Silver Art Bars

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Silver Art Bars - A Miniature Art Form

Silver art bars have become a miniature art form and a specialist subject in their own right. Since the early 1970's, when the popularity of silver art bars surged, a huge number of different designs have been created - many thousand altogether - in a wide variety of styles. Part of the reason there are so many silver art bars is that they have been enduringly popular - and anyone may in theory commission a silver "vanity" bar to be stamped with a unique design. There are a number of companies offering this service.

Silver art bars are most often created in the "one troy ounce" size, although they may sometimes be seen at larger sizes - for example 10 troy ounces, or even 1 kilo, such as the PAMP "fortuna" 1 kilo bar pictured left.

Silver art bars have been created in almost any design and style imaginable - from corporate-branded presentation bars, bars commemorating an event or admired person, through to highly ornate and artistic designs made simply to be attractive and elegant.

Silver art bars fall into approximately three categories:

Commemorative Silver Art Bars

These have been created to commemorate and celebrate... anything you can think of. There have been silver art bars commemorating famous actors and musicians, historical figures, seasons, cities, states, world leaders, special events, landmarks, movies, sports teams, dog breeds, space missions, Christmas, Disney characters... you name it. In addition to being sold online one might see these at gift shops or special merchandise outlets related to the subject matter.

Corporate Branded Art Bars

These have been created for use as corporate gifts, and as a means of advertising. Many companies have had their name, logo and perhaps an additional design stamped into silver bars, which have then been presented or otherwise distributed. One of the most famous is the old Coca-Cola silver bars.

Collectors' Silver Art Bars

These designs are generally branded with the name of the bullion company or mint on one side - with the other "art" side of the bar being dedicated to an illustration that appears purely for the sake of its attractive appearance. Imagery may be highly ornate and artistic.

Commonly occuring themes include animals, flowers, zodiac signs, human-made objects and nature. In order to increase appeal to collectors, there have often been "series" designs that feature a collection of images related to a certain theme - or even images that form a complete picture when arranged in the correct sequence. An example of these was the "Ten Commandments" - a limited edition set of 10 bars created by the Hamilton Mint in 1978. In that case 250 sets were produced.

Another hallmark of collectors' bars is attractive, high quality presentation cases or frames created in order to enhance further their appeal or encourage collecting an entire set.

One common feature of silver art bars is similar to that of modern proof coins: That the design / relief area of the bar is often "frosted" in appearance, with the "field" (background) having a mirror-like "proof-like" finish. Another possibility (less common) is that of enameling.

In the end, "anything goes" with silver art bar designs and some have pulled out all the stops in order to get attention: It is not uncommon for bars to feature humorous mottos or imagery - and there have, surprisingly, even been silver art bars featuring adult themes, such as collections of bars featuring nudes or erotic imagery.

Silver Art Bar Books

There are so many types of silver art bar that to even attempt to list them would be an exhaustive exercise - although it has been done: There appears to be one authoritative catalogue on the subject of silver art bars - a brave endeavour. This, the work of Archie J. Kidd and Steven M. Rood, has undergone several editions (to keep up with the new bars) and can be seen for sale online, typically for several hundred dollars. I've included a link (affiliate link) to the book on Amazon for those interested.

Silver Art Bars - References:

[1] http://www.sunshinemint.com/CompanyProfile.htm
[2] http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Manuscripts/dmginv/mg275.htm
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Mine
[4] http://www.sunshinerefinery.com/s/About.asp
[5] http://www.sunshinemint.com/Bullion.htm
[6] http://www.apmex.com/Category/1405/.aspx
[7] http://www.cmi-gold-silver.com/100-oz-silver-bars.html

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