kimchi

2017 Temple Pandas in Bi-Met and Brass.  There's a spec of something on the bi-met both on the medal and inside plastic pouch.  Might be some frosting issue on the brass.
Parcel was well overdue and seems to have been mis-sorted multiple times.  Dispatched from Shanghai for the UK on 28th May.  Arrived back in Shanghai on 1st June and dispatched to UK again.  Arrived back in Shanghai on the 4th June and dispatched to the UK again.  Finally arrived in the UK on 17th.

Here is some interesting facts about these bars, by the numbers....
The Silver Forum Bars in numbers
Initial mintage: 171
Estimated mintage: 200 (or 250 depending on demand)
Project duration: 2 weeks planning, 7 weeks production
Weight: 1 ozt (min)
Purity: 99.9% Fine Silver
Average weight: 32.5 grams
Lightest bar: 31.12 grams
Heaviest bar: 34.5 grams
x220 bars poured
x5 graphite melting crucibles totalling 85 grams of burnt off graphite
x40 rejected (because of weight or quality)
x180 bars sent for hallmarking
x1 undergone destructive testing
x8 “mint error” bars (miss stamped by me) – bound for the melting pot!
15 individual stamps per bar
Total individual stamps: 2,565
Number of people purchased bars: 76 (so far!)
x7 Gold Premium Members
x40 Premium Members
x29 Standard Members
x7 Countries over 3 continents!
x5 US States & x30 UK Counties
~60,000 cm square of brown wrapping paper
~40 meters of Brown Packaging tape
60,000 cm Square of Bubble wrap
Average distance each bar has travelled by post (including hallmarking): 750 miles
Longest distance to be travelled by any bar: 10,000 miles (to Australia!)

I either used the wrong number, or on one bar I had the number horizontal. When you do 1080 stamps in 4 hours you are bound to make a few mistakes!
I'm not sure what you mean about a "recognised mint" The hallmark just means that it has been tested by the Edinburgh Assay Office and they can verify that it is 999 pure silver like I say it is. There are a lot of people who will use a lesser purity than stated so that they can make a little extra, selling 900 silver as 925 etc.
The hallmark adds a great layer of security and authenticity about me as a creator and craftsman.
Don't worry about questions, I like to answer them!

I use a silver polish foam and yellow dusters, little polish foam and rub rub rub!
I haven't sent any back...I just miss stamped them when putting the serial numbers on them is all! So I cannot sell them for obvious reasons!

Just for some transparency for the thread...
I made a mistake here, not trying to hide that fact by PM'ing @evende :-)
We are all human...

Yep the hallmarking is a really great feature, No question of purity in hand pours is awesome! 

+1
I think it might be a good idea to stop at 200/year
If so, i take #88 from next years to come 
I can pay for #200 if you put it out to the monthly lottery
Sorry for any grammatical fails

I was not expecting British hallmarking I am very impressed and even more happy to be involved with this, well done BYB. Looking forwards to the bars. 

I claimed it six weeks ago....it was always going to be raffled. 
To be fair you did just call it now though and BB cant be expected to remember that...Nevermind I will pass on it.

Awesome work mate, cant wait to get mine, the hallmark is an excellent feature and well worth keeping for future releases:)
I thought the last one was gona get raffled? I did put my name down for that one so id like it if its going please.

OK!!!
It has been a pretty epic couple of days and I would just like to acknowledge "Mrs Backyard Bullion" without who you all would have to wait another week for your bars to be ready!
They are all hallmarked with an initial mintage of "171" 
This is my "hallmark" the BYB in the pill shape is unique to me at the Edinburgh assay office. No-one can ever register the same mark. The 999 is the purity of the silver, the castle is the Edinburgh assay office mark and the "S" is the 2017 year mark!

They are also all serialised, polished and ready to go!

They are also all packed up and ready to be put in the post on Monday morning so you should all have your bars by the middle of next week!
Please put them on the "Today I received" thread!!!

Big update video to follow on Sunday @12pm (GMT) so make sure to go over and subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the "alarm bell" and you will get a notification when it goes live!
https://www.youtube.com/backyardbullion

I place a large order with goldsilver.be a few months ago - 1000+ ounces. i read some of the comments about the courier service. i contacted them.They were no receptive. They denied there was ever a problem. They did say my package would not be Yodel b/c of the total size. It was due to insurance. i question whether these packages are insured at all b/c many of the courier companies say they will not take precious metal. If there were a problem and the courier learns it is precious metal they will quote the terms and conditions and then walk away.
Does goldsilver.be have a special agreement with Yodel?
http://www.yodel.co.uk/prohibited-and-restricted-items/ 
Here we see unless there is a special agreement they will not carry bullion or medical supplies.

Well worth the wait....
1oz 2012 Kangaroo RAM
Thank you @BackyardBullion

One US auction house labels things as 'metal samples for research' which is true, they just tend to be round and made of silver or gold

Silver has many medical applications, including curing an itch that stackers get when they have not bought any for a while.
I was quite impressed by the label, I think its to raise less suspicion and make it less attractive to steal. I don't think it makes a difference when claiming.
 

They are just hinting that anyone ordering silver needs medical help.
 

People seem to missing the elephant in the room..... they are fraudulently sending as medical supplies, don't know if this is because it raises less suspicion or  to save them money on insurance and postage.    Never bought from them but if anyone had to claim from yodel how do you prove you bought medical supplies?

Well done, I had a very bad experience with bullion by post quite a whiy ago now, I bought via eBay paid for special delivery and they sent it out signed for.   it went to a different address who signed it my daughters name she  had moved away to uni , GPS tracking  Royal mails internal 'police' and eBay saved me and between them I got my money back.  I will never buy from bullion by post ever again.  Bullion by post treated me like a thief and at no point believed a word I said even when the Royal mail proved the parcel had been delivered to the wrong address and been posted sign for not special delivery and it had been fraudulently signed for. Bullion by Post still refused to give me my money back, I had to escalate it with eBay who refunded me within 2 hours!!!

Get in touch with gold silver.be and tell them what happened and you are worried to the point you may not order from them again and you are a member of the silverforum.com and could they contact Yodel to make a complaint so this will not happen again please.  that is the only way to get the delivery man/woman not to do it again!!  This may also cosentrate goldsilver.be mind they do not want to lose orders!!!

A few new ebay purchases! And I'll be listing one of my first bars I ever purchased this evening wish me luck!

Just had this 10oz beauty delivered to my door. Well packaged, correctly addressed and the security tape intact. Good effort by Goldsilver.be to make sure you get your package delivered safety as it even has a label on it stating it's medical supplies and asking that it's not delivered to a neighbour.
However, mine was indeed delivered to a neighbour with a similar house number. Not only was it delivered to a neighbour the said neighbour wasn't even in so the driver helpfully tossed it over the fence into his garden then wrote on the delivery card that he'd done just that.
Fortunately I got the package but Yodel really need to have a think about the standards they work to.

that is awesome BYB can't wait to get them then a vid will be straight out thanks for putting this together

Wow BYB that is some seriously sexy footage, the bars look incredible, especially lined up like that
Superfast work too considering you say they're not as easy as you expected.
Cannot wait to get these in hand, and I think it's an absolute winner for us all, great stuff

2013 10oz Koala