question on large silver bar
jdimmick
Posts: 9,750 ✭✭✭✭✭
Question for the forum folks:
got a call from a customer today who has a 979.7 oz .996 fine silver bar. Johnson & Sons Smelting works, London.
Don't have the bar in hand yet, but it does seem to be legit based on pics I was sent.
Bar is stamped as such. Guy got it from his dad like 30 years ago and is wanting to sell it.
Does any body know any thing about them:
Doing it a little research , it appears the fineness and size match actual bars that were manufactured and if I am not mistaken Johnson and company later became Johnson and mathey? It is a poured style bar.
My biggest concern is making sure the bar is 100 % through and through (no different than checking the 100's that come by from time to time?
any help would be appreciated.
I might add , have pics but not sure how to post it
got a call from a customer today who has a 979.7 oz .996 fine silver bar. Johnson & Sons Smelting works, London.
Don't have the bar in hand yet, but it does seem to be legit based on pics I was sent.
Bar is stamped as such. Guy got it from his dad like 30 years ago and is wanting to sell it.
Does any body know any thing about them:
Doing it a little research , it appears the fineness and size match actual bars that were manufactured and if I am not mistaken Johnson and company later became Johnson and mathey? It is a poured style bar.
My biggest concern is making sure the bar is 100 % through and through (no different than checking the 100's that come by from time to time?
any help would be appreciated.
I might add , have pics but not sure how to post it
0
Comments
http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/johnson-matthey-plc-history/
Sounds like it may be quite old indeed, and probably has significant value over melt. The problem is that the market for people who can buy historic bars in the 1000 ounce range is pretty small. Might do well on eBay. You might also ask on the PM forum if you haven't.
--Severian the Lame
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
think this will be easy to sell....limited market for an item that size. Cheers, RickO
I remember the SS Central America gold bars. I received a brochure in mail with pictures and prices. I remember some of them having an asking price into the six figures. It takes a unique collector to get involved with that.
Wow...that is a large bar/ingot... you should post this on the PM board too.... I do not
think this will be easy to sell....limited market for an item that size. Cheers, RickO
These big bars weigh close to 70 pounds and they don't have a handle so they aren't easy to carry or move. They're about the size of a loaf of bread. Dealers call them 1000 oz bars even though they usually weigh a little more or a little less than 1000 oz with the exact weight punched into the bar. Most collectors of vintage silver bars want the 10 oz and smaller silver bars. I've seen the older big bars at major coin shows and I've seen them being offered for as little as 0.25 per ounce over spot. I was tempted to buy one at the last Baltimore coin show but I wasn't sure if I could carry it a few blocks to get it to my car. LOL.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
It would hard to find a safe deposit box when you could store that thing. I believe it weighs almost 82 pounds if there are 12 Troy ounces to a pound. It would not be something I would want to buy.
I remember the SS Central America gold bars. I received a brochure in mail with pictures and prices. I remember some of them having an asking price into the six figures. It takes a unique collector to get involved with that.
It would weigh about 67 pounds. There are 32.15 troy ounces in a kilo, so 979.7 troy ounces is 30.47 kilos. 2.2 pounds per kilo gives 67 U.S. pounds.
Wow...that is a large bar/ingot... you should post this on the PM board too.... I do not
think this will be easy to sell....limited market for an item that size. Cheers, RickO
These big bars weigh close to 70 pounds and they don't have a handle so they aren't easy to carry or move. They're about the size of a loaf of bread. Dealers call them 1000 oz bars even though they usually weigh a little more or a little less than 1000 oz with the exact weight punched into the bar. Most collectors of vintage silver bars want the 10 oz and smaller silver bars. I've seen the older big bars at major coin shows and I've seen them being offered for as little as 0.25 per ounce over spot. I was tempted to buy one at the last Baltimore coin show but I wasn't sure if I could carry it a few blocks to get it to my car. LOL.
The sale of 1,000 ounce bars or 1,000 1 ounce bars is reportable to the IRS too.
Is a bar like that liquid without being assayed? It seems like a big risk in today's scam filled world.
A large, knowledgeable dealer should be able to buy it as is. When I was with Harlan Berk we bought in a few of them over the years just on our expertise.
That said, depending on how it looks a dealer would not be out of line offering to take it on consignment subject to assay. Lot of money there.
TD
But I am having trouble adding a photo, can somebody PM me an address to send the photo to so you can add it to this thread
thanks
PS: I almost thought about keeping it for a while, but I am really not a bullion guy and I would rather take the 14K + and buy a coin than keep the bar.
here ya go!!
Wow...that is a large bar/ingot... you should post this on the PM board too.... I do not
think this will be easy to sell....limited market for an item that size. Cheers, RickO
These big bars weigh close to 70 pounds and they don't have a handle so they aren't easy to carry or move. They're about the size of a loaf of bread. Dealers call them 1000 oz bars even though they usually weigh a little more or a little less than 1000 oz with the exact weight punched into the bar. Most collectors of vintage silver bars want the 10 oz and smaller silver bars. I've seen the older big bars at major coin shows and I've seen them being offered for as little as 0.25 per ounce over spot. I was tempted to buy one at the last Baltimore coin show but I wasn't sure if I could carry it a few blocks to get it to my car. LOL.
The sale of 1,000 ounce bars or 1,000 1 ounce bars is reportable to the IRS too.
Gotta wait for silver to drop under $10 to avoid that.
K
One of my colleagues at Harlan Berk's one time bought in a 1,000 ounce silver bar that somebody had painted green and used as a doorstop. Nobody ever suspected it was valuable.
I'm curious. What happened to that bar? Since it was painted, did it wind up being sent to a refinery or did you guys manage to get the paint off? Since cast bars are porous I would think that it would be very difficult to get all of the paint off.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
One of my colleagues at Harlan Berk's one time bought in a 1,000 ounce silver bar that somebody had painted green and used as a doorstop. Nobody ever suspected it was valuable.
I'm curious. What happened to that bar? Since it was painted, did it wind up being sent to a refinery or did you guys manage to get the paint off? Since cast bars are porous I would think that it would be very difficult to get all of the paint off.
Before my time. I believe it was just melted in a refining lot which would burn off the paint.
I love it, A LOT!!!!!