An OLD Silver Ingot in question!? Take a look !
Recently, I took a gamble buying a silver ingot. It was a situation where I didn't have anytime to do proper research. A quick listing where the seller was taking offers. He was certainly looking to sell. So, there was just no time to mess around!
With any investment, there is always risk involved. This is the risky end of the vintage silver market. The lack of overall documentation and history can make things very difficult. There is always that shot in the dark though. Where you go with your gut feeling that it could be something special...
Featured below is the item I purchased. An untrained eye would look at the date on the bar and automatically assume it's pre 1900. BUT there are ingots out there known as "fantasy" pieces. Essentially, they were created in the 1960s-70s in an effort to imitate pre 1900 style ingots(make believe). These ingots have been seen in gold and silver. .
☝️This silver ingot is dated 1851. Atleast I believe that to be a date and not a serial number. The letters CAL with a dot can be seen after the date. I also believe this could stand for California. The reverse side indicates a weight of 1.20oz. There is no purity stamp on this ingots. Which I am sure is not there for a reason. Lastly, the edge has the world SILVER spelled out on it. The font of the word silver does look to be pretty old!
I intend on doing some extensive research on this piece. With no hallmark indicating the market. It will be difficult to tie this to a particular maker. Pre 1900 ingots are not in my wheel house unfortunately. I will need to reach out to a couple people I know who specialize in this area.
Of course, I hope this is a homerun. I do believe the odds are against me overall though. BUT its hard to be successful with out taking chances in life. I am going to keep this post alive with regular updates on the study of this piece!
WISH ME LUCK!
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I'm really interested to see how this turns out. Hope it goes well for you.
Nice piece either way.
Update post coming tonight @method. Stay Tuned! Thanks brother.
For 1.2 ounces, the photos give it a small appearance...
September 17, 2019... 1.3 Hollywood Time...
Agreed it does!
Be sure to give us updates on your research, @silveringots. An 1851 silver bar! WOW... that must be so pricey. Makes you wonder why the date was stamped on that bar, and not the maker's mark.
It wasn't cheap at all! Production methods were so different back then versus today. Tough to figure out why they did what they did.
I'm always on the hunt for silver and gold.
Remember this knife?
Turns out it's not silver. I had it tested. They guy who tested it was a clerk at a pawn shop, and I didn't get the vibe he's an expert, but he explained it's a pretty standard test. It really looks silver, and no magnet sticks to it. My guess it it's a plated knife.
I did find a huge silver plated silverware set for about 10% of it's current selling price online. I still need to inventory it and see if anything is missing. I'll make a post about it in the future.
Keep up the nice work, and good luck with your hunts!
What test did he do? Thank you!
He called it a line test, and was pretty quick about it. I wasn't even able to observe him performing it.
I mentioned I wasn't selling it prior, which in retrospect might have been something I shouldn't have said. Maybe I should take it to the jeweler and get a second opinion.
Certainly can't hurt to get a second a second opinion!
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