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Message:: [QUOTE="gsalexan, post: 1929801, member: 24274"][ATTACH=full]332688[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]332689[/ATTACH] The metal “bank note” is .75 mm thick, measures 8 x 3.75” and contains 5.5 oz of .925 fine sterling silver. As I write, that represents a bullion value of about $94 at today’s spot price of $19 an ounce. But multiply it by $50 an ounce when silver topped out in January 1980 and you can understand why few of these sets survived intact. On the way to the smelter, the presentation case and its contents likely landed in the dumpster as collateral waste. Mysteries about this series remain, like true production numbers, and how ABNC impressed their engravings onto the silver plates. Normally a hardened steel transfer cylinder with a positive image would be used to press a negative image on a plate, which would then be used for printing. But this time they wanted a showpiece, so the final image on metal had to be positive. Stamping a steel printing plate into a softer silver one would work in theory, but silver is still a lot harder than paper. Most owners apparently didn’t have the heart to remove the sealed plastic that the metal bank note arrived in, even though according to the booklet, the silver was specially lacquered to prevent tarnishing. Makes you wonder if the lacquer would prevent it from actually being used for printing. Of course, you’d have to be satisfied with the resulting mirror image.[/QUOTE]