Western States Refining

Big fan of this old refiner out of Fontana, CA. They operated from 1975-1983 and have quite a following among vintage collectors. They made vintage silver rounds in 1 oz, as well as poured bars ranging from 5 oz up to 100 oz class. Below are some examples.

Nicely toned 10 oz class paired with 5 oz odd weight.
The toning is fantastic on the reverse of the 10. Purple and orange colors forming.

I recently discovered something crazy while reviewing WSR on Allengelhard.com. They had a rare 10 oz piece that had a logo that I’m quite familiar with, but never associated with WSR. The bar I’m going to show is a unicorn in that I’ve never seen another like it. It was made no doubt by WSR for another Southern California company called Western Bancorp Data Processing Company (WBDPC) that operated in El Segundo, CA. They operated from 1972-1981.

Discovering previously unknown hallmarks is what makes this passion so fun.
Beautiful piece (9.1 troy oz). Chunky mold, great lines, and patina.
Reverse pic.

Brian R. has an amazing WSR collection that he was nice enough to share. Enjoy.

It doesn’t get any better than this. Stunning examples.
The color on these!!!

Author: Vintage Poured Bars

New blogger with a passion for old poured silver bars. I'm a Bay Area native and self employed. Active buyer of vintage silver poured bars and occasional seller.

9 thoughts on “Western States Refining”

  1. I picked up 3 10 oz. Bars but have only seen one for sale on EBay for $999.00 is west coast refining inc. that colectable? I’m having trouble getting info other than they were only in business 2 or 3 years early 1980’s.

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    1. Hi John. These are awesome pieces. They are highly collectible, but not for the ebay price you saw. That’s not in line with my value on these. Information on these has been hard to come by. They are exceptionally rare in 5 oz class, and still quite scarce in 10 oz and 25 oz class. I’d love to see pics of the 3 you have. Would be nice to post these on the blog! You can reach me through the contact tab.

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  2. Just purchased 4 Western States Refining 100 OZ + old pour bars. They are for sale- let me know if interested. 6/15/21

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      2. I have an old 91.25 ounce bar of WSR silver, from recaptured silver from old PORNO films. Cast in the 70’s, I believe. I bought this from the film maker.

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  3. Years ago I purchased through eBay two huge WSR silver bars, one of 493 OZ and one of 221 OZ. I contacted the seller and we spoke on the phone. He was a porno film star and producer who used WSR to render the silver from old film stock into silver bars. I sold the larger bar but still have the 221 OZ bar. I subsequently acquired a 1 OZ WSR coin. At the time I acquired the large bars, WSR was an EPA Superfund Site and needed to be cleaned up> Does anyone know if this has been accomplished?
    Gary Peacock

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  4. I found one missing the WSR stamp but deffinately a WSR. Would appreciate your feed back if you can email me.

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