Britannia Bars

[Pete]

On 21/12/2018 at 18:19, Bimetallic said:

 I've noticed that the Queen's Beasts from the RM are also 9999 silver, but not the Britannias for some reason.

The pre 2013 Brits are 958 silver alloy ( still contain a full Troy ounce of silver so heavier ) making them incredibly durable so less prone to marks & scratches so beautiful coins.
The later Brits are 999 silver ( fine silver ) and seem to struggle with mint marks whilst other versions  e.g. Oriental Border Britannia are superb AND supplied in capsules so I guess they take more care producing them. Personally I don't like the newer Britannias but the earlier coins are truly collectible and were in big demand by collectors.

[Bimetallic]

3 hours ago, Pete said:

The pre 2013 Brits are 958 silver alloy ( still contain a full Troy ounce of silver so heavier ) making them incredibly durable so less prone to marks & scratches so beautiful coins.
The later Brits are 999 silver ( fine silver ) and seem to struggle with mint marks whilst other versions  e.g. Oriental Border Britannia are superb AND supplied in capsules so I guess they take more care producing them. Personally I don't like the newer Britannias but the earlier coins are truly collectible and were in big demand by collectors.

This is interesting. I was vaguely aware that Britannias used to be an alloy. In fact, 958 silver is called Britannia silver, much like 91.67 percent gold alloy is called Crown gold (I think British Sovereigns are still made of it, as are American Gold Eagles and South African Krugs).

I've long been a fan of silver alloys that reduce or eliminate tarnish and have much higher hardness than pure silver, but I assumed there wasn't much demand for this. The most prominent modern alloy in this regard is Argentium, which I think comes in 935 and 960 forms. The key alloying metal is germanium. I was especially surprised recently to discover that germanium was known as a beneficial alloying element for silver at least as far back as 1927, as you can see in this report from the US Bureau of Standards report (PDF) on tarnish-resisting silver alloys. (The Bureau of Standards was the predecessor to the current National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)). I'm not sure how Argentium was able to patent their alloy if people knew about silver-germanium alloys almost a hundred years ago...

The downside of these alloys, for both silver and gold, is that they don't qualify for tax exemption in some countries because said countries define precious metals bullion too narrowly as being at least 995 or so pure. Singapore is one example. New Zealand and Australia might have similar language. American Gold Eagles and South African Krugs don't qualify as GST-free precious metals in Singapore. And most silver rounds don't qualify because their refiners are not on some silver good delivery list.

[Gildeon]

What is the best place to buy these at the moment? 

[squirt]

2 hours ago, Gildeon said:

What is the best place to buy these at the moment? 

Which one, this topic has morphed into the bars and the coins?

[Gildeon]

Sorry, I mean the bars in the title. 

[squirt]

I ordered one from Apmex. Prices seem to be about the same from all the major sellers. I see a lot  people are using the deal they get on ebay to decrease the cost with ebay bucks.

[Gildeon]

Thanks for the response. I need to clarify I meant for Europe. 

[DaKine]

Why are they not dated or token denominated? The RM would sell a lot more I am sure...

[TonyS]

On 19/12/2018 at 16:28, TonyS said:

Next on my list to buy.

Once I've paid off the Christmas bills  

I've taken the plunge, it should arrive tomorrow.

[JinKesef]

I’d be too tempted to put a antique finish on them. Beautiful bars

[squirt]

1 minute ago, JinKesef said:

I’d be too tempted to put a antique finish on them. Beautiful bars

I did try it on one. You lose a lot of the fine details. Wish I hadn't.

[AgCoyote]

Is this going to be a standard offering from the Royal Mint now? They look beautiful and I definitely want one.

Does anyone know their plans for the 'Valiant' 10 oz. coin as well? Is that a one time deal, a start of a series, or a new annual offering?

[JinKesef]

3 hours ago, squirt said:

I did try it on one. You lose a lot of the fine details. Wish I hadn't.

It can come off you’ll just have to use the proper polishing solution. I was thinking about using a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner but I don’t know it I’ll work... maybe. 

People with great artistic talent can make some amazing pieces but I’m not that great at it