"Silver Grease Bar"
KISHU1
Posts: 2,117 ✭✭✭
Here are some pictures and info on a 102.57 ounce grease bar I inherited from my aunt
I was a young boy when my father took me to New York to exchange silver certificates for silver bars for himself and my aunt.
I remember a man coming out with beer boxes filled with silver bars and he was loading them in a pickup truck and eventually the wheel wells were hitting the tires and he had to unload some of the silver!
Its amazing that the grease marking is still visable after almost 50 years.
Does anyone else remember exchanging for silver in New York or San Fransisco?
Below is a little more info
Kishu1
Frank Dallessio
In the tumultuous 60’s in effort to end the Treasury's silver dealings entirely, it was decided to set a deadline for the redemption of silver certificates into actual silver. On June 4th, 1963, the U.S. Congress passed an act allowing holders of silver certificates only until June 24th, 1968 to convert those bills into raw silver.
Available at the U.S. Assay Offices in New York and in San Francisco, small holders of silver certificates were given little plastic bags containing more or less pure silver grains. For transactions larger than 100 ounces, the Treasury poured extremely crude silver bars of fineness greater than 90% but less than 99.9% fineness. As far as I know these bars were called “grease bars” unstamped and were unrefined. These crude bars are recognizable because they have their weight written on them with a old style grease pencil.
Comments
DANG!! Nice.
I try never to post just to say, "I like it." Or something similar like "nice," etc. In this case I'll make an exception. I LIKE IT!!!!
Could you give the diminsions of your bar please.
Interesting topic & example.
R.I.P. Bear
Yes, I did in NY. I got the silver granules.
its 8 inches X 3 & 3/8 by 3/4
And HEAVY!
Frank D.
Great history and a nice hunk of silver.
That's pretty amazing! Never knew that story!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
A quick look on eBay revealed several from San Francisco.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1956-Mint-of-US-at-San-Francisco-24-18-Ounce-999-75-Poured-Silver-Bar-/262699712346?hash=item3d2a1f7f5a:g:NMMAAOSwA3dYF7DW
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
almost 7 regular pounds in 1 small package
The Precious Metal forumites may know more
I just handled one 2 months ago, 99.75 oz.
They're pretty crude, looks like they were made in someone's garage.
I had heard about the bars.... had not seen one... yep, they do look crude... Was there a monetary adjustment to account for the purity?? Cheers, RickO
Kishu1 (Frank Dallessi) -
Can you post the source of your information about the purity of these "grease marked" bars?
The question occurs because the treasury held only 0.999+ silver bars, commonly 2,000 oz., plus small amounts of 0.900 fine as needed for coinage. Even returned lend-lease silver was assayed and refined to 0.999+.
The stamped S.F. bars that you are referring to in your link are rare collectable bars that sell for a high premium over melt and are not really comparable to grease silver bars from the 1968 silver certificate redemption which usually bring less than melt.
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
Cool conversation piece!
Very interesting story and example you have.
What a great memory to share and I can just picture that truck being overloaded.
Might have had some overheating or other issues getting that load to it's home.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
That is some crazy asking money for silver on ebay.
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Was it a Grease pencil they used?
Yes. The Treasury weighed the bar and marked the weight on the bar with a grease pencil.
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