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by Michael E. Marotta, 2 Jun 1994
Some people call them "art bars" and most of them are ugly and overpriced. Frosty BU Santa Clauses and Elvises at five times the spot price of silver certainly don't float my boat. But if you keep your eyes open, you will find a value every now and then.
The Engelhard bars are very businesslike. They have the logo, weight and fineness on the obverse and also an incuse serial number. The reverses can be plain but often have a pattern of diagonal logos. The P-series bars I have run horizontally. PS and PY bars are stamped vertically and feature a globe. The PS has "EMC" the PY just a big E in the globe.
Engelhard also mints a round honoring the American prospector. The obverse shows a geezer panning. The reverse has the company name, logo, weight and fineness. There are several knock-offs from other mints. These have the prospector and something else on them, an eagle, a wagon, etc.
Bars and rounds from smaller mints are usually unidentified and so are unattributed. (My four unattribributeds are all "Mercury" being ounce-sized replicas of the 1917 Liberty Dime.) If you weigh them you might find them heavy. A small mint will often put a tad or titch more silver in to improve their marketability. I have one with 31.6 grams and have seen others from 31.2 to 31.5.
And some are light. The Liberty Lobby minted Andrew Jackson half ounces. (I was told that they had a series, but LL is not in my political orb.) Old Hickory is in profile on the obverse with "Courage" above and his name below. The reverse says Liberty Lobby with LL in a shield. The date, weight (240 grains) and fineness are also on the reverse. On the bottom it says "Guaranteed." I bought three out of five that were offered. Number 4 was a little light, coming in under 15 grams, so my enthusiasm for the loco focos was dimmed, though I later bought a carefully weighed Liberty Lobby Ounce.
Among my fondest purchases was from Howard Ruff himself. The obverse featured the Statue of Liberty, the weight, fineness and date with Liberty Mint above. The reverse calls this a "Dealer Medallion Not For Resale". In the center, horizontal, are the lines:
Guaranteed by
LIBERTY MINT
owned and operated by
Howard and Larry Ruff
1-800-345-MINT
My collection also includes government pieces. No government really issues hard money for circulation, though many issue fantasy pieces that have some denomination of account stamped on them. Canada and the US both do this. I have a $5 Canadian ounce with Old Queen Bess II on it. I also have two Mexican Onzas. These are shameless "new" onzas, minted in 1985 while the inflationary engines were being stoked for the coming devaluation. They carry traditional Mexican themes, Libertad on the obverse and the Eagle Cactus and Snake on the reverse.
My latest acquisition says simply BACHE on one side. Honest silver. It goes well with a railroad stock I have that passed through the offices of BACHE about 50 years ago.
Michael E. Marotta
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