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Rounds and bars. Are they collectable?

relicsncoinsrelicsncoins Posts: 7,908 ✭✭✭✭✭
in Precious Metals
Are there any rounds or bars that that have a value above the silver content?
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Comments

  • tydyetydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
    yes

    There is number of books out on the bars - art bars. Coca cola ones come to mind

    older poured bars

  • AgBloxAgBlox Posts: 744 ✭✭
    Tons. I've sold some silver ingots for the equivalent price of gold.
  • OnlyGoldIsMoneyOnlyGoldIsMoney Posts: 3,362 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Within the last week a 4 ounce Engelhard bar (old pour) sold for over $600 on eBay. Thats over $150 an ounce.
    NO END IN SIGHT LIB $2.50'S CAC ONLY
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  • bstat1020bstat1020 Posts: 2,151 ✭✭


    << <i>Within the last week a 4 ounce Engelhard bar (old pour) sold for over $600 on eBay. Thats over $150 an ounce. >>



    I bid on that bar, but it got crazy money.
    Madelyn's Birth Year Registry Set, Sophia's Birth Year Registry Set, My 10 Best Coins
  • 1970SilverArt1970SilverArt Posts: 482 ✭


    << <i>Are there any rounds or bars that that have a value above the silver content? >>



    There are several silver art bars that have a value above the silver content. Here are some of the following:

    1. Coca-Cola art bars:

    This silver art bars were minted by the World Wide Mint from the mid-1970's to the 1980's. These 1-oz silver art bars were minted to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of a Coca-Cola bottling plant in that particular city. On ebay, these Coca-Cola silver art bars can sell for as low as $5-$8 over spot to has high as $700 (and above). It depends on demand, mintage, and the particular city on that Coca-Cola art bar.

    2. GreatHouse Productions art bars:

    This 1-oz silver art bars were minted in the 1970's and the early 1980's. These silver art bars are very rare and are hard to find locally at a local coin shop or a local area coin show. These silver art bars sometimes show up as regular auctions but a majority of them show up on ebay as BIN (Buy-It-Now) auctions. Ebay BIN prices range from $79 to as high as $300+. Regular ebay auction winning bids range from $85 to as high as $200 depending on the type of GreatHouse Production art bar. These art bars have low mintages that can range from 20 to 275.

    3. Sports-themed silver art bars minted by The Mint:

    These are silver art bars that have themes of sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NBA Championship, World Series, etc. The Mint is NOT referring to the U.S. Mint. The Mint is a private company that made sports themed art bars from the late 1970's to the early 1990's. Typical mintage numbers that I see on these bars are 200 or less. Some of these silver art bars are enameled and some of them are regular art bars. The enameled versions typically go for more on ebay than the regular ones based on the prices that I have seen. Typical ebay winning bids can range from $40 to $130 depending on that particular the Mint art bar. Typical ebay BIN prices range from $70 to $200. These are also hard to find locally at a local coin shop or a local coin show because of the low mintage numbers.

    4. Green Country Mint silver art bars:

    These were minted in the late 1970's and have UFO and extraterrestrial art themes to them. Some have Elvis themes to them. These are also very hard to find locally. These are even hard to find on ebay and when you see one on ebay they are usually sold as a BIN auction. The Ebay BIN auction prices that I have seen are $189 and higher. Low mintages on these as well.

    There are some other silver art bars that sell for a value well above silver value but these above 4 are the ones that I can think of right away. Sometimes you can get very lucky and find a silver art bar in one of the above 4 categories at a local dealer or a local coin show and pay only .999 generic silver premiums instead of the ebay premium but that is very hard to do.
    DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a '70's silver art bar expert but I try my best to play one on the Internet.
  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,119 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Any theme related Degussa or PAMP Art Bar will also carry a pricey premium.

    In reality, 99.9% of the 20+ year old Art Bars will sell for a premium above spot. Just be careful with non .999 Silver Art Bars such as Sterling Silver.
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • 1970SilverArt1970SilverArt Posts: 482 ✭


    << <i>yes

    There is number of books out on the bars - art bars. Coca cola ones come to mind

    older poured bars >>



    There are some silver art bar books out there. The main silver art bar book that silver art bar collectors use is called "An Indexed Guide Book of Silver Art Bars". It was written by Archie Kidd and there are several editions of this book that is available online on ebay, Amazon, and some other online places. The editions that I see on ebay are the 4th, 5th, and 6th editions. The 5th edition of this guide book is hard to find and it is the most expensive edition among the different silver art bar price guide books on ebay. When I last checked ebay, there was a 5th edition guide book listed at a BIN price of $229. There was also an Archie Kidd price guide that came out in 2009 but that one does not have any silver art bar pictures in it. The Archie Kidd silver art bar guide book is the "Red Book" of silver art bar collecting.

    There is a Coca-Cola silver art bar price guide book on ebay. It is called "Coca-Cola Bottler's 75th Anniversary Ingot and Rounds Guide Book 1975 to 1988". This book was written by Thomas Mock. The second edition of his book came out in January 2009.

    I find that these silver art bar price guide help me tremendously in identifying silver art bars.
    DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a '70's silver art bar expert but I try my best to play one on the Internet.
  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,119 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yes, the 1981 5th edition is the out of print "bible" for Art Bars. However, take the quoted price guides for the bars with a "grain of salt."
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • 1970SilverArt1970SilverArt Posts: 482 ✭


    << <i>Yes, the 1981 5th edition is the out of print "bible" for Art Bars. However, take the quoted price guides for the bars with a "grain of salt." >>



    I do not look at the rarity values in the silver art bar price guides. I prefer to use the "real world" prices that are seen on ebay. I use the ebay regular auction winning bids to get an idea of how much a particular silver art bar is worth on ebay. That is IMO more accurate than the silver art bar price guide. The silver art bar price guide just gives you a vague idea how much a particular silver art bar is worth but it is not exact. The ebay BIN prices are also not accurate because they tend to be priced too high and they will either move very slowly or not at all at that particular BIN price.

    A lot of the common '70's silver art bars that I have seen on ebay had ebay winning auctuon bids that were less than what the silver art bar guidebook said they were worth. There were a few rare art bars that had ebay winning bids that were more than what the price guide said they were worth.

    I also want to disclose that I have never sold anything on ebay and I do not plan to. I am just a silver art bar collector that buys rare silver art bars on ebay. I just observe what prices certain silver art bars go for on ebay I prefer to buy most of my silver art bars locally at local dealers and at coin shows because I prefer to pay .999 generic silver premiums for them. However, I have been buying the rare silver art bars at BIN prices on ebay because so far, I did not have any success finding them locally at generic silver premiums.

    I use the silver art bar price guides as a reference for identifying silver art bars and for getting mintage information. The silver art bar guidebooks are just a way for me to increase my knowledge on silver art bars.
    DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a '70's silver art bar expert but I try my best to play one on the Internet.
  • OPAOPA Posts: 17,119 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Yes, the 1981 5th edition is the out of print "bible" for Art Bars. However, take the quoted price guides for the bars with a "grain of salt." >>



    I do not look at the rarity values in the silver art bar price guides. I prefer to use the "real world" prices that are seen on ebay. I use the ebay regular auction winning bids to get an idea of how much a particular silver art bar is worth on ebay. That is IMO more accurate than the silver art bar price guide. The silver art bar price guide just gives you a vague idea how much a particular silver art bar is worth but it is not exact. The ebay BIN prices are also not accurate because they tend to be priced too high and they will either move very slowly or not at all at that particular BIN price.

    A lot of the common '70's silver art bars that I have seen on ebay had ebay winning auctuon bids that were less than what the silver art bar guidebook said they were worth. There were a few rare art bars that had ebay winning bids that were more than what the price guide said they were worth.

    I also want to disclose that I have never sold anything on ebay and I do not plan to. I am just a silver art bar collector that buys rare silver art bars on ebay. I just observe what prices certain silver art bars go for on ebay I prefer to buy most of my silver art bars locally at local dealers and at coin shows because I prefer to pay .999 generic silver premiums for them. However, I have been buying the rare silver art bars at BIN prices on ebay because so far, I did not have any success finding them locally at generic silver premiums.

    I use the silver art bar price guides as a reference for identifying silver art bars and for getting mintage information. The silver art bar guidebooks is just a way for me to increase my knowledge on silver art bars. >>



    I'm in total agreement with your summation. It appears, that a majority of "Art Bar Dealers" on eBay are "Pipedreamers" (Btw I own that barimage) with their BIN auctions and use the guide book as an excuse for overpricing references.
    "Bongo drive 1984 Lincoln that looks like old coin dug from ground."
  • 1970SilverArt1970SilverArt Posts: 482 ✭
    I will freely admit that I also tend to be a "Pipedreamer" and I do pay BIN prices on certain GreatHouse and The Mint silver art bars. I already knew from the start that I was overpaying for those particular silver art bars on ebay as a BIN because those are bars that I love a lot and they are very hard to find anywhere in my local area. My goal as a silver art bar collector is to buy the silver art bars that are on my silver art bar wish list at the lowest premium possible. However, when it comes to the rare art bars such as GreatHouse, The Mint, and some others, I have failed at trying to pay the lowest premium possible and instead I have paid "retail" price (i.e. Ebay BIN price) for them. I have no regrets for paying that high of a price for them because I am buying what I like.

    It is silver art bars such as Hamilton Mint, Madison Mint, and some other common art bars that I do not want to overpay for them. For example, if I had to choose, I prefer to pay $90 ebay BIN for a rare GreatHouse art bar as opposed to paying $40 for a common minted Madison Mint silver art bar on ebay.
    DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a '70's silver art bar expert but I try my best to play one on the Internet.
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