Vintage Silver Bars

W.E. Mowrey has a rich and long history in the precious metals industry. They started in 1899 in Minnesota and still do business there today. Here is a snippet taken from their website that gives a bit of history.

“The company was founded in 1899 on Robert Street in St. Paul, Minnesota by William Edwin Mowrey and moved to its present location on University Avenue in 1911. William developed a line of dental alloys as an outlet for the gold he refined.  The company has changed ownership four times since its inception and remains at its second location in the midway area of St. Paul.” http://www.mowreygold.com.

They are made beautiful ingots ranging from 1 oz to 20+ oz. They are very rare and hard to come by. Based on style, my guess is they were made late 70’s to early 80’s timeframe. I’m fortunate to own the 3 pictured below. These are keepers!

One of my favorites to collect are the Omega pieces that were made by M & B Mining out of Las Vegas, NV starting in 1969. They were only around several years and believed to have gone out of business in 1974 when the owner passed away. They came in sizes ranging from 1/2 oz (ultra rare piece) to 100 oz. Their small pieces are some of the most coveted currently among silver smalls enthusiasts.

Here is a family photo shared by Jon M. of his 1st gen Omega pieces. Very nice!

There are not a lot of refiners from this box, but below I’ll showcase several, some more known that others.

First up is Liberty Mint, which are typically found in 5 oz (there are multiple 5 oz varieties), but very scarce in 1 oz and 10 oz class.

Next up is one of my favorites, L.C. Murray. These came in two varieties, with Torch Hallmark and without. We can call these type 1 and 2. I think the non hallmark came first. Below is a non hallmark type 1.

Nice type 1 with picture frame. I have the 3 oz version that I’ll post at a later time with my “smalls” collection.

Next is a 10 oz class Louisville Metals Company ingot. These are typically only found in 10 oz class, but I have seen one 50 oz variety.

Next up is a very rare 5 oz class LCR with Bell hallmark. I’ve only come across 5 or so of these in all my time collecting. They are serialized and were made in very limited quantity based on the serial numbers I’ve seen. They are really neat pieces an very expensive if you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to buy one.

This came from Ken Conaway’s collection. Very lucky to have it.

Another set I collect is the Lawrence and Sons ingots from Mohave, CA. These are fantastic and very tough to find. They come in 1, 2, 3 and 5 oz. I have the whole set now, but will feature the other pieces in my “smalls” posts. I’ll try and get a family phone up, as well.

Last up is a mystery, but regardless, a fantastic piece. I’ve seen this listed as LCE, but the special thing about this other that the killer style and hallmark, is it matches exactly the mold of the 5 oz Comstock Mine pieces.

Kingsmen is an older maker that you don’t see very often. They made a variety of sizes and styles, although information on this company is hard to come by. When found they are typically the 5 oz class extruded version pictured below. The Pure Silver mold is very scarce and pictured below. I have seen a few 10 oz poured examples and 1 oz silver rounds made by Kingsmen Silver. They are highly collectible pieces and command healthy premiums.

Keiffer ingots have been a mystery to many of us collectors, but one thing you can say, these are some of the most beautiful pieces out there. They command extremely high premiums today. I have been fortunate to own several pieces over the years and these pieces below are still in my collection today. They came in 1 oz (I’ll share pics of this in my “smalls” posts at a later date), 5 oz class, 10 oz class and 20+ oz. Most I have seen with the exception of the 1 oz piece are odd weights.

Here is a really cool 7 oz odd weight example from the collection of Brian R.

Finishing out the “J” posts with some notable common and uncommon vintage pieces. First up is J and J Smelting and Refining old pours out of Hesperia, CA. These came in 5 and 10 oz primarily, but have also been found in 25 and 100 oz. I have a rare 2 oz piece that I will feature in my “smalls” postings later. I also have a 1 oz commercial art bar that I will share later.

Next up is a very collectable, but not uncommon hallmark from Jackson Precious Metals out of Ohio. JPM was the predecessor to OPM (Ohio Precious Metals). These are cool old pours and this was a mold that was commonly used in that era, in particular many local coin shops around Ohio had bars made by JPM with their respective stamps. For those who know what I’m talking about, reference Xenia Coin Shop, Allen’s Coin shop, etc.

Nice 10 oz example.

Nice reverse on the 5 oz.

Next up are a few of my favorites. First is a JASCO bar. These are beautifully done and very rare/high premium bars. There is a JASCO silver recovery company out of Houston, TX and I believe this to be the same company, although having a tough time finding time frame when this bar was made. These bars came in 5 to 50 oz size. Just a killer look on these.

Last up is a mystery, just a letter “J,” but a bar that I love and the only 5 oz I’ve seen. I have a few 1 oz variety of this hallmark, but the 5 is a unicorn. Really well done bar as per the below pic.

Hard not to kick off the “J” hallmarks without starting with the very famous JM, who have been in business since 1817 when Percival Johnson set up a gold assayer business in London. In 1851 George Matthey joined the firm and the name was changed to Johnson & Mathey. In 1852, they became the official assayer and refiner to the Bank of England. Fast forward to year 2020, Johnson Matthey operates in more than 30 countries and employs more than 15,000 people. They are based in London, UK.

Vintage collectors are often into both JM and Engelhard, as these were the two heavyweights in the industry through the years and produced many beautiful varieties and sizes of gold and silver ingots. Below are some pieces from my collection.

Here are some examples from Brian R’s collection. Some really nice bars here.

According to allengelhard.com, a collector set of 3oz, 4oz, 5oz, 7oz and 10oz ingots was offered in 1965 by Guardian Trust Company of Montreal, Canada. Below is the very set. Fantastic.

Today, we are going to finish up the “I” box with pictures of other notable refiners from this letter. Enjoy.

First up, we have The International Silver Exchange. This is the only one I have see like it, and very reminiscent of the 10 oz URI with similar pigtail characteristic. This is a really cool piece. I was able to find an example of an assay paper from this company that I will share below that shows the company operations in Provo, UT circa mid 1970’s.

Next up is a 5 oz class ICI which stands for International Coin Incorporated. I found some limited information on this company, which operated out of Minnesota in the early 1980s. I’ve only see this bar in 1 oz commercial art bar variety and the 5 oz pictured here.

Next is International Silver LTD Inc., which was spun out of International Silver Company, which operated from 1893 until 1983. The company had HQ location in Connecticut, but had affiliates across the US. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia.

‘In 1979 International Silver, Ltd. (Traded as “ISLOTC” on Vancouver Stock Exchange, and traded on the OTC market in the United States.) was created to bring the dormant International Silver Company back from a group of licenses, hallmarks and other assets into a trading company with buying centers for scrap precious metals in Cookeville, Tennessee, Waco, Texas, and Las Vegas, Nevada, a refinery operation was opened in Scottsdale, Arizona and mining purchase operations in Tucson, Arizona and Lake Tahoe, California. The firm also owned and operated a precious metals trading operation in Scottsdale, with a seat that took delivery of silver bullion and silver coin contracts off of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, The Mid America Commodity Exchange and COMEX in New York City.

Charles L. Long and Leslie D. Long were the Chairman and President of the new operation, while Larry Hovater was Secretary/Treasurer. At the height of the 1979/1980 silver boom where it traded above $50.00 per ounce, the firm was purchasing $2M a week in scrap, 1000 ounce delivery bars and contracts for 90% silver coins. The firm was also trading $1M to $5M per week in precious metals contracts, with delivery primarily in Chicago. The Floor Trader for these contracts was Long brother Larry E. Long.’

Here are a few seldom seen examples of other “I” ingots from Brian R’s collection. Thanks for sharing.

Close up shot of hallmark.

Really interesting piece.

Not to be confused with International Precious Metals (also IPM), Intermountain Precious Metals started in Nampa, ID in 1976 and are still in business today. I have only encountered these in 5 and 10 oz class and have a few examples to share today.

Here are two nice examples, including a first generation example from Brian R’s collection.

International Vaults Refining are a collector favorite as far as “I” refiners go. These have the iconic hallmark of a “Vault” on the obverse of the bars. They came in 5, 10 and 25 oz. Premiums are very big on these, as they are incredibly scarce and very sought after. After doing some digging on the history, I got a hit from an old legal brief from 1983. One of the founder, William Johnson, helped create International Vaults LTD in 1977 as a California corporation to engage in trading gold and other precious metals. Long story short, they violated securities and exchange rules by issuing bogus promissory notes with investors and ultimately filed bankruptcy around 1980 timeframe.

The 5 oz came in two types, a first generation with the letters “IV” and a second generation with the hallmark of the vault on obverse.

Really pleased to share more International Vaults pieces from Brian R’s collection, including a really rare round from the maker. This one is high on my wish list.