Has anyone else ordered silver from Barrely LIving. I just received the knife and Myan Calendar and think this might be my favorite order ever. I love YPS and MK Barz stuff, but this silver almost seems like a league of it's own. While it's expensive, I've never seen something nicer. I've been watching youtube videos and love sites like this for ideas, but have never seen this company mentioned. I just happened to see a post on SilverBugs that was drooling over the Myan Calendar. I loved the calendar, but splurged on a birthday gift for myself and ordered the knife as well. http://www.barrelylivingsilvercasting.com/shop/page/2/
I've seen a couple photos / listings of his work out there before. Pretty cool stuff. Though I don't think it's necessarily fair nor accurate to compare cast pieces to poured pieces. While obviously any potential purchases are coming from the same pool of funds, these types of items are definitely two distinct categories, in my book. One issue I have with cast pieces like this are the thinness / potential frailty of some areas. 999 is on the softer side, and I'd personally be concerned with bending/breaking. At least at some point over the life of the piece, whether it's next week or 50 years from now. And they are more of display pieces, instead of tossing them in along with "regular" bars. With poured art/objects, you do mostly have that option. Finally, with cast, you're going to have casting imperfections.. Which I don't particularly care for. Just a personal taste / aesthetics thing. But otherwise.. :lol: Yeah, some are cool, even though I'm not totally into cast. Seems like the smith does a pretty good job, with some nice subject choices which can't usually be replicated via traditional pours. I think there will always be a limited collector base for this kind of stuff. Though on the flip-side, some pieces could have a much better shot at appealing to non-stackers, as well..
Here is the stuff I got today. Sorry it's sideways. I'll try to fix it. http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=135109&whichpage=87
Thanks for the info Gatito. I'll make sure to be careful with the knife, unless a Werewolf shows up. That Myan calendar is unreal, IMO, as well. I've never seen such detail in such a round. It actually looks bigger than my YPS pyramid (linked above).
Ultimately, there's no wrong way to perceive what is aesthetically appealing to each of us....and so, if you like those cast silver items, go for it. If you enjoy collecting and holding the products you purchased from Barrely Living, then that's probably the most important thing. Personally, they are not my cup of tea but to each their own. .
Dang, love the bar. I still want to pick up some Bision, Hi Ho, and the Mutiny Metals bar. I was collecting vintage bars, but the premiums are pretty steep (e.g., M&B, Fosters).
That post on silverbugs is the first I've heard of BL too. Had to find out the difference between hand casting and hand pouring. It seems like casting takes a lot more work. I think for this piece the patina is definitely the better of the two.
Lovely, thanks for sharing. You're right about the patina finish. Group buy?? edit: what diameter are they?
The details on the non-patina are incredible, and better than the photo above. It's interesting my family hasn't liked most of the silver I have, but they loved the knife and calendar. While I certainly wouldn't stack these, they represent art, IMO and a completely different quality than anything I own. Im just grateful to silver bugs as I figured I knew about every bar and round that was available. It turns out I didn't even know about my current two favorite pieces until last week, and I've got some pretty cool stuff that was much more expensive.
The Myan calendar fits nicely in the ATB capsule. I just switched one out. I don't know about the other products, but I think I'm going to order another one today since it fits so well in the ATB case. I haven't thought about a case until you asked. I might get the patina, but I love the shiny look as well.
I have one of each and the plain silver has better detail up close than the patina. But the patina pops out more at a distance. My wife prefers the patina; I prefer the plain. I think I'm going to order more too. The price has increased since my last order but I think it's worth it even though I don't normally buy high premium silver.
@sk - you might want to consider getting the capsules for the 5 ounce ATB to protect the calendar. I've enjoyed the Mayan Calendar so much its got me watching youtube videos about the history of the calendar. In addition, I love having the knife in my pirate chest along with skull bars and rounds. I was going to order a few more calendars tonight, but since it's the day after my birthday, thought I would splurge on that 10 Ounce eagle. It looks beautiful and something to set out as a piece of art. I also grabbed the California Dreaming. Yikes. I hope the wife likes it I'll just tell her its art. I'll post the eagle when it arrives. Probably won't post California Dreaming though. When I took a 5 ounce ATB coin out of it's capsule to see if it would hold the Calendar, I thought, I wish I had a bunch of these instead of the ATB. IMO, this Mayan Calendar is way nicer than any of my ATB coins. My guess is sk, or anyone who has one, would agree.
Thanks for the tip about the ATB capsule. I've ordered the Cali dreaming as well. Going to have to hide those from the kids.
I wonder if California Dreaming would fit in the 5 ounce capsule if I cut out a small opening for the gals feet?