Realcent.org

At some point you have noticed that the premium on certain silver bars and coins.

Engelhard bars have not been made for decades and what is in circulation just keeps passing from one hand to the next but it appears to be more collectable and valued regardless of the fact that 1 ounce of silver is one ounce of silver.

Also, different style bars it seems are more desirable that others. Some like poured bars others don't.

If you own any Suisse Credit bars...you can expect a hefty premium. The round 1 oz Suisse of America as well as the chunky 1 oz A-Mark bars are also harder to come by.

So the real question is does all this matter? In the long run or when silver gets above a certain dollar figure will these extra premium prices still hold?

What do you think about buying kilo silver bars, 500 gram bars, 100 gram bars etc?

Many people turn down 100 oz silver bars because when silver got so high in the 1980s some bars were found to have been drilled out and the silver replaced with lead in the core then sealed again making it very hard to tell.

the most liquid brands in the u.s. are J&M and Englehard. Those are worth paying a little extra for, because they are easier to sell.

paying extra for prospectors or poured bars is like paying extra for numismatics. there is a logic to it, but its the logic of a collectible, not the logic behind buying pm's. personally i am more interested in pm's so i don't buy those but I am happy to sell them at a premium. you make a good point about englehard being a finite supply, therefore justifying the collector interest.

100 oz bars - the main problem with those is if you want to sell one you have find someone who can afford it. its less the counterfeit concern than the liquidity concern. even if you can afford one, wouldn't you rather have 100 one-ounce rounds, since those are easier to spend or sell? that said, you can usually get these for a much more modes premium, so for a long term investment its not a bad idea, especially when the premiums on alternatives are relatively high.

If you deal with the "big boys" it doesn't really matter if they are generic or brand name. I think even with the "smaller" guys the names are starting to matter less and less. If silver gets below $20 than the "smaller guys" will start to care again but at these prices it shouldn't matter a whole lot.



I still would personally avoid 100 and 1000oz bars though because there are many cases of fake bars out there. I have personally held a FAKE 100oz bar before and if you don't really know what to look for....than your gonna get screwed.