Yes, you should test it with an ultrasonic device. In-depth testing is vital... I hope it's genuine. Good luck! Forgive me, but it's so ugly!
Real sweet bar.. real legit! How to know if its real silver "How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf?" Frodo: "I think a servant of the Enemy would look fairer and feel fouler"
I think it has character! What explains the copper coloring between the layers? Just natural tarnish?
Many thanks for all the feedback, just what I was hoping for, I'm waiting to see if Heraeus get back to me which if they do should make it pretty clear if the do produce such 'back yard made' style cast bars. I bought it from eBay and not direct from BullionUK, the listing link is in the OP. The copper colour which is clearly visible in the second and third photos that I posted and even more so if you hover over them on eBay's listing - this is a mystery to me, it doesn't seem to make any sense to leave it like that if this was a fake bar (as the Hobbit quote), but can silver turn that colour? Hopefully Heraeus will clear this up, I sent them this thread link as well so they may even post here. I will look in to local dealers that may be able to test the bar if necessary, it's not logistically so easy as I live far from such places and have other commitments coming up.
I asked BullionUK about the bar and sent links to the eBay listing and photos, they stand by it and state that it is genuine and supplied directly from the mint: All products are genuine. We are supplied directly by the mints. We offer two types of bar, cast and minted. cast = poured (look a little rougher, carry virtually no premium) minted = stamped (or sometimes milled, better looking, carry a higher premium) Your bar is cast, hope this helps.
Vintage bar is it not?? Have seen such textures n grainny looks on other maker's vintage bar. Could be as 20-30 years old, maybe more.
It was purchased by the eBay seller from BullionUK in June 2013 and according to them was supplied directly from the mint, it's possible that they had some old stock that they sent as all the current ones being offered aren't like this, being instead smooth, flatter and rectangular. I hope that Heraeus will let us know, maybe it was a sort of 'second' so they just put it in to storage but then decided to sell them as is anyway rather than refine them again?
it's legit, just has some age to it. Heraeus have been producing better quality bars for awhile now, that's why most photos on the web will show nice poured bars often wrapped in plastic (and even more recently serial number). I have had old 1kg poured bars in the past, just as ugly.
There are no red flags in the ebay description, seems legit enough. Doesn't mean it's not a fake, but there are no tells in the ad, so confidence is on the high side.
Excellent, I'm much relieved. As an old bar then it may have a premium to offset it's rough look, I do like the classic ingot shape of it, many thanks for all the input!
