70's silver art bars

[Dude]

There are obviously some serious collectors that have the bucks. I like to search ebay and order by highest first to perhaps locate a deal on a larger collection.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COCA-COLA-SI...item231d287bdc

That's an expensive ounce of silver.

[Silver Art]

There are obviously some serious collectors that have the bucks. I like to search ebay and order by highest first to perhaps locate a deal on a larger collection.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COCA-COLA-SI...item231d287bdc

That's an expensive ounce of silver.

$500 to $700 would be a "normal" winning bid for this type of Coca-Cola silver art bar based on my past observations. However, here is the highest winning bid that I have seen ever on any silver art bar:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/COCA-COLA-SI...item231ca2c524

A winning bid of $3001.01 is 4X to 6X the normal winning bid price for a Mt Hood Coca-Cola bar. It is a hard-to-find Coca-Cola bar but that price is totally outrageous for any silver art bar IMO. Apparently someone with very deep pockets really wanted that bar really bad enough to pay that much for it but based on the feeback that the buyer left for the seller, then this buyer was happy with the business transaction.

With all of that said, I will predict here by saying that I do not see this current Mt. Hood Coca-Cola bar ebay auction fetching anywhere near $3000 as a winning bid. Maybe $750 tops but more than likely, the winning bid will be somewhere between $600 and $700. We will see what happens.

[Exonumia]

As to the Halloween Bar that you described with the flying witch on a broom stick and the full moon behind a "glass pain window", I looked at my guidebook and I found one that matches based on that description. It is a "cancelled" version of a 1973 Galaxie Coins "Halloween 1973" silver art bar. I do not currently have that particular bar in my collection but if I did, I would have posted it on this thread. The bars that you saw on that silver art bar is not a glass pain. Those are actually lines on that Halloween art bar that were struck in the bar to indicate that it is a "cancelled die". That one has 2 vertical bars and 2 horizontal bars that were stuck on the front of this bar. During the '70's some mints produced two types of silver art bars. One was a regular strike and the other one was a "cancelled strike". Cancelled strike versions will either have 1.) multiple lines that go across the bar (such as the cancelled Galaxie version bar) or 2.) the words "cancelled" that is stamped on the front of the bar.

Generally speaking, "cancelled" strike silver art bars are very hard to find because the mintage numbers on those are very low (as low as 10). Mintages on "cancelled" strikes are much lower than that on a regular strike of the exact same silver art bar. I have only seen one "cancelled" strike at a LCS during my nearly 4 years of collecting silver art bars. Finding "cancelled strike" versions of a '70's silver art bar is very hard to do in my opinion. I also have not seen many of them on ebay.

Wow. Thanks for the info. That bar sat in the shop for at least two months before I purchased it. It does not say 'cancelled" on the bar. I would put a picture up here if I had the ability to do so. The guy at the LCS thinks I am just another doomer buying silver. I will have to resist the temptation to brag about it. Come to think of it, it probably isn't a good idea to brag about owning silver anywhere except maybe here online.

I have seen the name "Galaxy Mint" or "Galaxie Mint" on ebay before. But to my knowledge this is the only bar from that mint (or was it a coin shop?) that I have. Normally I dislike "anonymous" silver from a private mint. But now I am glad I did buy it.

Now I have to try to find out about the Galaxie/Galaxy "mint". I don't suppose the Art Bar book says where they were located? Or who owned them? Or how long they were in business?

Someone should write a short history of the Private Mints here from about 1964 to date. I know I would buy it. Maybe someone could talk Q. David Bowers into writing one?

[Exonumia]

I see where the AMC "mint" made a bunch of cartoon characters silver art bars.

Does anyone know what AMC is the abbreviation for?

Thanks.

[Silver Art]

Wow. Thanks for the info. That bar sat in the shop for at least two months before I purchased it. It does not say 'cancelled" on the bar. I would put a picture up here if I had the ability to do so. The guy at the LCS thinks I am just another doomer buying silver. I will have to resist the temptation to brag about it. Come to think of it, it probably isn't a good idea to brag about owning silver anywhere except maybe here online.

I have seen the name "Galaxy Mint" or "Galaxie Mint" on ebay before. But to my knowledge this is the only bar from that mint (or was it a coin shop?) that I have. Normally I dislike "anonymous" silver from a private mint. But now I am glad I did buy it.

Now I have to try to find out about the Galaxie/Galaxy "mint". I don't suppose the Art Bar book says where they were located? Or who owned them? Or how long they were in business?

Someone should write a short history of the Private Mints here from about 1964 to date. I know I would buy it. Maybe someone could talk Q. David Bowers into writing one?

That is an excellent find in my opinion because the "cancelled" version of a silver art is very hard to find because of the very low mintage. According to the 4th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebook, the mintage for that bar that you bought is 300. You did very well with that purchase IMO. Even though it does not say "cancelled" on the front of the bar, it should have two vertical bars going across the front and two horizontal going across the front making it appear to be a "glass pane".

As for the spelling of Galaxy, the 4th edition guidebook apparently spelled it wrong since it is spelled as "Galaxie" instead of Galaxy. I looked at an illustration of the reverse type of a Galaxy Coin bar and it is spelled as "Galaxy" and that should be the correct spelling since I looked at the 2009 Archie Kidd guidebook and it was spelled correctly as "Galaxy Coins". Galaxy Coins is the correct spelling and thank you for bringing my attention to that.

It is certainly possible that Galaxy Coins was a coin shop that minted its own bars but I am making a wild guess here since I honestly do not know anything about them and the 4th edition guidebook does not provide any information about them. While the 4th edition guidebook does not have any information pertaining to Galaxy Coins, it does list another silver art bar from Galaxy Coins and it is a "First Day of Winter 1973" (regular and cancelled strikes).

That would be nice if there was a person that could write a short history about the various private mints that produced all of those bars, however, I suspect that this information is gone forever when several of them went out of business. I am surprised that Archie Kidd (when he was alive), was able to find the information that he did but that must have took a lot of legwork to be able to seek out the right people to obtain that information. I think that it would be very hard for Q. David Bowers to write a book on all of the various mints that created all of those silver art bars but then again who knows.

Congrats on your silver art bar purchase Exonumia.

[Gold Rush]

Not sure how old it is, and not a bar, but while I was out this morning at a Lcs , bought handful of 1oz silver rounds out of their generic junk silver..was just going through them, and found this one in the batch..never seen one like it..some sort of presentation round for the AFL-CIO.. No makers marks or other info on it, just thought it was kinda different...

[Exonumia]

Not sure how old it is, and not a bar, but while I was out this morning at a Lcs , bought handful of 1oz silver rounds out of their generic junk silver..was just going through them, and found this one in the batch..never seen one like it..some sort of presentation round for the AFL-CIO.. No makers marks or other info on it, just thought it was kinda different...

I believe the round was made by Silvertowne in Winchester, Indiana. SilverArt may have some additional info on the round. I have never seen it before. But I think you are correct that it was engraved and presented to a Union Member for some service.

The Silvertowne bars/rounds leave a lot of blank space on them. If you visit the Silvertowne website, they also engrave messages on their bars/rounds for an additonal fee.

I have seen other engraved Silvertowne rounds (usually from a wedding, or graduation) in dealer's junk silver boxes. But didn't even know they had one (engraved or otherwise) for labor unions.

[Exonumia]

I found on Ebay a seller with the Galaxy Mint 1973 Halloween Bar.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WITCH-ON-BRO...item5d335af671

The seller says only 300 of the regular bars were made.

The little bit of info online that I could find seemed to point toward Brevard County, Florida, which is where Cape Canaveral is located. But I did not find any mention of the 1973 Galaxy Mint Halloween bar, just some Franklin Mint apollo medals.

[Silver Art]

I believe the round was made by Silvertowne in Winchester, Indiana. SilverArt may have some additional info on the round. I have never seen it before. But I think you are correct that it was engraved and presented to a Union Member for some service.

The Silvertowne bars/rounds leave a lot of blank space on them. If you visit the Silvertowne website, they also engrave messages on their bars/rounds for an additonal fee.

I have seen other engraved Silvertowne rounds (usually from a wedding, or graduation) in dealer's junk silver boxes. But didn't even know they had one (engraved or otherwise) for labor unions.

The guidebook (4th edition) that I looked at did not have anything on the Silvertowne art rounds, however, I will have to agree with you that it is a Silvertowne silver art round because of the blank reverse for engraving. In the past, I have seen other Silvertowne silver art rounds with a similar reverse type. I have not seen that particular one that Gold Rush posted but the reverse type looks just like that of a generic Silvertowne silver art round.

[Silver Art]

I found on Ebay a seller with the Galaxy Mint 1973 Halloween Bar.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WITCH-ON-BRO...item5d335af671

The seller says only 300 of the regular bars were made.

The little bit of info online that I could find seemed to point toward Brevard County, Florida, which is where Cape Canaveral is located. But I did not find any mention of the 1973 Galaxy Mint Halloween bar, just some Franklin Mint apollo medals.

I am very familiar with the ebay seller in that link. I have not met the seller in person but I have done past business with this ebay seller and I had no problems at all. However, as I look at my Archie Kidd guidebooks (4th edition and 2009 edition), it lists the regular strike Galaxy Coins Halloween 1973 silver art bar with having a mintage of 3000 and the "cancelled" strike version of this bar with having a mintage of only 300. Actually that makes sense to me because the mintage of the "cancelled" strikes is always less than the mintage of a regular strike of the same silver art bar.

[Exonumia]

With the price of silver dropping, I have already noticed that the selection in the "junk silver" boxes at the my local LCS is declining.

I did find a PAMP bar for 1/2 Troy ounce silver. This was the first silver PAMP I have seen, and I bought it for the novelty. Apparently they are being made in Chiasso, Switzerland. At first I thought the reverse was a view of some city in Switzerland. But apparently it is Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Even odder is the bar uses the English language (on the Swiss side anyway). Looking on Ebay I see there are two varities, mine is apparently the common one without Arabic writting to the left above Mecca.

One of the United States Silver Corporation bars from Wallace, Idaho, caught my attention. It is the one with the quote from Socrates "Let him that would move the world, first move himself". Dated 1974. I wonder how many hundreds (or thousands) of different USSC bars are out there?

I found a nice silver round from the Mentor Machine, inc., in Mentor, Ohio. It advertised that they were a "World Class Manufacturer".

Last was one of the 24 (or so) that the North American Fishing Club - National Fishing Grand Slam put out. This one was for the "Channel Catfish". This "club" is for outdoor types, and I suspect sometime in the 1990's when silver was around $3.50 they sold these rounds thru their magazine? They are located in Adamsville, Alabama.

[Silver Art]

With the price of silver dropping, I have already noticed that the selection in the "junk silver" boxes at the my local LCS is declining.

I did find a PAMP bar for 1/2 Troy ounce silver. This was the first silver PAMP I have seen, and I bought it for the novelty. Apparently they are being made in Chiasso, Switzerland. At first I thought the reverse was a view of some city in Switzerland. But apparently it is Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Even odder is the bar uses the English language (on the Swiss side anyway). Looking on Ebay I see there are two varities, mine is apparently the common one without Arabic writting to the left above Mecca.

One of the United States Silver Corporation bars from Wallace, Idaho, caught my attention. It is the one with the quote from Socrates "Let him that would move the world, first move himself". Dated 1974. I wonder how many hundreds (or thousands) of different USSC bars are out there?

I found a nice silver round from the Mentor Machine, inc., in Mentor, Ohio. It advertised that they were a "World Class Manufacturer".

Last was one of the 24 (or so) that the North American Fishing Club - National Fishing Grand Slam put out. This one was for the "Channel Catfish". This "club" is for outdoor types, and I suspect sometime in the 1990's when silver was around $3.50 they sold these rounds thru their magazine? They are located in Adamsville, Alabama.

The PAMP silver bars that I have seen on ebay seem to bring in decent winning bids on ebay. $15 to $20 (and possibly more) over spot for a 1-oz silver PAMP bar.

The United States Silver Corporation "Socrates" bar, according to 4th edition Archie Kidd guidebook, had a mintage of 700 and it is part of a 12-bar series called "Man's Contribution to Man". Based on my past ebay observations, the Walt Disney bar of this set seems to bring in the largest winning bid among the 12 bars of this set.

[Exonumia]

The PAMP silver bars that I have seen on ebay seem to bring in decent winning bids on ebay. $15 to $20 (and possibly more) over spot for a 1-oz silver PAMP bar.

The United States Silver Corporation "Socrates" bar, according to 4th edition Archie Kidd guidebook, had a mintage of 700 and it is part of a 12-bar series called "Man's Contribution to Man". Based on my past ebay observations, the Walt Disney bar of this set seems to bring in the largest winning bid among the 12 bars of this set.

Thanks for the info Silver Art. Do the art bar Guidebooks cover foreign made bars? I find myself wondering why PAMP would even make a "Mecca Bar". Maybe for sale to the Mecca pilgrims?

Some of the other rounds/bars I found recently in the LCS junk box were: Titanic: "Ship of dreams" on one side, and the grand ballroom on the other side. No date and no maker's name. It does seem to have an engraver's name towards the back of the ship, but even under magnification I can't make it out.

I found a Sunshine silver round with the 1879 - 1980 date. On this one the eagle appears to be flying at the viewer, instead of flying off to the left with the sun above. At one time I was trying to get one from every year (back when silver was still cheap). I have the 1984, 85, 87. 88, 90 and 1991 (I am assuming they probably made one for each year between 1984 and 1991). The mine got into financial difficulties in the 1990's and spun off the division that was making bars/rounds. There is a gap in my dated rounds, until 2000 when it had become Sunshine Minting. I have not stumbled across any Sunshine Minting bars with a date on them after 2000.

There is one with a camel named "Jolly" advertising an Indian Pow Wow at Quartzsite, Arizona, on the first Wednesday of every February. No date, but an interesting topic.

A "limited edition" (probably limited only by the number of people willing to pay a premium to own one) for the Minnesota Twins 1991 World Championship.

A nice proof PGA Tour Partners Club from the World Golf Hall of Fame, featuring Gene Sarazen who was apparently inducted into the "Hall of Fame" in 1974. I doubt the round is from 1974. Probably issued as a fundraiser for the Hall of Fame? I need to do some research on this one.

I found a "Washington Mint" with the "Barber Head" design (and "United States of America" above the head). Looks like it should be from the 1970's. But which "Washington Mint" was responsible for it the seller did not know (he thought from Washington State somewhere). But the internet was pointing towards Wayzatta, Minnesota. At this point I don't know.

They probably are all common bars/rounds. But my collecting "theme" was to have one from each mint, and to know all I can about the makers. They all have a story. But until it is possible to search either "Numismatic News" or "Coin World" issues from the 1970's, the stories are going to be sketchy. I do remember as a kid seeing advertisements in Coin World & Numismatic New for these bars.

[Silver Art]

Thanks for the info Silver Art. Do the art bar Guidebooks cover foreign made bars? I find myself wondering why PAMP would even make a "Mecca Bar". Maybe for sale to the Mecca pilgrims?

Some of the other rounds/bars I found recently in the LCS junk box were: Titanic: "Ship of dreams" on one side, and the grand ballroom on the other side. No date and no maker's name. It does seem to have an engraver's name towards the back of the ship, but even under magnification I can't make it out.

I found a Sunshine silver round with the 1879 - 1980 date. On this one the eagle appears to be flying at the viewer, instead of flying off to the left with the sun above. At one time I was trying to get one from every year (back when silver was still cheap). I have the 1984, 85, 87. 88, 90 and 1991 (I am assuming they probably made one for each year between 1984 and 1991). The mine got into financial difficulties in the 1990's and spun off the division that was making bars/rounds. There is a gap in my dated rounds, until 2000 when it had become Sunshine Minting. I have not stumbled across any Sunshine Minting bars with a date on them after 2000.

There is one with a camel named "Jolly" advertising an Indian Pow Wow at Quartzsite, Arizona, on the first Wednesday of every February. No date, but an interesting topic.

A "limited edition" (probably limited only by the number of people willing to pay a premium to own one) for the Minnesota Twins 1991 World Championship.

A nice proof PGA Tour Partners Club from the World Golf Hall of Fame, featuring Gene Sarazen who was apparently inducted into the "Hall of Fame" in 1974. I doubt the round is from 1974. Probably issued as a fundraiser for the Hall of Fame? I need to do some research on this one.

I found a "Washington Mint" with the "Barber Head" design (and "United States of America" above the head). Looks like it should be from the 1970's. But which "Washington Mint" was responsible for it the seller did not know (he thought from Washington State somewhere). But the internet was pointing towards Wayzatta, Minnesota. At this point I don't know.

They probably are all common bars/rounds. But my collecting "theme" was to have one from each mint, and to know all I can about the makers. They all have a story. But until it is possible to search either "Numismatic News" or "Coin World" issues from the 1970's, the stories are going to be sketchy. I do remember as a kid seeing advertisements in Coin World & Numismatic New for these bars.

There is a "foreign section" in the three Archie Kidd guidebooks that I have. Some of the countries that have silver art bars listed are Switzerland, Germany, Canada, and Italy. There are some PAMP bars listed in the guidebooks but I do not think that there are many listed. I will have to look at that.

There is an enameled version of a 1991 Minnesota World Series Champs silver art bar that was minted by The Mint. I have seen it on ebay in the past.

I have also seen some of the PGA Hall of Fame silver art rounds that have golfers on them. I have seen an Arnold Palmer and a Nick Trevino one before at the LCS. I do not know much about those.

The Washington Mint with the Barber Head design was minted in 1972. I suspect that the early '70's Washington Mint silver art bars are fairly common since I seem to see those whenever there are a lot of silver art bars on sale at the LCS or coin show. As I looked though one of my guidebooks, it lists the Washington Mint "Barber Head" bar as part of the "Sans Series" set. These bars have symbols that represent images that you would see on numismatic coins and old U.S. coins. For example, there is a Washington Mint bar with the symbol that represents the Peace Dollar. There is one that also has a symbol of a "Walking Liberty". Those are also part of the "Sans series" set.

In terms of getting information on all of the private mints that made all of those art bars, it will be nearly impossible to get some of that information. There is still so much that I do not about the private mints and there is still a lot that I do not know about the story behind some of the '70's silver art bars that were created back then.

[Exonumia]

There is an enameled version of a 1991 Minnesota World Series Champs silver art bar that was minted by The Mint. I have seen it on ebay in the past.

I have also seen some of the PGA Hall of Fame silver art rounds that have golfers on them. I have seen an Arnold Palmer and a Nick Trevino one before at the LCS. I do not know much about those.

The Washington Mint with the Barber Head design was minted in 1972. I suspect that the early '70's Washington Mint silver art bars are fairly common since I seem to see those whenever there are a lot of silver art bars on sale at the LCS or coin show. As I looked though one of my guidebooks, it lists the Washington Mint "Barber Head" bar as part of the "Sans Series" set. These bars have symbols that represent images that you would see on numismatic coins and old U.S. coins. For example, there is a Washington Mint bar with the symbol that represents the Peace Dollar. There is one that also has a symbol of a "Walking Liberty". Those are also part of the "Sans series" set.

Good evening Silver Art. The 1991 Minnesota World Series round that I picked up was not enameled. I just never cared for enameling. It is colorful, but to my eyes it just seems weird.

I did some google searches on the PGA Tour Parners Club, which seems to have been behind the golfing "Hall of Fame" rounds. It seems to be an outfit that sells magazine subscriptions and stuff like golf bags, and golfing accesories. They also send out samples of "insect repellent" to use on golf courses. Even looking at their website I could not figure out where they were located (possibly Chicago, Minnesota, or Georgia?). They have a number of vocal and angry customers. I can easily picture someone calling their headquarters (the phone number has been disconnected according to one upset customer) and ordering a golf bag (then having a salesperson "upsell" the silver rounds? ). This isn't the first bar/round that has been traced back to a mail order outfit.

I did not realize the Washington Mint bar was that old. Or that it was part of a series. Figuring out which "Washington Mint" produced them looks like a real challenge too. Wish I had back issues of "Coin World" and "Numismatic News" to look thru. I know many of the older art bars/rounds were sold through those newspapers.

I still have to get down to the bank and dig out the other bars/rounds. I think most will be "common" and a lot of them are going to be Silvertowne products because of my proximity to Indiana.

[Silver Art]

Good evening Silver Art. The 1991 Minnesota World Series round that I picked up was not enameled. I just never cared for enameling. It is colorful, but to my eyes it just seems weird.

I am very picky when it comes to collecting enameled silver art bars. I like certain enameled ones with the professional sports themes (NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, etc.) that were minted by a private mint that was called "The Mint". The Mint started producing sports-themed silver art bars in the late '70's but the enameled ones did not get minted until 1984. I think that the 1984 "Sam The Olympic Mascot" was the first enameled one from "The Mint". The last enameled bar from The Mint was in 1992. Duane Spellman created "The Mint".

I also like certain enameled silver art bars that were minted by The Rainbow Mint. The Rainbow Mint was started by a professional artist named Ivan Rash and I believe that he started enameling certain silver art bars in the 1980's but I am not completely certain on this. I like several of his works because of the richness of the color and it makes certain normal '70's silver art bars stand out in my opinion.

You can usually find some of Ivan Rash Rainbow Mint silver art bars on ebay and prices will vary depending the rarity of that enameled silver art bar and who might be selling them but expect to pay a "collector's premium" for one.

EDIT: Here is some more information about Duane Spellman and The Mint:

http://users.skynet.be/bs137951/Mints/The%20Mint.htm

[Exonumia]

Bad News for anyone who was sold an Austrian 10 Kreuzer "round" as one troy ounce .999 fine silver.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUSTRIAN-COI...item5647db9378

These are apparently 31.06 oz of sterling (.925 fine silver). Or at least that is what the ones still in their Littleton Coin holders say. Looks like the 2001 is the most common date? I was sold a 2002 by my LCS as a troy ounce.

On the plus side, they don't appear to be common (only 3 listings out 41,500 on Ebay under bullion). I have only seen one up close. The "rounds" are not listed in the World Coin Books. They did make the 4th Edition (2004) edition of "Unusual World Coins" for novel non-circulating coins, fantasy issues, micro-nation, medallic types, and psuedo-states. In 2008 the Austrian government began striking the bullion 1.5 Euro one oz bullion rounds.

As usual, the more I learn, the more questions I have. Were these struck in Austria by the government mint? Or were they struck by a private mint named the "Austrian Mint" and located some place else (like maybe a suburb of Los Angeles)?? Did a private mint strike them for Littleton Coin? Are there other dates between 2003 and 2007 for this round? Are there dates before 2001 ?

As usual, so many questions.

So few answers.

[Exonumia]

I am very picky when it comes to collecting enameled silver art bars. I like certain enameled ones with the professional sports themes (NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, etc.) that were minted by a private mint that was called "The Mint". The Mint started producing sports-themed silver art bars in the late '70's but the enameled ones did not get minted until 1984. I think that the 1984 "Sam The Olympic Mascot" was the first enameled one from "The Mint". The last enameled bar from The Mint was in 1992. Duane Spellman created "The Mint".

I also like certain enameled silver art bars that were minted by The Rainbow Mint. The Rainbow Mint was started by a professional artist named Ivan Rash and I believe that he started enameling certain silver art bars in the 1980's but I am not completely certain on this. I like several of his works because of the richness of the color and it makes certain normal '70's silver art bars stand out in my opinion.

You can usually find some of Ivan Rash Rainbow Mint silver art bars on ebay and prices will vary depending the rarity of that enameled silver art bar and who might be selling them but expect to pay a "collector's premium" for one.

EDIT: Here is some more information about Duane Spellman and The Mint:

http://users.skynet.be/bs137951/Mints/The%20Mint.htm

Thanks Silver Art. As always you are a great source of info. (and by the way, I won't be bidding against you for any enameled bars/round on Ebay). The LCS dislike them, and some of their prejudice has rubbed off on me. The ones I most commonly see on the local market are the U.S. Bullion dollars. But one LCS has had a bunch of bars with corvettes and motorcycles on them sitting in his shop for years (I am surprized he hasn't sent them to Chicago for melting). I think the maker is American Pacific Mint (?), and they are sterling silver. The Doomer & Investor crowd seems to prefer .999 fine silver in easy-to-compute Troy weights.

Some bars, like those from the A Ceeco mint, seem to be mostly colorized. They are difficult to find around here without being colorized.

All of this may be a local Mid-West prejudice. In these parts 1964 and earlier 90% U.S. silver coin is popular. And there is sometimes a strong premium for certain "makers", like Engelhard. At the last coin show I over heard a dealer saying he could ship the fractional Engelhard rounds/bars for a very hefty premium.

[Silver Art]

Thanks Silver Art. As always you are a great source of info. (and by the way, I won't be bidding against you for any enameled bars/round on Ebay). The LCS dislike them, and some of their prejudice has rubbed off on me. The ones I most commonly see on the local market are the U.S. Bullion dollars. But one LCS has had a bunch of bars with corvettes and motorcycles on them sitting in his shop for years (I am surprized he hasn't sent them to Chicago for melting). I think the maker is American Pacific Mint (?), and they are sterling silver. The Doomer & Investor crowd seems to prefer .999 fine silver in easy-to-compute Troy weights.

Some bars, like those from the A Ceeco mint, seem to be mostly colorized. They are difficult to find around here without being colorized.

All of this may be a local Mid-West prejudice. In these parts 1964 and earlier 90% U.S. silver coin is popular. And there is sometimes a strong premium for certain "makers", like Engelhard. At the last coin show I over heard a dealer saying he could ship the fractional Engelhard rounds/bars for a very hefty premium.

I try my best to provide what I know and what I find. I am not perfect and I have been wrong at times. There are other silver art bar collectors that know more than I do and have more experience than I do (they 10-20 years or more experience) and I try to learn from them. The Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebooks are a great reference to have and those have come in handy for me lately. BTW the Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebooks can be found on ebay but you have to be patient because they do not show up very often. I like sharing what I know and what I have observed and experienced as a collector that buys silver art bars. I enjoy what I do and I do not get tired of writing about this. I am glad that you decided to join up on this forum because there was a lot of stuff that you posted that I did not know about. I am also learning and I consider myself to be a "student" of the silver art bar hobby. Thanks for joining this forum.

As for you bidding against me on the enameled silver art bars, that would not bother me if you did bid against me because I usually do not do well on ebay as a bidder since I tend to get outbid on silver art bars period. Even when I win an ebay auction, I knew and prepared ahead of time that I would overpay/overbid on one because I wanted a particular one bad enough. However, I do not bid (or buy as BIN) very often on ebay because I prefer to find the bars at the LCS or coin shows and only pay .999 generic silver premiums for them. When I buy one on ebay, it is one that was on my wish list and I could not find it locally. I prefer silver art bar hunting at the LCS and coin shows to find and buy what I like.

As for the the "corvette" bars and "motorcyle" bars that you saw at the LCS, they might be Franklin Mint sterling silver art bars unless it mentioned American Pacific Mint on them. I do remember seeing some motorcycle art bars in the past and I think that they were Harley Davidson bars that were sterling silver but I do not remember. The shape of the bars seem to be "Franklin Mint-ish" in nature. Sterling silver is hard to move off the LCS shelves and sterling bars tend to get priced very cheaply to get them to move.

There are also some .999 pure silver Corvette art bars that were minted by Silvertowne and the "GM" symbol is stamped on the reverse side of those bars.

Most of the Ceeco Mint bars are indeed colored (enameled). There were a few Ceeco Mint non-enameled bars that were produced in 1973. Just about all of the enameled ones are holiday-themed ones. I have seen several enameled Happy Birthday, 4th of July, St. Patrick's day, and Mother's day from the Ceeco mint. They look nice but those are not ones that I would buy because I am not into collecting the holiday-themed bars.

[Exonumia]

I try my best to provide what I know and what I find. I am not perfect and I have been wrong at times. .

I have made a number of blunders myself. Probably the biggest ones go back to putting too much faith in what some of the sellers have told me about the origins of their bars/rounds. There is very little info out there on silver from the private mints after 1964.

I don't mind sharing the little bit that I know about bars/rounds. I figure that if the info gets out there, more people will be attracted to the hobby, and my holdings will be more valuable (or at least easier to sell at some point down road).

Every one of the private mints that ground out silver bars/rounds has a story. Some are probably lost (for now anyway). Others can be found in lurid court records online. Some of the personal reminiscences border on the unbelievable, like the two man operation in California producing silver rounds in their kitchen.

[Exonumia]

Do the art bar guide books also describe the various backs on the art bars? This Ebay seller is saying the private mint that made this bar is the American Pacific Mint because it has their reverse #3.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110830849121...84.m1438.l2649


Are the Art Bar Guides (which I can't even get on inter-library loan) that detailed?

[Silver Art]

I have made a number of blunders myself. Probably the biggest ones go back to putting too much faith in what some of the sellers have told me about the origins of their bars/rounds. There is very little info out there on silver from the private mints after 1964.

I don't mind sharing the little bit that I know about bars/rounds. I figure that if the info gets out there, more people will be attracted to the hobby, and my holdings will be more valuable (or at least easier to sell at some point down road).

Every one of the private mints that ground out silver bars/rounds has a story. Some are probably lost (for now anyway). Others can be found in lurid court records online. Some of the personal reminiscences border on the unbelievable, like the two man operation in California producing silver rounds in their kitchen.

That is why I like to learn from others because I have been wrong before on the silver art bars and on the various mints that produced them. Since there is very little (or none) information on some of those small private mints to made these art bars, then whatever information that can be obtained online or in certain guidebooks is the best that we can do. Sometimes the clue can be in the silver art bar itself if a person knows what to look for.

As I was looking through the Archie Kidd guidebooks, I was amazed by the fact that he got as much information that he did but it had to take a lot of legwork to get what he did. Despite the tremendous efforts that Archie Kidd (and others) went through to get the information, there is still not much in the private mints that made them.

I applaud Archie Kidd, Steve Rood, Duane Spellman, Ivan Rash, Thomas Mock, and many others for helping to revive the silver art bar hobby. Those people are the real experts of the silver art bar hobby in my opinion. If it was not for them and their guidebooks and other information, then I would not exist as a silver art bar collector and I would not exist online as "Silver Art" (or as "1970 Silver Art" on other forums I post on). It is the guidebooks and information that helped me (and is still helping me) build a knowledge base on silver art bars and it is my own collecting experience and my experiences at the coin shows that makes me help bring a certain perspective to the hobby itself.

The mere fact that I am on this board (and other internet message boards) talking about silver art bars just means that I like sharing what I know and occasionally posting pics to for others to get an idea of what it is that me (and other silver art bar bar collectors like me) like to do. I am just a silver art bar collector and it is my desire to collect them that keeps me going. At the very worst, the silver art bar holdings will be worth at least the silver metal content. At the very best, they will be worth a lot in collector premiums since some of them tend to sell for a huge premium over spot on ebay. I will also have to say that I do not consider my rare silver art bar collection to be an investment because I am way too emotionally attached to them to let them go. It took too much time (2-3 years) and effort (many trips to the LCS and numerous trips to coin shows) to find the ones that I wanted and that I truly like and I do not want to let those go.

[Silver Art]

Do the art bar guide books also describe the various backs on the art bars? This Ebay seller is saying the private mint that made this bar is the American Pacific Mint because it has their reverse #3.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/110830849121...84.m1438.l2649


Are the Art Bar Guides (which I can't even get on inter-library loan) that detailed?

I have never met this ebay seller in person but I am familiar with this seller because I have bought rare silver art bars from this person in the past and I had no problems at all. I will vouch for this ebay seller. He does have the Archie Kidd books because that is the only way that this person can accurately describe what he is selling.

The 4th through 6th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebooks do describe the various reverse types though illustrations and I like that they do that.

I would recommend the 4th edition (published in 1986) and the 5th edition (published in 1991) Archie Kidd guidebooks as good reference guides to get because they have illustrations of the silver art bars. The only place that you can really find them is on ebay but it might take some time and they can get expensive. Generally speaking, the 5th edition is the best silver art bar guidebook to get than the 4th edition because it has more art bar illustrations in it, however, the 5th edition is usually more expensive than the 4th edition. Those two are very good in that they have mintage numbers, mint years, and other information that might come in handy. The most current Archie Kidd guidebook is the 2009 "Red" edition one but that guidebook does not have any silver art bar illustrations in them.

You can do an ebay search on those guidebooks to see what if they are currently any of them out there for auction. You can also do a ebay search for them by putting in "silver art bars" in the search field.

[Exonumia]

.

The 4th through 6th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebooks do describe the various reverse types though illustrations and I like that they do that.

I would recommend the 4th edition (published in 1986) and the 5th edition (published in 1991) Archie Kidd guidebooks as good reference guides to get because they have illustrations of the silver art bars. The only place that you can really find them is on ebay but it might take some time and they can get expensive. Generally speaking, the 5th edition is the best silver art bar guidebook to get than the 4th edition because it has more art bar illustrations in it, however, the 5th edition is usually more expensive than the 4th edition. Those two are very good in that they have mintage numbers, mint years, and other information that might come in handy. The most current Archie Kidd guidebook is the 2009 "Red" edition one but that guidebook does not have any silver art bar illustrations in them.

Wow. Thanks for the info. Sounds like the older books might be more useful than the newest one (the new one must be the $400 book?).

These private mints all have a story (if it can be found). This morning I was out trying to track down the private "Dahlonega Mint" (not the U.S. Government version). I found they were involved in several court cases, starting in 1987 with a little 'dust-up' in the silver futures market.

Then they really got in trouble with the U.S. Post Office in 1995 over the "Hutt River Province" fantasy coins from that big wheat farm down in Australia. Dahlonega was/is a mail-order business that sells coins, sports cards and other collectibles to consumers, and was/is based in Rossville, Georgia.

The link may contain info on other private mints as well.

"Schemes, Scams, Frauds." Is that a great spot to find a private mint, or what? I am going to have to take my time and read through the whole site. There could be info on other private mints there......


http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/...rare_items.htm

......"Coins" issued by the "Hutt River Province" in Australia and allegedly promoted by Chattanooga Coin Co. as official coins issued by the authority of a government are privately minted commemorative tokens with no legally-established monetary value, the Federal Trade Commission charged.

The Hutt River Province actually is a private farming property within Australia, and not a government authorized to issue coins, the FTC said. Yet, Chattanooga used these types of claims to induce consumers interested in collectibles to purchase the tokens at prices more than triple their metal value.

The agreement is accompanied by broad prohibitions on future misrepresentations about the nature or value of Hutt River Province products or any other collectible, and is part of a settlement of Federal Trade Commission charges against Dahlonega Mint, Inc., which does business as Chattanooga Coin Co., and Dahlonega's president, Lewis Revels.

Dahlonega is a mail-order business that sells coins, sports cards and other collectibles to consumers, and is based in Rossville, Georgia....."

[Silver Art]

Wow. Thanks for the info. Sounds like the older books might be more useful than the newest one (the new one must be the $400 book?).

In my opinion, the 4th and 5th edition books are more useful than the 2009 version because the older versions have silver art bar illustrations in them. I do not have the 5th edition book and I will probably not plan to get it if I cannot find one that is at a "decent price". The only reason that I know about the 5th edition book is because I met a collector who had one with him. The 4th edition book seems to work well enough for me for the time being. The 5th edition can run as high as $300 in some cases. The 2009 version is not really that expensive but it is not the best silver art bar guidebook IMO and it is only good if you already know what the bar looks like and you wanted to get a little more information on it. If you want to purchase one, you will have to search for them on ebay and the costs will vary.

EDIT: I will have to check out that link you provided. It seems very interesting.

[southfork]

Wow. Thanks for the info. Sounds like the older books might be more useful than the newest one (the new one must be the $400 book?).

These private mints all have a story (if it can be found). This morning I was out trying to track down the private "Dahlonega Mint" (not the U.S. Government version). I found they were involved in several court cases, starting in 1987 with a little 'dust-up' in the silver futures market.

Then they really got in trouble with the U.S. Post Office in 1995 over the "Hutt River Province" fantasy coins from that big wheat farm down in Australia. Dahlonega was/is a mail-order business that sells coins, sports cards and other collectibles to consumers, and was/is based in Rossville, Georgia.

The link may contain info on other private mints as well.

"Schemes, Scams, Frauds." Is that a great spot to find a private mint, or what? I am going to have to take my time and read through the whole site. There could be info on other private mints there......


http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/...rare_items.htm

......"Coins" issued by the "Hutt River Province" in Australia and allegedly promoted by Chattanooga Coin Co. as official coins issued by the authority of a government are privately minted commemorative tokens with no legally-established monetary value, the Federal Trade Commission charged.

The Hutt River Province actually is a private farming property within Australia, and not a government authorized to issue coins, the FTC said. Yet, Chattanooga used these types of claims to induce consumers interested in collectibles to purchase the tokens at prices more than triple their metal value.

The agreement is accompanied by broad prohibitions on future misrepresentations about the nature or value of Hutt River Province products or any other collectible, and is part of a settlement of Federal Trade Commission charges against Dahlonega Mint, Inc., which does business as Chattanooga Coin Co., and Dahlonega's president, Lewis Revels.

Dahlonega is a mail-order business that sells coins, sports cards and other collectibles to consumers, and is based in Rossville, Georgia....."

Actually Hutt River does have their own mint, there is a bit of history somewhat intersting about the orgin of Hutt River if you research it. I have several of the Hutt River 999 rounds.

Government of the

Principality of Hutt River
www.principality-hutt-river.org/gov/mint






The Royal Mint of Hutt River was established under the control of the
Treasury of Hutt River in early 1976.
Prince Richard - Treasurer.

Initially in those hectic years immediately following the secession it was realised that it's own currency was required so the Treasury had the task of issuing the first Hutt River Money in 1974 with the release of a set of paper banknotes in denominations of 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 notes, the designs of which I am sure most of you are more than aware of since the same notes are still in circulation and issued today by Treasury, though we should make note of the fact that Treasury are currently looking toward issuing polymer notes in the near future.

In 1975 Cabinet decided that there was a need to issue coinage to exist alongside the banknotes and this led to the formation of the Royal Mint of Hutt River which saw it's formation as well as it's first coins minted in 1976.

(View advertisement for the early coin issue FRONT REAR )

Since those first coins in 1976 the Royal Mint has been responsible for the minting of over 200 coins.

Whilst the coins were originally minted solely for circulation and use within the Principality, collectors around the globe very quickly began to seek out coins to add to their collections so in order that their needs and wants be met, Hutt began to produce coins not just for circulations but were also careful to produce Proof versions and various presentations to satisfy those collectors. the Hutt Mint has been commended on a number of occasions for it's issue of high quality collector pieces in precious metals such as Gold, silver and Palladium.

Today very many collectors around the globe have Hutt coins proudly in their collections and the collectable/investment value of the currency is easily shown by watching the sums that both earlier and current issued coins are bringing at auction and on various on-line auction houses on the internet.
Hutt coinage is much in demand by collectors.

Information of all new issues is eagerly sought after by numismatic magazines and scholars around the world so new issues are well placed within various periodicals and coin catalogues around the world.

The Principality's latest mintings may be viewed by following the links below.







(Click images for larger view)



















COINWeb DVD
A CATALOGUE of AUSTRALASIAN CURRENCY
(By: Alan Austin)

[Exonumia]

Southfork. Maybe you can answer a Hutt River question for me?

I know the Custom Coinage Corp stuck some of the Hutt River coins because they carry the CC hallmark. Why did Custom Coinage Corp issue silver rounds as the 'New Queensland Mint' in 1989, and try to disguise themselves as Australians?

[Exonumia]

EDIT: I will have to check out that link you provided. It seems very interesting.

It certainly has a catchy title. I suspect the CC Mint will be there as well. I hope to maybe find a few other 'private mints' in there (and I am using the term 'mint' lightly). Many of these so called 'mints' were marketing organizations selling high priced collectibles to the general public.......and never made any of their products.

A while back I mentioned a LCS who had a lot of enameled bars with cars & motorcycles on them. When the price of silver went under $30 someone cleaned out most of them. I was there visiting today, and for the heck of it, I purchased my first 'corvette', a 1970 L-T-E bar with yellow laquer(?) or enamel (even the seller didn't know for sure). Not all of them had been colorized either. Anyhow, I am off topic here. The bars are from the Pacific Mint and are 1.02 troy oz Sterling (or .925 fine silver). The 'mint' that issued the sets seems to have been the Pacific Mint on Ventura Blvd in Encino, California. ..... at least as near as I can figure. The were incorporated in February 1981, and are now dissolved.

I also learned today that the GIM site has serious security issues. Be careful what you click on. Trojans, don't ya know. I am thinking of moving to Collectors Universe, and I think I see your tag line there as well.

I still have to get down to the bank and go thru the box to see what other rounds I have there.

So many questions.

So few answers.

[Silver Art]

It certainly has a catchy title. I suspect the CC Mint will be there as well. I hope to maybe find a few other 'private mints' in there (and I am using the term 'mint' lightly). Many of these so called 'mints' were marketing organizations selling high priced collectibles to the general public.......and never made any of their products.

A while back I mentioned a LCS who had a lot of enameled bars with cars & motorcycles on them. When the price of silver went under $30 someone cleaned out most of them. I was there visiting today, and for the heck of it, I purchased my first 'corvette', a 1970 L-T-E bar with yellow laquer(?) or enamel (even the seller didn't know for sure). Not all of them had been colorized either. Anyhow, I am off topic here. The bars are from the Pacific Mint and are 1.02 troy oz Sterling (or .925 fine silver). The 'mint' that issued the sets seems to have been the Pacific Mint on Ventura Blvd in Encino, California. ..... at least as near as I can figure. The were incorporated in February 1981, and are now dissolved.

I also learned today that the GIM site has serious security issues. Be careful what you click on. Trojans, don't ya know. I am thinking of moving to Collectors Universe, and I think I see your tag line there as well.

I still have to get down to the bank and go thru the box to see what other rounds I have there.

So many questions.

So few answers.

Ok. Thank you for that information. I did not know that. I cannot remember if I have seen any Pacific Mint sterling silver art bars in the past. I do not think that I have seen those Pacific Mint sterling silver Corvette bars before. The only Corvette bars that I remember seeing were the ones that were minted by Silvertowne but those were not sterling. Those Silvertowne Corvette ones are .999 pure silver art bars.

I am indeed a member on the Collector's Universe forum. My screen name on that forum is "1970SilverArt" and I have been a member there since April 2010. I do not post there that much and usually when I do post there, it is about what else?.......Silver art bars.

BTW you can still post here on GIM and post on Collector's Universe. You have provided a lot of private mint information here and you should continue to post here. I post here on GIM and on Collector's Universe and I also post on the CoinTalk forum (as "1970 Silver Art") and on the Bullionstacker forum (as "Silver Art"). Sometimes I post on all 4 internet forums during a particular day. It depends on the topics that I am interested in. There are other people on different gold and silver forums and on collector-oriented forums that collect silver art bars and it is very interesting to read other people's perspectives and experiences relating to silver art bar collecting. I do most of my current posting here on GIM and I prefer to post here because I like it here with the various gold and silver topics and I have a longest posting history here on GIM (since November 1, 2008) as opposed to anywhere else on the internet.

[rte]

Well I tried to steal it but someone helped me spend a few more bucks in the end. $34.02 shipped



1976 HAMILTON MINT .999 F.S./24KT. E.G.P. SILVER BAR
a 1976 Martin Van Buren silver bar, gold plated, one troy ounce of .999 silver
and #503 of 5000 minted from the Hamilton Mint's "U.S. Presidents Series".

[Gold Rush]

Picked up a couple of bars today at a Lcs..a Aquarius 1oz silver bar, and a Pancho Villa 1oz silver bar..

[rte]

Picked up a couple of bars today at a Lcs..a Aquarius 1oz silver bar, and a Pancho Villa 1oz silver bar..

Nice
I have the SCORPIO bar but the back is plain

[Exonumia]

Picked up a couple of bars today at a Lcs..a Aquarius 1oz silver bar, and a Pancho Villa 1oz silver bar..

Not a bad find. I have never seen either in the LCS.

I had heard that the 'National' was a Canadian Mint. This reverse would seem to be confirmation of that. It is very difficult to find out any info on the various 'mints'.

The Pancho Villa bar looks like it is something from Silvertowne in Winchester, Ind. I think that I have seen that mostly blank reverse on silver bars from them (only in English, not Spanish).

[Exonumia]

Ok. Thank you for that information. I did not know that. I cannot remember if I have seen any Pacific Mint sterling silver art bars in the past. I do not think that I have seen those Pacific Mint sterling silver Corvette bars before. The only Corvette bars that I remember seeing were the ones that were minted by Silvertowne but those were not sterling. Those Silvertowne Corvette ones are .999 pure silver art bars.

I am indeed a member on the Collector's Universe forum. My screen name on that forum is "1970SilverArt" and I have been a member there since April 2010. I do not post there that much and usually when I do post there, it is about what else?.......Silver art bars.

BTW you can still post here on GIM and post on Collector's Universe. You have provided a lot of private mint information here and you should continue to post here. I post here on GIM and on Collector's Universe and I also post on the CoinTalk forum (as "1970 Silver Art") and on the Bullionstacker forum (as "Silver Art"). Sometimes I post on all 4 internet forums during a particular day. It depends on the topics that I am interested in. There are other people on different gold and silver forums and on collector-oriented forums that collect silver art bars and it is very interesting to read other people's perspectives and experiences relating to silver art bar collecting. I do most of my current posting here on GIM and I prefer to post here because I like it here with the various gold and silver topics and I have a longest posting history here on GIM (since November 1, 2008) as opposed to anywhere else on the internet.

My local LCS had those corvette bars for years & years & years. But with the recent drop in price, people have cleaned most of them out. Evidently the mintage was 4500, most had serial numbers similar to 152/ 4500. But the one I selected had AP / 4500 (and the 4500 number was stamped over another, lighter '4500'). Not sure why they gave the other bars a serial number, and mine an "AP". But it was odd, and stuck out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

You may see me on Collectors Universe somewhere down the line. I signed up there. But so far have not gotten the email that I have been 'accepted' by them. I was surprised to see the site was run by a coin grading service.

Today I found out that YCI on silver bars/rounds = Yorkville Coin Investment. I suspect they were in Yorkville, Illinois. But so far have no proof of that. They seem to have issued some of the more 'edgy' holliday rounds, like Santa flying over an outhouse and saying 'I said the Schmidt House'. They have other bars / rounds where Santa is stuck in a chimney, and another where he is parachuting out of the sleigh.

I know from my inventory that I have at least one 'Parliament Shield' silver round. They seem to have issued rounds in 1983, 1984, 1985. Then they must have been done in by official government silver rounds that came on the scene in the mid-80's. I wonder if they were a Canadian outfit? But why would a Canadian business put one of the United States heraldic eagles on it?

For that matter, why would a private mint in California try to pass itself off as an Australian mint?

As usual, I have many questions. But not many answers.

[Gold Rush]

Not a bad find. I have never seen either in the LCS.

I had heard that the 'National' was a Canadian Mint. This reverse would seem to be confirmation of that. It is very difficult to find out any info on the various 'mints'.

The Pancho Villa bar looks like it is something from Silvertowne in Winchester, Ind. I think that I have seen that mostly blank reverse on silver bars from them (only in English, not Spanish).

Thank's Exonumia and Rte, I had never seen them before either..The Pancho Villa bar caught my attention because it was in spanish on the back, not in english..thought that was kinda of different

[newmisty]

I've certainly never seen an art bar in Spanish either. Good find!

[Exonumia]

I am back with more questions about bars/rounds.

I have seen two different rounds, both probably from the 1980's ??

Khadafy Duck (Daffy duck with a turban, rifle and wearing combat boots.

Final Moments - Hindenburg.

Both have the same reverse on them. Something that could be a smokey fire ? Or maybe a lump of metal giving off rays/fumes.

Does anyone know who made them, or when? Or even what the reverse is supposed to be?

Thanks.

[Exonumia]

Thank's Exonumia and Rte, I had never seen them before either..The Pancho Villa bar caught my attention because it was in spanish on the back, not in english..thought that was kinda of different

Yeah. Any bar in Spanish is unusual. If you feel ambitious you can post pictures of your bars at the site that specializes in exonumia stuff (mostly tokens, but medals & art bars as well). It is a free site open to the public, and anyone can join.

http://tokencatalog.com/

Your bars would be listed at this time near the bottom under the heading 'Unattributed Mavericks' because no one really knows where they are from. But there is an effort under way to dig up the stories on these private mints.

There is also a search function near the top. You can enter key words, like 'Pancho Villa' and see what is listed (so far, not much under Pancho Villa).

Token collectors have a different model for collecting. Most are trying to get one token from every town/city in their state. Others are limited to certain topics. Some just want to find tokens from their home town. The site is also getting popular with genealogists who wonder if their great grand parents ever issued a token.

[Silver Art]

Picked up a couple of bars today at a Lcs..a Aquarius 1oz silver bar, and a Pancho Villa 1oz silver bar..

The National Mint (of Canada) silver art bars are very common and most of them from this Canadian private mint are holiday-themed, Graduation, Mother's Day, and Father's Day ones. The reverse type of the Pancho Villa bar appears to be a Silvertowne reverse but I do not see it in 6th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebook. I have not seen many spanish silver art bars before. Very interesting.

[Gold Rush]

The reverse type of the Pancho Villa bar appears to be a Silvertowne reverse but I do not see it in 6th edition Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebook. I have not seen many spanish silver art bars before. Very interesting.

I have done a web search on Pancho Villa Silver Bars, there are a good number of them out there, but I couldn't find one that matches the art work design of Pancho Villa on the front of this one either, know I wondering more about it

[southfork]

Southfork. Maybe you can answer a Hutt River question for me?

I know the Custom Coinage Corp stuck some of the Hutt River coins because they carry the CC hallmark. Why did Custom Coinage Corp issue silver rounds as the 'New Queensland Mint' in 1989, and try to disguise themselves as Australians?

That one I couldn't say, if in fact they did it I would assume it was for profit motive, they wouldnt be the first ones.

[Silver Art]

I previously posted this on a collector-oriented forum last Friday (May 25, 2012) and I will post this here as an FYI:

To avoid getting scammed on ebay, here are some types of bars to stay away from:

1. Any bar that is stamped "100 mills" on it. These are silver-plated.

2. Any bar that is stamped "clad" on it.

3. Any bar with a reverse that is stamped "In Clad We Trust" on it.

4. Any bar with a reverse that is says "American Royal Mint" on it. These are stamped "15 grains". 480 grains silver = 31.1 grams of silver = 1 troy oz of silver.

5. Any bar that is stamped "German Silver" anywhere on it. This is not real silver.

6. Any 1-gram silver bars. Those are too small IMO and they are grossly overpriced on ebay.


If you stay away from those above bars, then you will be ok in my opinion. DYODD.

[Gold Rush]

Just got back from a LCS just a little while ago, it's not from the 70's but I was happy to find it..one thing I like to collect and am always keeping an eye out for is Cartoon Character's on bar's, rounds, silver, gold..it dosen't matter..was able to pick this one up earlier this evening for $31.50...Have seen them on the bay going for between $40.00 to $60.00 before

[Silver Art]

Just got back from a LCS just a little while ago, it's not from the 70's but I was happy to find it..one thing I like to collect and am always keeping an eye out for is Cartoon Character's on bar's, rounds, silver, gold..it dosen't matter..was able to pick this one up earlier this evening for $31.50...Have seen them on the bay going for between $40.00 to $60.00 before

Those are good finds IMO. I think that those were minted by the Rarities Mint. I have seen those on ebay several times in the past. You are right in that those can fetch huge premiums on ebay. I have also seen them at some of the coin shows that I have been to and I think that the LCS in my area treat (and price) those as .999 generic silver. Congrats on your find.

[newmisty]

Nice find GR, can't go wrong with Loony Tunes silver.

[Gold Rush]

Those are good finds IMO. I think that those were minted by the Rarities Mint. I have seen those on ebay several times in the past. You are right in that those can fetch huge premiums on ebay. I have also seen them at some of the coin shows that I have been to and I think that the LCS in my area treat (and price) those as .999 generic silver. Congrats on your find.

Thank's Silver Art, I will snag them all day long, if they want to price them at generic silver prices..this makes the second Bugs Bunny in my collection,( different designs) I also have a Dagwood & Blondie one, and some assorted Disney Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs one's

[Gold Rush]

Nice find GR, can't go wrong with Loony Tunes silver.

Thank's newmisty, yeah I like anything Loony Tunes..thats when cartoons were cartoons I'm also finding out that anything with the old Super Hero's on them like Marvel command some big bucks also...

[Gold Rush]

Does anyone know if there is a collectors guide out there for just Cartoon Charcter art rounds and bars, or is the Archie Kidd guides the only one's out there ?

[Silver Art]

Does anyone know if there is a collectors guide out there for just Cartoon Charcter art rounds and bars, or is the Archie Kidd guides the only one's out there ?

As far as I know, there is no collector's guide out there that is only for cartoon character silver art rounds and bars. However, the Archie Kidd silver art bar guidebooks do list some Cartoon silver art bars. I looked through my 4th edition Archie Kidd book and found the following:

1.) Disney Characters: Goofy 50th Anniversary (1932-1982), Donald Duck 45th Anniversary (1934-1979), Mickey Mouse 50th Anniversary (1928-1978), Disneyland's 25th Anniversary, Bambi's 40th Anniversary (1942-1982), Pluto 50th Anniversary (1930-1980), Peter Pan 75th Anniversary (1904-1979?), Snow White 50th Anniversary (1937-1982).

2.) Other Cartoon Characters: Popeye 50th (1929-1979), Charlie Brown (30th Birthday).

All of those are Greathouse Productions silver art bars that were minted from 1978 to 1984 and those are very hard to find since those have very low mintages. According to the guidebook, the mintages range from 50 to 250 depending on the type of Greathouse cartoon theme bar. If you find any of those at the LCS for .999 generic silver premiums, then that would be a great score IMO.

[Shiny]

I have been picking up Coca-Cola bars and have seen some serial numbers that appear to be of a number greater than the documented mintages. Some of these exceptions are mentioned in the Coca-Cola book (Mock) but in general in these cases the actual mintage is unknown.

It might be interesting to record these exceptions and provide some additional information for collectors as to the numbers possibly produced.

Reference	City	Mintage	Highest # Exceptions
WWM-64	Norfolk	2500	002826 {shiny} 002938 {Mock}
WWM-67	Huntsville	2000	002056 {shiny} 002160 {Mock}
WWM-69	Louisiana	6000	010422 {shiny} 011806 {Mock}
WWM-71	Houston	6000	008989 {Mock} 009041 {shiny}
WWM-72 ty1	Mobile	1800	001927 {shiny}
WWM-76	Denver	2500	003709 {shiny}
WWM-83	Augusta	2000	002439 {Mock} 002474 {shiny}
WWM-84	Savannah	2000	002131 {shiny} 002165 {Mock}
WWM-95	Montgomery	1200	001501 {Mock}

I will try to monitor responses and update the table accordingly.

Values listed with {Mock} are the high numbers reported in Thomas Mock's guidebook on the Coca-Cola 75th Anniversary bars and rounds.

If this type of information is useful, it could be posted as its own thread.