Hi Guys, This thread is all about collectable Kilo Silver bar produced in Australia. Why a kilo you might ask? Well we are a metric country with a great history and although there are great bars measured in troy ounces, the kilo is a nice sized bar and to me is a easy to handle. It is cost effective for a "moderate" amount of silver and very liquid and portable. Overall it has a great feel and weight to it. These currently have a low premium compared with smaller bar sizes and some of these bars are far rarer than say a 10oz perth mint bar, where the 1kg probably has a much lower mintage. Thus they are more affordable to collect. I will add some photos of various bars and collectively we can make a great thread for all of us to enjoy. There are a few members who collect vintage kilo bars I know, so I might hit you guys up for a few photos here and there. My dream is to eventually save up enough to afford a whole kilo... one day... we all have our dreams! I might steal some photos from other threads too! 1st BAR listed This is a Perth Mint 1 kilo bar circa early 1980's. The serial number of each bar is stamped on the back up to 4 digits meaning that a maximum of 9999 could have been made, however the highest serial number I have seen is in the 3000 area. If you see a higher serial pls PM me, so I can edit (and not clog the thread). This a fairly rare collectable bar, especially when you consider the mintage and high premiums of 10oz bars from the same era at going for more than double spot. The first bar produced has a single "1" on it, which is believed to be the first 1kg Silver bar made by The Perth Mint. They didn't use zeros so there are 1 digit, 2 digit, 3 digit and 4 digit bars.
This is a great idea. I will post some photos later of a couple I have. Is it poor form to post photos of bars that have been passed on to other members if no names are involved? I really don't want to step on toes.
Absolutely fine as long as you took the photos (there is copyright), if you didn't take the photos you can credit where the photos are from.
Harrington Bar TYPE A - There are several types of 1kg Harrington bars. This one has several excellent features and has: 1) Weight mark - 1000 GMS 2) Date mark - 1981 3) Serial number 4) Assay - Harrington Logo 5) FINE SILVER BULLION 9998 This bar is also found with a DCL counterstamp that runs parallel to 1000 GMS mark. I've mentioned this before when someone asked - The Harrington logo contains the letters "HAR" inside a "RING" that is located on top of weight symbol (Trapezium) with the Word "TON" written in it, thus spelling/meaning "HARRINGTON". The bar also features nice swirl pour pattern on the upper surface, something that collectors love about vintage hand poured bars. Harrington not longer exists, which makes these bars even more collectable! MINTAGE: I'm not sure how many were produced certainly it was not in the hundreds of thousands as the 6 digits serial number suggest... there are serial numbers into the high 4000 area that I've seen.
An unusual 2kg odd-weight Johnson Matthey Australia bar we came across a while ago. Source: https://www.bullionlist.com.au/silver/more-silver-bullion
I have had the nod to put up photos of bars that have been passed onto other stackers but I have asked them to put up their own photos to show that all of you Philistines that us anal vintage collectors walk amongst you. Here are a couple I pulled up from the bottom of the lake. I just lurve old silver.
Hi guys, here are two groups of bars that I have recently had. First group is from top left to bottom right: Golden West, Perth Mint, Golden West, ABC, 2 x Harrington DCL, Mystery bar marked MS, Johnson Matthey and a good old Engy. Group two is: Harrington DCL (from 1st photo), Cummins (any ideas let me know), Golden West (form first photo), ABC, Peter W Beck, a different style Golden West and an ABC that seems to have been beaten with an ugly stick, though the marks really do look like they are from the manufacturing process (I have 3 of these and they are all really ugly!)
This explanation must be for the Liberians and Myanmarians (?), they're the only two counties that don't use the metric system that I know of.
ABC got hit with a huge surge in demand during the aftermath of the GFC. Their delivery times blew out to a few months and the finish on the kilo bars became very rough and ugly as the refineries rushed to produce them. We might be able to be a bit picky now, but back then it was case of taking the ugly lump or getting nothing.
These would be really nice if I gave them a good clean and I could get the stupid swirls out. I'll probably have to sell them under spot looking like this...yuck.
I really like those extruded PM bars, I've seen kilos and hundreds in them but never a 10oz or 20oz, did they make them in those sizes?
Re above post. Sooooooooooooooo jealous! Not the monetary value - just that gawjuss shiney stuff in a form that can never be replicated by modern processes. Thank you.
THANKS! It is nice to have a place to "show them off" as after taking photos they all end up shoved back in the deposit box until I either sell or trade them for my next "must have" collection!
Deak International bar According to the Perth Mint Website Johnson Matthey purchased the the Melbourne-based precious metals business of Deak International in Australia and New Zealand, in 1990.
