Coin show report - Chattanooga, TN
1970SilverArt
Posts: 482 ✭
Today is the first day of the Tennessee State Numismatic Society fall coin show and I decided to go today since I took a day off of work. I got there at about 10 minutes before it started and while I waiting for the show to open, I checked my phone to see where the spot prices were at that time. Spot gold was $1695.30 and spot silver was $31.76. I looked around the parking lot and I noticed that it was not as crowded as it was last year but then again, I probably got their earlier than normal. Hard to say. Once the show started, I decided to start looking for silver art bars since that is what I usually do when I go to a coin show. As I was searching for them, I did observe some prices on a select few gold and silver items and they are as follows:
.999 generic silver = $32 to $35 - Not bad but I did not see when spot took a nose dive so some of those prices might have gone down.
Silver Art Bars - Not many '70's silver art bars present at this show and most of the ones that I saw where holiday-themed bars that I was not interested in getting. Lowest prices on those were $32.00.
10-oz silver bars = $327.00. Silvertowne and Engelhard were the main brands that I saw. Some might have been lower than $327 but I did not check those out.
100-oz silver bars = Lowest was spot + 0.50 - Engelhard and JM brands.
90% silver = 23X face
SAE's = spot + $5.00
Silver Maples = $33.50 to $37.00
Engelhard Prospectors = $34.50
Peace Dollars = $32.00
Overall, the coin show for me was so-so and I did find a couple of silver art bars that I liked and added to my collection but nothing of special interest IMO but got at a decent .999 generic silver price. They did also have some slabbed bullion and coins as well as some Lunar gold and silver. The show continues tomorrow and the last day is Sunday. I plan to go back to the coin show tomorrow.
.999 generic silver = $32 to $35 - Not bad but I did not see when spot took a nose dive so some of those prices might have gone down.
Silver Art Bars - Not many '70's silver art bars present at this show and most of the ones that I saw where holiday-themed bars that I was not interested in getting. Lowest prices on those were $32.00.
10-oz silver bars = $327.00. Silvertowne and Engelhard were the main brands that I saw. Some might have been lower than $327 but I did not check those out.
100-oz silver bars = Lowest was spot + 0.50 - Engelhard and JM brands.
90% silver = 23X face
SAE's = spot + $5.00
Silver Maples = $33.50 to $37.00
Engelhard Prospectors = $34.50
Peace Dollars = $32.00
Overall, the coin show for me was so-so and I did find a couple of silver art bars that I liked and added to my collection but nothing of special interest IMO but got at a decent .999 generic silver price. They did also have some slabbed bullion and coins as well as some Lunar gold and silver. The show continues tomorrow and the last day is Sunday. I plan to go back to the coin show tomorrow.
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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Comments
MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
So much for the thought of some that these will be offered for less than ASE's. Thanks for the report.
<< <i>Always good to see reports from other areas - thanks! >>
1-oz GAE = $1780.00
1/10 GAE = $185.00
DOS Peso = $85.00
1-oz Gold Buffalo = $1800
I did see some other gold at this show but I most of the other gold that I saw was some Pre-1933 gold coins (raw and slabbed) and I did not look at any prices on those.
However, I did notice a disturbing situation when I was looking for silver art bars. I saw a several silver-plated silver bars being sold. I saw 3 silver-plated bars at this show. One was German silver buffalo bar. The 2nd one that I saw was a 15-grain silver American Royal Mint bar and the third one was a 100-mills bar.
Today seemed more crowded than it was yesterday and I did see some selling but it was not all bullion. Some people were doing some trades but more people were doing more buying from what I could see while I was at the show. Overall, it was ok. Not great but not terrible either. I did not find many silver art bars that I was looking for. I did not see many silver art bar overall. Silvertowne was at this show and they had a few silver art bars in their melt-bucket and I ended up buying one for $32.70. I spent a lot of time talking to some of the dealers that I know and that is always a good thing. I also was able to get some more dealer contacts which could turn out to be home run down the road.
The last day of the show is tomorrow and I have some extra FRNs left over to spend but I have not decided if I am going to go tomorrow or not. I will think about it later tonight.
I knew it would happen.
like I've been told many time here, you can ask whatever you want to, what you actually sell it for will most likely be lower.
I picked these up recently locally. How many more "landmark" bars are in this series?
Terrible pictures I know, I was losing daylight quickly and the yellowness is from indoor lighting. The bars are pristine!
As always, thanks for your willingness to always help and for sharing your knowledge on art bars.
<< <i>1970SA,
I picked these up recently locally. How many more "landmark" bars are in this series?
Terrible pictures I know, I was losing daylight quickly and the yellowness is from indoor lighting. The bars are pristine!
As always, thanks for your willingness to always help and for sharing your knowledge on art bars.
It is not really a "series" per se but some of the other 1970's Switzerland silver art bars with landmarks on them that are listed in the Archie Kidd 4th edition guidebook include the following:
1.) Robie House
2.) 1st National Bank of Evergreen
3.) Cook Convention center
4.) Lake County Courthouse
5.) John Hancok Center
6.) Bank of Chicago
7.) First Wisconsin Center
8.) Ann Arbor Michigan
Those are the ones that I see in the guidebook that have landmarks on them. Most of those that I listed above have a mintage of 5000 for each bar.
Again poor pictures so I apologize for that. Notice how the bar on the left has the sun rising and rays (lines) shooting out from that, but the one on the right doesn't. Any significance? The other side on both bars are identical.
<< <i>Thanks again 1970 SA...Got another ? for you.
Again poor pictures so I apologize for that. Notice how the bar on the left has the sun rising and rays (lines) shooting out from that, but the one on the right doesn't. Any significance? The other side on both bars are identical.
Actually the pictures do not look bad to me in my opinion. I see the differences between the two bars that you are referring to. To answer your question, there is not much of a significance in terms of how much it would get on ebay. Both of those bars will fetch about the same premium on ebay.
Every now & then, I dig to the back of the vault and see what comes out. Sometimes it's stuff I've totally forgotten about. Man am I ever a geek!
<< <i>Cool...maybe I'll sell them on there as a pair. I have 2 sets of the different types out of the 7 total I realized I had after going thru the vault today.
Every now & then, I dig to the back of the vault and see what comes out. Sometimes it's stuff I've totally forgotten about. Man am I ever a geek!
FWIW the following most recently completed ebay auction for the one with the rays fetched a winning bid of $40 on October 4:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Oz-999-Fine-Silver-Bar-America-Land-of-the-Free-American-Argent-Mint-Ltd-/230856015594?pt=Bullion_US&hash=item35c0173eea
With that said, the other bar without the rays will probably fetch about that same price (give or take $1-$2) so maybe $80 total for both bars if you put them up on ebay as a set.
<< <i>Good report and great talking with you at the show Chris.
Thank you. I am glad that I was able to see you at this show and I was also glad to be able to talk to you. Thank you for coming and I hope that you were able to find what you were looking for at the show.
<< <i>Thanks for the report, Chris. (And I still have that Iraqi Bar that I'd like to gift to you, if you'd like it.) >>
That's ok. I meant to get back with you on this well before now but I just realized that I already have this particular bar in my collection. Thank you anyway for the offer.
Overall, it was an "ok" show for me. Not great but not terrible either. I wish that I found more silver art bars that I was interested in but I did not happen but at the same time, I am glad that I able to take advantage of this silver smackdown to buy the '70's SAB's that I wanted for only .999 generic silver premiums for.
Here are a couple of the silver art bars that I bought during the 3-day show:
Here is a silver art bar that I bought on the second day (yesterday) of the coin show........................
It is a 1973 Valley Forge Mint "Series A 1973". The actual stamped weight is 500 grains (1.04 troy oz.) and I paid $32.70 for it (11-2-2012 spot silver = $30.91/oz). Silvertowne was at this coin show and I found that bar while I was looking through one of their melt buckets. The 4th edition Archie Kidd guidebook lists a mintage of 500 for this bar.
Here is the silver art bar that I bought today on the last day of the show. This was my "splurge" day today since I was finished "bargain hunting" yesterday. I "splurged" on this bar meaning that I paid a collector's premium for it instead of a .999 generic silver premium but I do not mind paying that high of a premium for because I prefer to buy what I like. Here is what I bought today......................
This is a holiday-themed enameled "Easter" foreign (West Germany) silver art bar. It was struck in 1977 by B.H. Mayer. The 4th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebook (page 245) mentions that "All bars struck by B.H. Mayer of Kunstrageanstalt Pforzheim, West Germany".
I normally do not buy holiday-themed silver art bars but I made an exception with this one because 1.) It is a foreign silver art bar that is very hard to find because of the low mintage of some of these, 2.) It is an enameled silver art bar, 3.) The unique edges, and 4.) The theme is different from your usual U.S. minted Easter-themed silver art bars.
I splurged on this bar when I paid $55.00 for this bar (11-2-2012 spot silver = $30.91/oz). The "lines" on the enameled part of this bar are cracks in the clear enamel front that was caused by rough handling but the colored decal that is under the clear enamel is fine. I am making a wild guess that those cracks in the clear enamel were caused from it being dropped. On the reverse side of this bar, there is some very small lettering that is directly located under the "B.H. Mayer" lettering. Upon closer inspection, that small letting says "W. Germany". "W. Germany" = West Germany.
I've got a B.H. Mayer bar too, I was told the montage is only 100 on this baby. I dumb-lucked into it and got it for Spot awhile back.
I knew it would happen.
<< <i>I wish I had your ability to be strict with yourself and only buy what you really want 1970SA. Excellent reporting, as usual, and a couple cool bars to boot.
I've got a B.H. Mayer bar too, I was told the montage is only 100 on this baby. I dumb-lucked into it and got it for Spot awhile back.
That is a very good find especially for only spot.
<< <i>B. H. Mayer is an old established private Mint in Germany. Most of their bars demand a lofty premium and seldom come up in a straight auction on eBay. As such, it's difficult to judge what their current going rates are. They've been out of the silver bar business for some time, but continue to produce coins for small countries, just like the Franklin Mint used to do. Just about all of their Cook Islands $20 coins are produced by B.H.M. I suspect by their art work, that they have superb engravers and sculptures on their staff. The below coins are a couple examples of their work.
WOW!!!!!! Those are simply..............Beautiful.