Homestake Mining, 1985, 50 oz. Silver Bars... Value?

Discussion in 'Bullion Investing' started by shotgunnersteve, Apr 18, 2018.

  1. shotgunnersteve

    shotgunnersteve New Member

    Hi all,

    I have three Homestake Mining, approx. 50 oz. silver bars. They were poured in 1985 and have the serial numbers, stamp, etc. Two have the original cloth bags, and the other has an original bag, but has an incorrect weight on it. My brother inherited the other three that my dad had at the time and I think we switched bags.

    I know there were less than 100 of these produced, and that there is quite a premium over bullion pricing, due to the fact that Homestake closed it's operations in 2002.

    I know there are a lot of bullion collectors out there. I have watched many of the smaller bars that were for sale on Ebay get a lot of attention.

    What kind of premium would these bars bring?

    Thanks in advance!

    Steve
     
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  3. mpcusa

    mpcusa "Official C.T. TROLL SWEEPER"

    Some pictures would help :)
     
    asheland likes this.
  4. rte

    rte Well-Known Member

    All ENGELHARD has a Homestake Mining Company Definitive Page.

    and HEADS UP the recently produced counterfeit Homestake ingots.
     
  5. FrugalCO

    FrugalCO Member

    Welcome to CT, Steve !
     
  6. mbogoman

    mbogoman Active Member

    I know this reply is a little late, but I see that your question was not really answered. You are correct that the smaller bars get "a lot of attention", but that is the same with all of the major refiners, like Engelhard, JM, etc. The smaller bars are more heavily collected and generate much larger premiums than the larger bars do. A good example is the most recent sale of a 10 oz Homestake bar on Ebay - it brought $1333. A month before than I bought a kilo sized one for just $20 more. So, bottom line is your 50 oz bars will get a premium over spot, but nowhere near what the smaller bars bring. Somewhere around 2 to 2 1/2 times spot...
     
  7. Sam Carter

    Sam Carter Well-Known Member

    Are you sure 10oz bar went for $1333? That’s 133.30 per ounce! Silver is silver at $16.50 plus say $1.50 premium. Not saying it didn’t sell for that but who would pay 6+ times spot for and ounce of silver?
     
  8. mbogoman

    mbogoman Active Member

    Yes. On April 21 of this year, Ebay item #112938973367, a 10.44 oz bar dated 1980 (not even one of the lower mintage bars) sold for $1333. That was higher than prior examples in the recent past which went for around $100-$200 less.

    These aren't just bullion. I'll buy all the Homestake bars you can get me at a $1.50 premium over spot.
     
    Stevearino likes this.
  9. Clawcoins

    Clawcoins Damaging Coins Daily

  10. myownprivy

    myownprivy Well-Known Member

    hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha "collectible" silver bullion.
     
  11. mbogoman

    mbogoman Active Member

    Yes, very collectible. And liquid. There is always strong bidding for these, at least for the smaller class ones (10 oz and below). The larger class bars have a more limited collector base and don't usually draw the same intense bidding.
     
    Nathan401 likes this.
  12. juris klavins

    juris klavins Well-Known Member

    14-110x300.jpg Less than 100 produced - rare and collectible at a high premium :greedy:
     
    Spark1951 likes this.
  13. mbogoman

    mbogoman Active Member

    Nice! Good looking cooling lines on that one!
     
    juris klavins likes this.
  14. myownprivy

    myownprivy Well-Known Member

    99.99999% of the rest of the world just doesn't care. To them, they either don't know silver is valuable or value it at only around spot. So, good luck maintaining your market. I'd poop my pants if my "investment" had only a few hundred potential buyers. I need to know it will be easy to resell and that lots of people want it. That's why I buy metals close to spot so that risk is low and my potential market is at least in the millions of people.
    Numismatics has at least thousands of people in that market. (Still not big enough for me. And too risky) But what the hell category are 50oz art bars in?! And how many people are interested? 100 people? 200? 10?



     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2018
  15. juris klavins

    juris klavins Well-Known Member

    One ounce art bars from the 1970s as documented in the Archie Kidd guides are the preferred marketplace - thousands of varieties, thousands of interested buyers - collectors can buy in for $20 and up on common pieces - rare, obsolete and obscure bars fetch hefty premiums - your choice of entry point ;).
    Bullion bars are, for the most part, just mass produced .999 silver ingots which can be had for slightly above melt price - one ouncers carry a higher % premium than larger bars.
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2018
  16. Oldhoopster

    Oldhoopster Member of the ANA since 1982

    People collect what they like to collect. While I tend to agree that paying a substantial premium for this stuff is not something I would do, I don't think it's correct to criticize others on their collecting habits. Now, if someone starts spouting off about the investment potential, then they're fair game. But so far, this thread (IMO) is just about people who like this stuff. I'm sure there's stuff I collect that others find inane and boring
     
  17. myownprivy

    myownprivy Well-Known Member

    Fair enough! Collect what you want, but understand it's money spent you're unlikely to get back. Like Beanie Babies.
     
  18. Dillan

    Dillan The sky is the limit !

    Welcome to Coin Talk Steve, Hope you get a good price for your silver Bars. I hope you get a big number over spot. That was a nice heirloom your received. Do your self a favor, and do lots of research prior to selling. If I knew as much as some of these guys I would probably be sailing the seven seas instead of spending my time on Coin Talk. Anyway Steve there is a lot of great people on here ,and good help for questions. Take the good, ignore what does not matter, and things will work out fine. That's a healthy chunk of silver so good luck I hope it pays off.
     
  19. Andy Williams

    Andy Williams New Member

    Yeah, I feel alot like that on the generics I bought when silver was in the $18-28 range. Poof! Oh and that means that I lost, in most instances, 25%-nearly 50% on those great buy generics!! Ironically, the lost money spent on those generics has been balanced out by some of my sales of my crazy premium Engelhards, GA, and B.R. Mackay's.
     
  20. Dillan

    Dillan The sky is the limit !

    I had also purchased 70 oz of silver when the price was 18 /oz but I managed to break even selling them om eBay. It surely was not worth the time and effort I put in to them. I still believe that someday silver will shoot up again like it has in the past a number of times . I just do not know if I will live long enough to see it happen again. Take care . dillan
     
  21. TheFinn

    TheFinn Well-Known Member

    If you still have the bars, you haven't lost anything. No loss/gain until they're sold.
     
    FrugalCO likes this.
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