Where is This Silver Bar From?

I have a friend who bought this 100 ounce .999+ silver bar off of ebay and he can't find out where it came from. I don't recognize this mark at all. Any thoughts?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

You would have a much better chance of getting a meaningful answer to your inquiry if you post a picture of the bar, or at the very least describe its markings.

 

I placed a picture but it will not upload. If all else fails look at this link: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...&th=12289eda859cef36&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw

 

Your link requires a membership signup, which I'm not about to do.

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t8566/

The most common reason for upload failure is having a picture that is too large, and often that problem is caused by including a huge background area. Crop your picture, verify its size, and reduce the size if necessary, and members who aren't signed up for your site can look at the picture and help you.

 

Here we go again! Thanks for the advice with the attachments. Please let me know if they don't work again. I just am trying to figure out the origin of this bar. Thanks

 

That could be the owners personal Identification stamp, or a trademark I can't identify.

 

You mean the owner that originally bought the bar put that mark on there or the producer of the bar put it on there?

 

could be either. But I have not been able to locate and identify the marking as a "trademark", so leaning more to the previous or original owner, not the seller. Many times , people who have invested in silver bars, had a personal ID marking in case of theft.

 

hmmm I didn't know that. I figured that there was a place that manufactured these bars. Is there any where else that I could gather more information about this mark?

 

keep checking back here james, perhaps some one may have an answer. You might also want to call the folks I gave you that information on and describe the marking to them, perhaps they could ID it or lead you someplace that can.

 

I'd suggest you contact someone at Johnson Matthey and pose the question to them, try to send a link or a picture to them so that they can see the symbol / logo for an ID. JM is one of the oldest and largest PM assayers in the US and deals with all kinds of PMs. They have probably seen every form of PMs and assay mark that's out there. If they are able to disclose the name or source of that bar's manufacture or provenance, then they'd be the officials I'd place an inquiry with.

 

see james, patience pays off.

 

Why not just say from the earth in that case?

 

It's pretty gutsy buying a 100 ounce bar without knowing the source, or the fineness. Trusting the markings on something like this can lead to grave disappointment.

 

Great point, which is why we want to know the origin of the bar. If you come up with anything, let me know. Thanks

 

Thanks for the advice! I have contacted Johnson Matthey and sent one of their representatives pictures of the bar and I am waiting for his reply. He said that there was no guaruntee that he would be able to verify the origin, but he would get back to me. I will let you all know the results. Thanks again!

 

Excellent! Eager to hear your next report back from JM.

 

I would guess that the bar originated in someone's machine shop, here or in China, and is made of 100 ounces of anything but silver:crying:. I can't imagine anyone payng good money for a piece like this unless it is from a 10,000+ feedback seller domestic seller with a LIFETIME guarantee of authenticity, and then paid for by credit card (so it could be 'charged back' in case of trouble). If you could give an auction number, we could make a little better judgement.

 

Heard back from him this morning but this is all he had to say:

"J.S.,
We have been unable to find any information on this logo. As we discussed, your best bet is to find blogs or chatrooms for silver investors and keep asking the question.
Good luck,"

It must really be a unique branding if people from JM can't figure it out. It looks like there is no answer as of now. I hope it is a legitimate silver bar but if not, I will learn from my friend's mistake and stear clear of oddly marked bars like this one.

Any other findings are more than welcome!

 

isn't it .999