List of poured silver mints

Buffaloknight

Buffaloknight

Active Member
It seems Hand poured silver shops are opening and soon closing afterwards.
It must not be a profitable trade. I wanted to compile a more recent list.
Have I missed any?? Please Add..
Why do some thrive and other die off quickly?

9 Fine Mint: www.9finemint.com

Ant Bullion: www.antbullion.com

Atlantis Mint: www.atlantismint.com

Beaver Bullion: www.beaverbullion.com

Bunker Bullion (HiHo Silver): www.tastysilver.com

Bison Bullion: www.bisonbullion.com

Backyard Bullion www.backyardbullion.com

Ericson Mint: www.ericsonmint.com

MK Barz: www.mkbarzandbullion.com

Monarch Precious Metals: www.monarchpreciousmetals.com

Mutiny Metals: www.mutiny-metals.myshopify.com

Pit Bullion: www.pitbullionlv.com

Polar Bear Pours: www.polarbearpours.com

Prospectors Gold and Gems: www.prospectorsgoldandgems.com

Red Carpet Poured Metals: www.pinball2199.wix.com/redcarpethandpoured

Redwood Poured: www.redwoodpoured.bigcartel.com

Rix Metal Works: www.facebook.com/rixmetalworx

Scottsdale Mint: www.scottsdalesilver.com

Shiny Bars: www.shinybars.com

SilverTowne: www.silvertowne.com

Smithys Bullion: https://www.facebook.com/handpouredsilver/

Vollmer Poured Silver: www.poursilver.com

Vulture peak mines: www.vulturepeakmines.com

Yeagers Poured Silver (YPS): www.yeagerspouredsilver.com



CLOSED DOWN LISTED BELOW

HAC PRECIOUS METALS: https://hacmint.com/ (Closed)

SILVERFOX REFINING (AUS): http://www.silverfoxrefining.com/ (Closed)

SILVERSTAN (UK): http://silverstan.com/ (Closed)

Ryans Rust Mint: http://www.ryansrustmint.com/ (Closed)
 
I'm always bothered by how secretive these businesses are. It comes off as needlessly shady. They generally don't provide an address. In many cases, not even a state or province. And in some cases, I'm not even clear on what country they're in. They also never have any kind of introduction by the founders or owners – there are no humans named, no About Us page that tells you anything about who runs this business.

I would take a much more open and transparent approach to such a business. Who we were, where we were, what we're all about, etc. There's no need for secrecy, and a lot of reasons to go in the opposite direction. This is an industry that tends to have trust concerns because of the nature of the product, its cost, the online and mail order aspect, and all the examples of scams and bankruptcies.

I've thought about starting a dealer and/or refinery business, so I've given this issue some thought. I always find it awkward that these dealers and mints don't identify themselves as people. You just have no idea who you're doing business with.

If the idea is that they don't want to disclose their addresses for security reasons, I think that's dumb. A heist of a refinery is extremely unlikely, and easy to defend against. The risk/reward wouldn't be there for most criminals of the sort who could dream of pulling it off. And most heists of places like armored truck cash handling depots involve an insider, an employee, so concealing one's address from the world won't accomplish anything in the modal case, since your employees obviously already know where you are / where they work.

The weirdest thing from some of these mints are the completely generic, anonymous silver bars and rounds. We have tons of "Buffalo" bars and rounds circulating in the US. They have no markings other than the weight and 999 fineness – no mint mark. I don't understand the motivation there, to make bullion without identifying yourself as the mint.
 
Also the Golden State Mint in the USA: https://www.goldenstatemint.com

"Golden State" is the nickname for California, so I assumed they were based there, but it turns out they're in Florida. Maybe they moved – California's government makes it an awful place to have a business.

They make their own poured bars, as well as not-poured bars and rounds. (They also sell a bunch of other bullion products from other mints.)

p.s. What is the term for the not-poured sleek products? Minted? PAMP contrasts "Cast Bars" against "Minted Ingots", where cast bars are synonymous with poured and minted ingots are the normal bars, but I don't know if the industry as a whole uses these terms the same way.
 
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