Month: June 2020

W.H. Foster, Inc.

Where to begin with Foster ingots. All I can say is they have been on fire these last 3-4 years. I regret selling several of my more rare Foster pieces, but happy to say I still have several that I plan on keeping! The company was started in the 60’s and started making pieces in the late 60’s era. They came in all sizes from 1 oz up to over 100 oz. The company operated out of Walla Walla, Washington. Enjoy the images of some various pieces that I have previously owned and some that I still own today.

One of the better struck 5 oz class type 2 hallmark Foster ingots that I own currently. Love this bar! Very low mintage piece <200.
Deak Perera triangle stamp and star stamp on reverse.

On the 3 oz pieces, there is a first generation with only the Deak Triangle and second generation, which has the Deak and Star on reverse. Below are pictures of both pieces I own.

These first gens often appear to have a pebbled look.

Reverse pic.

Note the toned second gen below. It appears to be slightly shorter and thicker than the first gen at top.

Reverse pic side by side.
This pic really shows the slight difference in mold/dimension.

I was going to save these for my upcoming “silver smalls” blog posts, but decided to include them here. I have a type 1 and type 2 one oz class Foster/Comstock Mines pieces. Sources estimate mintage at <1000, but honestly these rarely come up. Not many have survived. Premiums on these are exceptionally high. The top example is estimated at <1000, but the bottom example is one of only a handful known and has tested at a lower purity. This one has not been tested, but one featured on allengelhard has tested at 83.631% silver and 16.985% copper. Very interesting.

Obverse pic. Top example is thinner and longer. Bottom is shorter and chunkier.
Reverse pic.

Here’s some images of Foster pieces I owned previously. These are all my pictures, by the way.

My first 8 oz Foster that I ever owned. These are really incredibly difficult to come by and no longer affordable haha.
Unique type 2 hallmark in 5 oz class. See reverse for the key difference.
Single Deak hallmark with 5-113. 5 oz weight designation with #113 serial, <150 estimated mintage.
This is the first Foster I ever owned and type 1 hallmark in 5 oz class. Back is blank, and unfortunately I only took a photo of the front in my backyard at the time.
This is the one that got away. Purchased from a seller in Los Angeles 4-5 years back. When I sold it was a record price and this bar continued to appreciate. Hindsight! Just a spectacular 8 oz and likely the best we will ever see in this class.
Another that got away, rare 1 oz class type 2 hallmark, estimated <25 with Deak stamp and hallmark with star hallmark.

My good buddy Brian R. was nice enough to share a great pic of a 3 and 10 oz class poured Foster below.

Beautiful lines on the 1o oz and a great stamp!
The 3 has a very good Deak hallmark stamp. The 10 is just ridiculous! Serial 401 with Deak and Star hallmarks. Spectacular! Estimated mintage of the 10 at <500.

Franklin Brothers

I’ve struggle to find any information on Franklin Bros. operation. Based on the style of the ingots, my guess is late 70’s era and I suspect they were not around too long, based on the limited number of these that exist in the collector market coupled with the the fact that I’ve only seen 5 and 10 oz class. Both the 5 and 10 oz came in a type 1 and type 2 variety. One has the stamp of Chico, CA and one does not. See below. These are high premium bars, particularly in 5 oz class.

Type 2 10 oz class odd weight with the Chico, CA stamp.
Reverse of 10 oz.

The 5 oz are far and away my favorites. These are beautiful little bars. Enjoy.

Type 1 below has two key differences than type 2. The first 9 in purity is large and there is no Chico, CA stamp. See type 2 above with small 999 and the Chico, CA stamp. Pretty cool.
Reverse pic.

Finer Inc.

I have been digging for awhile on Finer ingots with no success. I’m in love with these bars and fortunate to own a few different examples. If anyone has more information on these, please send me an email at silverblogger@vintagepouredbar.com. These are very high premium pieces and tend to tone up very nicely. All of them have great color.

Two Different varieties of 10 oz class. Note the molds are slightly different and purity stamp slightly bigger on bottom ingot. The “Silver” stamp also slightly different on the two bars at close glance.
Type 1 below is an earlier bar in my opinion. Type 2 has a weight stamp. Unbelievable toning.
5 oz class. Extremely hard to come by.
Consistent with the 10 oz reverse with odd weight and TROY OUNCES stamp.
Family photo.
Beautiful trio.

Eutectic Metals Company, Inc.

I was able to recently dig up some information on this old company out of Roanoke, Texas. They were incorporated in 1974 and were dissolved in 1993. Not much else known, but their ingots are unique in shape and style. Very similar to Sumitomo bars for those that have seen these. Thanks to Brian R. for the below images.

Two different varieties. See bottom has another hallmark stamped on side. Top has a serial/lot #.
Bottom also has lot number. May appear as a date, but it’s not. Company didn’t exist until 1974.
Beautiful reverse.

Empire International, Inc.

Empire International are some of the most difficult ingots to track down in 5 and 10 oz class. When they are found, it’s typically been in 25 oz class. They have a really unique “Pinecone” hallmark with the word “Empire” vertically spelled out from top of pinecone to bottom. Take a look below at a rare 10 oz that Brian R. owns with a 1 oz commercial art bar.

These 10 oz are exceptionally rare. Great example. Note the extreme space between the 1 and 0 in the weight stamp.

The reverse is exceptional!

I previously owned the below bar, and miss it dearly. It’s a great example of 25 oz class.