Vintage Silver Bars

Doral is an old New York operation that has been around since 1972 and still in business out of Freeport, NY. They are a family owned and operated business providing full service precious metals refining nationwide. To my knowledge they no longer pour silver bars, nor have they for quite awhile. They do, however, still pour gold bars. Here is a 5 and 10 oz example. These are quite scarce and highly collectible.

There are a few smaller bars that exist, but they are extremely rare and sought after. I’m fortunate to have a 2+ oz example to share here.

Doyle’s Mint has always been a highly popular old refiner among collectors. Not a lot of information available, but believed to be out of Southern California circa 70’s-early 80s. The iconic Lion hallmark is one of the more distinguished hallmarks you will come across. They don’t come up often and when they do, they get snapped up quickly. They came in 5, 10 and 25 oz variety. Here are a few examples of Doyle’s Mint pieces from my collection.

And here is a 25 oz example from Brian R’s collection.

Dugan & Helterbrand operated out of Marshfield, Missouri from 1980 until 1991. They were a precious metals recycling business and the ingots that have survived have become very sought after. Their ingots are known for the “Scales” hallmark that was used by other notable companies like United States Smelting and Refining and David C Davis. Some of the pieces had picture frame molds and others more traditional molds without picture frame. I only have one D&H piece having traded my other away, which I miss dearly.

I’m please to share a very nice D&H collection from Brian R. below. He has some spectacular pieces in different varieties and sizes.

There are niches within collecting vintage silver bars, and collecting extruded bars, particularly kit kat style extruded bars has become a very popular niche within the hobby. The first kit kat bar I ever owned was a California Crown Mint, but the DURO was always the one at the top of my list. There just are not a whole lot of them that have survived. There is not a lot of information on DURO, but they came in 5, 10, 25, and 50 oz sizes. I have yet to see a 100 oz, so not sure they went beyond 50. Here’s my Duro collection for your enjoyment.

I believe the stubby 5 oz predated the traditional 5 and 10. It’s not proven, just a hunch. The style is much different, slightly more primitive and I mean that in a good way. The hallmark is different with no outlines on the letters or shape enclosing the hallmark. 5 F.T.O. and .999 on the stubby, as well as LOT are different. I have also come across a few images of 10 oz DUROs that had the same style of hallmark and weight/purity stamps with LOT. Again, I believe these were produced in very limited numbers before changing the style to the type 2 five and ten oz that I have pictured at top in the image above.

There were many refiners in Texas back in the day, but only a handful stand out, Don Casey being one of those. The company started in the early 70’s out of Garland, Texas. He later integrated Silvex Silver Systems into the operation and I’m pleased to share examples of Don Casey bars and bars that have the Silvex Silver Systems counterstamp. Typically the the bars with the Silvex Silver Systems counterstamp are more scarce. Regardless, premiums on Don Casey pieces have gone up significantly over the last several years.

Here is a big boy that I formerly owned. I miss this piece.

We have a few more excellent example to share from Brian R. Enjoy!

Here is a recent addition to the Don Casey post that was sent in on 3/14/21 by collector John G. Thank you for sharing this great piece.

Delta was a prolific refiner out of Canada who produced beautiful ingots in all sizes. They are known for their pour character, dimples, pour lines, etc. I have been buying these whenever I can find a reasonable price, as premiums are very high on Delta bars and deservedly so. I’m pleased to share some great examples from my collection below.

Not as rare as the 5 oz, but still particularly scarce are 10 oz class. Below are a few examples for your enjoyment.

I saved a few beauties for the following picture. The 5 oz above paired with an incredible 20 oz and 10 oz double hallmark variety.

Another share from my collector buddy, Brian R. He has several beautiful Delta pieces in his collection.

Adding a really amazing historical image from the Delta office of Keith Law who has contributed more information on this famous old Canadian company than anyone previously. The insights of a long-term employee are invaluable.

Drew Refining is another one of the many West Coast bars that I love. I’m a native Californian and have grown to love pieces from Drew. They were out of Berkeley, CA circa mid-late 70s. Not a lot of information is available on Drew, unfortunately. They are more commonly found in 10 oz, but even the 10s have become hard to find. The 5 oz are my favorite as you will see from the following pic.

Drew came in larger sizes, too, and not uncommon to find them in 25-100 oz. Here is a type 1 and type 2 10 oz.

If anyone gets more information on Drew pieces, please email me at silverblogger@vintagepouredbar.com

One of the first rare 5 oz ingots I ever bought was a Cincinnati piece and still to this day, it’s one of my top 10 favorite 5 oz pieces. These bars have become extremely hard to find and whenever they come on the market, they are snapped up quickly. You may hear the term “Tier 1 Bar” from time to time and not understand what this is. It means bars in this classification are the most rare and fetch the highest premiums. Cincinnati are in this class, particularly the 5 and 10 oz pieces. The 25+ oz Cinci bars also command excellent premiums, but not quite to the level of the 5s and 10s.

C & S are out of Denver, Colorado. Not a lot of information has surfaced on these, but they are definitely unique. I’ve been fortunate to have acquired several examples and the 5 oz class pieces are absolutely killer. Notice from the pictures that the mold and stampings are unique in terms of positioning.

I’ve been in love with these 10 oz Classic Coins bars since the first one I ever bought. I have nicknamed them “Chattanooga Bars.” I believe they only came in 10 oz class and wish I knew more about them. My assumption is that they were a local business/coin shop in the area and dabble in poured bars for awhile. The style is consistent with mid-late 70s on some of the examples and maybe early 80’s on others. I’ll detail in the photos below.

Note the top two molds seem to be a bit different than the bottom two, namely the height. I have not measured, but to the naked eye, you can see this. Top bar is more crude and odd weight, whereas the bottom ingot is more refined. See reverse pics below.