Silver Saturday

[madfranks]

I've decided to start a weekly thread, dedicated to all things silver. This is where we post our best examples of silver pron for everyone to enjoy. To start, today I'm showcasing my complete set of privately minted Silver Eagles from 1969-70. These coins exhibit some extremely colorful toning on the front, some of the best toning I've ever seen. Feel free to add your own photos, and like I said, I'm going to try and update this thread weekly. Enjoy!

http://s10.postimg.org/jak80jymx/IMG_0078.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/5e177cwzr/IMG_0079.jpg

http://s23.postimg.org/cqqg5od17/IMG_0080.jpg

http://s30.postimg.org/4tu7q2jc1/IMG_0081.jpg

http://s21.postimg.org/wmc4yteif/IMG_0082.jpg

http://s10.postimg.org/vg9faydcp/IMG_0083.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/oi3pf6olj/IMG_0084.jpg

http://s17.postimg.org/odhem2d2n/IMG_0085.jpg

http://s12.postimg.org/5go8ymtod/IMG_0086.jpg

http://s3.postimg.org/nvgt1lrjn/IMG_0087.jpg

[madfranks]

The rest of the Silver Eagle set:

http://s10.postimg.org/3zf0doqop/IMG_0088.jpg

http://s27.postimg.org/crifc003n/IMG_0090.jpg

http://s23.postimg.org/xwy15hrzv/IMG_0091.jpg

http://s15.postimg.org/90j075tdn/IMG_0093.jpg

http://s27.postimg.org/aj48unszn/IMG_0094.jpg

[gunDriller]

i got 2 of these Johnson Matthey bars.

both in the safe. so i'll DL a picture.

http://images7.solidcommerce.com/sc705781/SILVER-Bar-100oz-JM-Pour%285%29.jpg


i kept one bar out of the safe, to sit at the desk.

it became tarnished a dark purple gray.

then i began to worry that i was degrading the bar's value, so eventually it went in a sealed plastic bag too.

[1970 silver art]

I've decided to start a weekly thread, dedicated to all things silver. This is where we post our best examples of silver pron for everyone to enjoy. To start, today I'm showcasing my complete set of privately minted Silver Eagles from 1969-70. These coins exhibit some extremely colorful toning on the front, some of the best toning I've ever seen. Feel free to add your own photos, and like I said, I'm going to try and update this thread weekly. Enjoy!


http://s13.postimg.org/oi3pf6olj/IMG_0084.jpg

http://s17.postimg.org/odhem2d2n/IMG_0085.jpg



Just for the record, there is a 1969 1-oz Silver Eagle silver art bar that does indeed exists. If/when you find the 1969 Silver Eagle bar, then the Eagle's Nest will be complete. With that said, that particular bar is hard to find. That Complete Eagle's nest was minted by Foster Company in 1969 and they also made 1-oz "Silver Eagle" bars in 1971 and 1972 (no 1970 mint year). Foster Company was also the same mint that created the 3-oz silver art bars in 1968 thru 1970. All of these bars were the 1st silver art bars minted from what I know. Thanks for sharing.

[milehi]

I had several Foster Christmas art bars from the early 70s. I got rid of them swapping the ratio.

[madfranks]

Just for the record, there is a 1969 1-oz Silver Eagle silver art bar that does indeed exists. If/when you find the 1969 Silver Eagle bar, then the Eagle's Nest will be complete. With that said, that particular bar is hard to find. That Complete Eagle's nest was minted by Foster Company in 1969 and they also made 1-oz "Silver Eagle" bars in 1971 and 1972 (no 1970 mint year). Foster Company was also the same mint that created the 3-oz silver art bars in 1968 thru 1970. All of these bars were the 1st silver art bars minted from what I know. Thanks for sharing.

You're right, I do need the '69 to complete the set.

[aeondaze]

yep, thats some dirty porn right there. :rolleyes:

Could those things be any more oxidised, I guess they are nearly fifty years old...

[Spectrism]

The art bars and special rounds- even the odd shapes like that octagonal, add some real character. I think it is a nice hobby collecting such things. Very practical with real value. I only picked up some typical Sterling silver bars a few years back. People seem to be getting wise around here... hard to find any Sterling anymore. Now with prices dropping, maybe placing an ad for these could bring in some sellers.

[1970 silver art]

The art bars and special rounds- even the odd shapes like that octagonal, add some real character. I think it is a nice hobby collecting such things. Very practical with real value. I only picked up some typical Sterling silver bars a few years back. People seem to be getting wise around here... hard to find any Sterling anymore. Now with prices dropping, maybe placing an ad for these could bring in some sellers.

I agree with this. Once I started buy the old '70's silver art bars in August 2008, I got seriously hooked on them and being a collector, it is fun to buy some of the odd shaped and various themed silver art bars. I like the older bars from the 1970's because of the numerous themes that were present during that time. Those themes reflected what went on socially, economically and politically (example: Watergate).

IMO the silver art bars of today lacked the variety of themes that the much older bars had and that is why, most of the time (some exceptions), I do not buy the modern silver art bars.

I will also confirm that those old silver art bars from the 1970's are very hard to find. Even the ones that are considered "common" (ex: holiday themed bars from 1973 and 1974) are much harder to find now than 7 years ago (when I started collecting them). The fact that spot continues to fall makes the situation worse IMO.

[1970 silver art]

You're right, I do need the '69 to complete the set.

That 1969 1-oz Foster Company silver eagle bar will be the hardest to find IMO. When I go to various coin shows and visit the LCS in my area and I come across some 1-oz Foster silver eagles, they are usually 1971 or 1972 mint year. I am guessing that there were not many 1969 Eagles Nest sets minted and therefore not many 1969 mint year 1-oz silver eagles were minted. Good luck in your search for that one.

[madfranks]

Here's a cool bar I picked up a while back. It's a 10 oz silver bar minted out of recovered shipwreck silver, from the SS Gairsoppa, which was a British cargo ship sunk by the Germans in 1941.

http://s1.postimg.org/z0fdg42i7/IMG_0137.jpg

http://s9.postimg.org/ln7939m33/IMG_0138.jpg

http://s9.postimg.org/nga5rl79r/IMG_0139.jpg

http://s13.postimg.org/yuyi03hw7/IMG_0140.jpg

http://s10.postimg.org/jk586o661/IMG_0141.jpg

[Half Sense]

I will also confirm that those old silver art bars from the 1970's are very hard to find. Even the ones that are considered "common" (ex: holiday themed bars from 1973 and 1974) are much harder to find now than 7 years ago (when I started collecting them). The fact that spot continues to fall makes the situation worse IMO.

I think part of the problem occurred when the spot price got over $40 in 2011. My LCS was sending ALL his silver to the refinery, even numismatic stuff and any rare bars he may have had. Also, at coins shows I have seen new collectors of art bars scouring every dealer's display. I saw a mother and daughter sinking serious money into art bars 2 years ago.

[1970 silver art]

I think part of the problem occurred when the spot price got over $40 in 2011. My LCS was sending ALL his silver to the refinery, even numismatic stuff and any rare bars he may have had. Also, at coins shows I have seen new collectors of art bars scouring every dealer's display. I saw a mother and daughter sinking serious money into art bars 2 years ago.

That is a good point. When spot was in the $40's, I saw a lot of rare '70's silver art bars come out of the woodwork for .999 generic silver premiums and I took advantage of some of those even though I was predicting silver to crash from those levels. I still have some of those rare '70's silver art bar purchases that I bought when spot was in the $40's and despite that silver is now under $15, some of those rare bars will sell on ebay for 2X-3X what I paid for them in early 2011. However, I do not plan to sell any of those rare bars because I love them too much.

Also when spot was in the $40's range I also did see a lot of the new collectors getting into silver art bars especially the old ones. Also for the mother and daughter that you saw putting serious money into silver art bars, they could have either being a good move buying them at that time or a bad move buying at that time depending on what type of silver art bars that bought in 2011 when spot was in the $40's range. I will give an example. If that mother-daughter team bought rare and semi-rare Coca-Cola (low premiums relative to $40's spot silver) and some other rare ones such as Green Country Mint and Greathouse, then they did well during the 4-year downturn in spot silver since premiums on those held up during this 4-year down market in spot silver prices (based on premiums on ebay). If they bought the common ones such as, for example, the Holiday-themed ones, Madison Mint, Hamilton Mint, then they are more than likely upside down on those because those are more sensitive to spot silver movements and they are usually the low premium '70s silver art bars (based on premiums on ebay).

If your LCS in 2011 was sending the old bars to the refinery to be melted down, then that was a repeat of what happened during the 1979-80 Big Melt except on a smaller scale since a lot of the '70's silver art bar have been melted down during the 1979-80 "Big Melt". I talked to one of the dealers who was in the business during the '70's silver run and one of them said that they had bucket loads of silver bars (mainly silver art bars during that time) and rounds and they sent them straight to the refinery as fast as he could.

Each year that spot went down, it became harder and harder to find '70's silver art bars and this year has been difficult and will become even more difficult when spot silver falls further from current levels. A lot of the old bars either got melted down or are in hands of collectors or on ebay selling for collector premiums. Every once in a while, some will trickle in but not many and that is when the LCS had plenty of .999 generic silver in stock. Very interesting to me as a '70's silver art bar collector.

[1970 silver art]

Even though the thread title is "Silver Saturday", I technically I bought this today (Sunday) from a local flea market for $16.00 (spot silver closed at $14.79 on July 31, 2015). It is a 1974 Hank Aaron silver art bar that was minted in 1974 by United States Silver Corporation. Between the 6 ATB bullion pucks that I bought yesterday and this bar, I bought a total of 31 troy oz's of silver for this weekend. Here is what it looks like:

[Sparky]

Even though the thread title is "Silver Saturday", I technically I bought this today (Sunday) from a local flea market for $16.00 (spot silver closed at $14.79 on July 31, 2015). It is a 1974 Hank Aaron silver art bar that was minted in 1974 by United States Silver Corporation. Between the 6 ATB bullion pucks that I bought yesterday and this bar, I bought a total of 31 troy oz's of silver for this weekend. Here is what it looks like:

Love the Hammerin' Hank!

[madfranks]

Even though the thread title is "Silver Saturday", I technically I bought this today (Sunday) from a local flea market for $16.00 (spot silver closed at $14.79 on July 31, 2015). It is a 1974 Hank Aaron silver art bar that was minted in 1974 by United States Silver Corporation. Between the 6 ATB bullion pucks that I bought yesterday and this bar, I bought a total of 31 troy oz's of silver for this weekend. Here is what it looks like:

The picture says "sample-wholesaler" on it, did you get a sample bar?

[1970 silver art]

The picture says "sample-wholesaler" on it, did you get a sample bar?

It is a sample bar because I also have a USSC silver art bar guidebook that listed at least another alternate design for the Hank Aaron and I suspect that this bar was minted to be sent to the wholesaler to approve the design before minting the other 715 serial numbered bars. I am not sure if there was one wholesaler or more than one wholesaler. I am making a WAG here that there was more than one wholesaler since 1.) a total of 10 sample bars were sent to be approved by them and 2.) It was not unheard of back in the 1970's for private manufacturers (such as USSC) to mint bars for other private mints and private companies that did not have the capability to mint their own bars.

This is a very rare silver art bar find for me.

[1970 silver art]

I did buy another '70's silver art bar today (Saturday, August 8, 2015) from one of the LCS's in my area. It is a "Skating Scene" silver art bar that was minted by Bar Mint (struck by World Wide Mint) in 1973. I paid $17.00 for it (spot currently at $14.81/oz). Here is what it looks like............

[madfranks]

$17 sounds about right. I visited my LCS today and generic was $2.50 over spot. I'm not sure whether or not to make my next big purchase, maybe wait for silver to keep dropping?

[madfranks]

My daughter found this yesterday in the reject bin of the Coinstar machine at the grocery store. Apparently people are so stupid they are throwing their silver coins in the trash.

http://s8.postimg.org/ryizdqhxh/Free_Dime.jpg

[Shami-Amourae]

My daughter found this yesterday in the reject bin of the Coinstar machine at the grocery store. Apparently people are so stupid they are throwing their silver coins in the trash.

http://s8.postimg.org/ryizdqhxh/Free_Dime.jpg

I told this story once before, but I taught my family member about junk silver one time. She was a grocery checker at the time and would "chat" with the people who dumped stuff into Coinstar if their coins didn't go through for some reason *wink wink*. She would buy these coins off of customers and check change for dates and all that. I told her to just claim she was a coin collector and looking for "old dates", so as to not inform these people of the true Silver content/value.

After a year she recovered about 23 troy ounces of junk silver coins, purchased at face value.

[ximmy]

Not the coolest item or image, but here are the last twenty Britannia's I bought @ lower than $17.50 per coin.

http://gold-silver.us/forum/showthread.php?84178-IT-s-a-sin-not-to-buy-silver&p=789048&viewfull=1#post789048

7862
http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7862&d=1442254172

[madfranks]

Paid $3.49/oz over spot for these:

http://s9.postimg.org/wg9zbfhvj/IMG_0418.jpg

http://s29.postimg.org/z4603u813/IMG_0419.jpg

http://s16.postimg.org/48x4iy4xh/IMG_0420.jpg

http://s29.postimg.org/f1wbl7huv/IMG_0421.jpg

[Dogman]

Paid $3.49/oz over spot for these:

http://s9.postimg.org/wg9zbfhvj/IMG_0418.jpg

http://s29.postimg.org/z4603u813/IMG_0419.jpg

http://s16.postimg.org/48x4iy4xh/IMG_0420.jpg

http://s29.postimg.org/f1wbl7huv/IMG_0421.jpg

Dam nice !

[ximmy]

IT's not Saturday but here is my 2015 cache of coins...

There are a few stragglers just getting in. All the 2015 zombies are there, most of the 2015 ATB's except for one still coming.

Some Morgans and a few individual pieces, most most are 2015 or 2016 coins. It's all silver except one 1/10 ounce AGE.

http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7957&d=1450148132

7957

http://gold-silver.us/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7958&d=1450148156
7958These are individually cased.

Nobody knows about these except you guys.
I don't have anyone to show them off too.
A couple of co-workers I sometimes show things too, but with little interest, on their part.
My sister knows I have a large cache, but she has no idea how much.

[monty]

Nobody knows about these except you guys.
I don't have anyone to show them off too.
A couple of co-workers I sometimes show things too, but with little interest, on their part.
My sister knows I have a large cache, but she has no idea how much.

It is better you don't show them off. I had some Carson City Morgans. My ex showed them to one of her girlfriends. They and a very nice pair of Leica binoculars disappeared one day when we went to town shopping. I suspect they were traded for drug money in Virginia City pawn shop.