San Francisco Mint 5.75oz Silver Assay Bar, circa 1950s? Premium?

BustHalfBrian

Walked in the shop today. Antique bars/ingots is not my area of expertise. I did some (very little) research, and found that the bar was probably produced in the 1950s, although I'm not sure how accurate the information is through the source I used.

Just curious what kind of premium it might carry (if any)...

Any and all input is greatly appreciated.

PS: Didn't know which subforum to start this thread in. Just chose this one because this technically was produced at the San Fran Mint like coinage of the US.

jonathanb

Substantial premium. Silver value roughly $150. Numismatic value roughly 10x that. Check Heritage archives. Congrats!

AUandAG

Currently up on Ebay

bob

Meltdown

<< <i>Currently up on Ebay

bob >>



Wow. I sold that bar to a member here. I did get a premium for it, but not even close to that insane premium.

Here are my photos.

coindeuce

Kagin's used to make a market in these, as a sideline to the early assay and pioneer ingots they have marketed. Fred Holabird would be a good source of info on these.

GoldenEyeNumismatics

<< <i>

<< <i>Currently up on Ebay

bob >>



Wow. I sold that bar to a member here. I did get a premium for it, but not even close to that insane premium.

>>



It's not worth as much as that guy is asking.... if my memory serves me right, one like yours and the OP's is in the $800-$1200 range.

LanceNewmanOCC

<< <i>It's not worth as much as that guy is asking.... >>



i would like to hear how you arrive to this, if you are willing.

i've seen certain silver bars go for over 1k an oz, they were different than these but am curious whom dictates whether a bar is worth 1x bullion oz to Xx bullion oz, at least enough to say whether one is worth xx or not. just askin'

unless you saying

<< <i>if my memory serves me right, one like yours and the OP's is in the $800-$1200 range. >>

means your opinion is based on sales results, in which case my inquiry is moot.
.

stealer

Nice score whatever the price! I think those are by far the coolest types of silver bullion since they carry numismatic history.

morgansforever

Awesome bar. Were there any produced in gold?

DaveG

Yes, the San Francisco Mint (and other US mints) produced gold bars.

However, they were generally only intended to be a convenient means of shipping gold, so the bars normally only existed for as long as it took them to be shipped to where they could be turned into something more useful, like Philadelphia double eagles, French 20 Franc pieces or English sovereigns.

A few bars did survive, but by far the largest extant population of surviving bars is from the SS Central America. I don't know if any of those bars were from the SF Mint or if they were all from private assayers.

Constantine

That bar is amazing! I love the wear on it.

candy2012mustang

Nice score!

2ltdjorn

Aren't these highly counterfeited? I believe in 2011 one of the larger auction houses had a few pulled from the auction due to them not being genuine.

PerryHall

<< <i>Aren't these highly counterfeited? I believe in 2011 one of the larger auction houses had a few pulled from the auction due to them not being genuine. >>



Yes. I've read in several places that these have been widely faked. Considering the premium they sell for over melt and how they are crudely manufactured, I'm certainly not surprised.

BustHalfBrian

<< <i>Aren't these highly counterfeited? I believe in 2011 one of the larger auction houses had a few pulled from the auction due to them not being genuine. >>



From what I gathered, the owner of the bar (a regular of ours) had held onto this piece for nearly a decade because it intrigued him that the ingot was stamped with a San Fran Mint emblem.

I'm pretty confident the piece is genuine. But just to be certain, I'd like to know if there are any diagnostics for authenticating such a bar.....................

PerryHall

Don Kagin sells a lot of these old bars. Perhaps you could take it to a large coin show where he is set up and let him take a look at it.

2ltdjorn

<< <i>

<< <i>Aren't these highly counterfeited? I believe in 2011 one of the larger auction houses had a few pulled from the auction due to them not being genuine. >>



From what I gathered, the owner of the bar (a regular of ours) had held onto this piece for nearly a decade because it intrigued him that the ingot was stamped with a San Fran Mint emblem.

I'm pretty confident the piece is genuine. But just to be certain, I'd like to know if there are any diagnostics for authenticating such a bar..................... >>




People have been counterfeiting items for longer than a decade...

MrEureka

Yes, the San Francisco Mint (and other US mints) produced gold bars.

However, they were generally only intended to be a convenient means of shipping gold, so the bars normally only existed for as long as it took them to be shipped to where they could be turned into something more useful, like Philadelphia double eagles, French 20 Franc pieces or English sovereigns.

New York Assay Office gold bars are reasonably available. My understanding is that these were sold to licensed jewelers, who were allowed to work in gold even during the ban. I've seen bars dated as early as 1933, I think. Also much later ones. Premiums on these are not especially high. Figure 10-50% over melt, very roughly.