>Once again, this is bad info. A "mil" in the metal plating industry is NOT 1/1000 of an inch, but rather 1/1,000,000 of an inch. In the machining and fabrication industry a mil IS 1/1,000th.....but not in regards to metal plating. How many times do I need to go over this before you guys stop posting bad info?

    Mil measurements in regards to metal plating....Please stop saying a mil is 1/1,000th of an inch....you are just plain WRONG! >>



    Once again? Sorry, I have forgotten where you 'corrected' me before.

    "mil" is a unit of measurement meaning 1/1000". Check it out here.

    See also http://forum.caswellplating.com/powder-coating-questions/1353-how-thick-mil.html, a forum about plating. See also http://www.turnkeycoatings.com/FAQ02.html, another glossary of plating terms.

    Obviously, 'mil' usually means 1/1000", but some people use it (properly or not) as 1/1000000". And more importantly, the CMC Mint is clueless about both! <G>




  • WeissWeiss Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Got to agree. 1/millionth = micro, as in micron for one millionth of a meter or microinch for one millionth of an inch.

    mil = thousand, or thousandth

    Clearly some people in the metal plating industry use the correct terms:
    http://www.artisanplating.com/faqs/goldplatefaqs.html

    and the FTC:
    http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/products/pro02.shtm
    http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=975bafa229f4312ff2abe6726120f73f&rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.2.13&idno=16#16:1.0.1.2.13.0.5.28.1

    Regardless, these fine folks are much more interested in selling worthless plated non-bullion than correct usage.
    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
  • derrybderryb Posts: 36,795 ✭✭✭✭✭
    In this case mil is a unit of thickness of the plating.

    "Interest rates, the price of money, are the most important market. And, perversely, they’re the market that’s most manipulated by the Fed." - Doug Casey

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