Updated 1/4/08 ~ Mailed off my new 2008 index guide book cashiers check ~ The books are ready to ship ~ They should be available to the general public very soon ~

~ NEW NEWS ~ A 2007 Index Guide Book of Silver Art Bars Is Coming out Nov 2007 ( Changed to December 31st 2007 ) as Archie J. Kidd has sold his publishing company ~ Beware of those looking to unload there old silver art bar guide books from now until this date ~ Buy any old book as cheap as possible due to the new books most likely will cost you the same and yours will be out of date :) ~ No brain er, lets continue ~

So your purchasing silver collectible art bars on Ebay ~ Doing a search in " Silver Bar " then " Silver Bars " Bullion, Rounds, Ingots, Sterling .925, Silver Collectibles, Franklin Mint and the bottom line is your looking for a deal " OR " a collectible that may someday pay off later down the road or next week ~

Let's start at the top and try to prevent you from falling prey to " Some of the Predators " Selling ~

I've have been collecting art bars of all sorts, gold, silver and sterling since the late 1960's early 1970's ~ There isn't much I haven't seen, bought, owned, sold or sought & exchanged information on ~ There is only a hand full of silver art bar collectors that can match my experience and I don't think any will say they surpass it as I would bow to the same sometime surprises we each encounter from time to time ~

FOR TRUE COLLECTORS ~ These are the top 3 silver bullion ~ art bars ~ items you need to avoid with out hesitation ~ Right now!

1> Marilyn Monroe ~ All the bars introduced as Westfall designed products still in mint condition today, the " Novice " collector should avoid and those same bars offered at " below silver spot price value " should only be looked at as collector misrepresentations and for entertainment value only ~ Look for a couple things such as titles saying 100 mil clad, clad means a silver layer covering a copper or other metal core, or no photos showing the reverse of 1 full troy ounce of .999 fine silver ~ 2 bars for 1/2 price ~ Anything to good to be true is ~ The number 1 on the back, troy ounce .999 silver is only a description if it doesn't say one ounce pure ~ Some bars we've bought recently don't match any we've seen on any of the index guide book of silver art bars up to the 1991 and 1993 editions and are copies in my opinion since they have only seemed to appear in the past 2 years and makes the true bars worthless ~ Cutting them in half showed silver clad bars, not full .999 silver ~ Even the World Wide Mint bars are suspicious now at $ 40 BV and when purchased look like they are new off the press ~ It's hard to trust the bar and sometimes the seller ~

Oh wait ~ They are being called " Commemorates " now ~  1 word ~ RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

The above is a repeat of the USSC Save the Grizzly popularity and counterfeits that followed ~ Unlike the spotting of no serial numbers gave away the counterfeits of the USSC bar the blank reverse gives away a fake copy or reproduction of the Marilyn Monroe bar commemorative. That's only 1 example as the sellers won't show you the reverse in the photos they try and hawk on Ebay ~

NEVER TURST A SELLER WHO ADVERTISES " These are the classic designs introduced by Robert Westfall in the mid-1980s ~ a 100 mill Commemorative " He is not saying this " is " a Robert Westfall Silver Art Bar collector book reference # WEST - ZZZ

" Clad description to follow below "

The only " Today ~ 2007 " Marilyn Monroe collectibles are the COL-4 Colonial mint bar struck for Harry Forman with a incused reverse and the Marilyn Tentex reverse bars ~ No known copies exist that I'm aware of ~ The others such as the Westfall bars have been wasted & copied by A profiteer ~ This isn't hard to prove ~ He almost admits it in his adds on Ebay but he won't come right out and say it ~ Again, keep in mind the words " Robert Westfall " Style designs  and commemorates ~ These are copies some to the extent that should be examined by the law for infringement ~

He also has an about me page that hawks his wares off ebay and you have no way of fighting infringement, copies, fakes or misrepresentations. Don't buy them off Ebay ~

They are not alone ~ there are more ~

2> Big Cats are Dangerous but a Little Pussy never hurt anyone silver art bar ~ Again another copy called 100 .999 pure mil silver-clad and the .999 1 ounce bars ~ Another Robert Westfall Stolen Design ~ Making the originals worthless to the novice silver art bar collector ~ Giving credit for the description of a Westfall copy if you can read between the lines. It's not the true bar and worthless as a collectible, not worth the price of shipping you paid  ~ Clad is a silver covering with a different metal in the middle ~ These are not collectibles of value and never will be 50 years down the road ~

All true collectable bars should have a collector reference number in the ad ~

Currently this one seller is trying to get around these issues by presenting them now as " Commemorative Issues " which in fact means, Ive been caught hawking copies, someone got sick and tired of me preying on the uneducated buyer, how do I get out of this now ~

Silver Collectible Art Bar Predators ~ Beware ~ You'll be exposed ~ I've no problem with it and you need to stop ~

There is only 1 silver bar and round self manufacturing rip off artist on Ebay right now ~ Can't wait until the day he's caught then all those titles he thought he could hide behind will tumble right on top of him ~ Same person doing all the above ~

3> American Royal Mint 15 Grain .999 silver art bars ~ Do you know how much 15 grains of .999 silver is? About 1/32 of an true troy ounce of pure .999 silver. If you own any of these bars you've been hoodwinked. There are 480 grains of .999 pure silver in a 1 troy ounce bar of .999 silver. If you took a hack saw and cut a 1/8th slot into this bar you would see a copper color underneath ~ it's called clad and in as a collector / investors opinion it's worth value is -0-, nada, nothing. You would be lucky to sell it for what you paid the shipping on it ~ It will never have a collector value ~ Don't get me wrong, they are very nice looking bars, just not one ounce .999 fine true silver collectible art bars ~

Don't be mad at most of the predators that sold it to you they were honest by saying 15 grains of .999 pure silver in the title though they never ever mentioned anything about 1 true ounce of .999 silver in the below description ~ Not just me but many true are bar collectors burn these guys when ever they make a listing mistake ~ But if they list it as they do, mostly zodiac bars as 15 grain .999 silver there is nothing we can do, it's the truth ~ They do not say 1 ounce of .999 silver they say 15 grains of .999 silver ~ The silver's 15 grain worth at today's value is about 38 cent.

If your going to be mad at anyone be mad at yourself ~ There are plenty of places for you to educate yourself in this field and joining a local coin club would be a good start ~

The problem comes when they are resold. Inexperienced resellers or collectors have no idea they are selling a copy, clad or out right fake so they will list it improperly by accident and so it goes down the line ~ There are always people looking to make a buck off others in the grey areas of collectible art bars ~

Silver rounds ~ Press errors ~ Buy this error round at a discount ~ Have you ever figured out why the same individual seller is the only one that has these double pressed errors, off centered silver rounds? Let me be the one to slap you, He is the only one that makes them ~ Making art bars and rounds will be in another chapter ~ It's not hard, it's demonstrated at every large trade convention, no need for sophisticated dies and you can make as many mistakes as you want in the silver round business if you are the individual manufacture ~ Don't buy into them if they are not of a quality brand name manufacture such as Silver Towne ~ Engelhard ~ A-Mark ~

Only buy from trusted sources for your silver art bars ~ Who do you know who to trust? ~ Ask other dealers? Naw ~ No Way ~ Ask high rated feedback buyers who they trust ~ And for the TURE SERIOUS COLLECTORS, ASK THE SERIOUS HIGH ROLLER BUYERS ~ They have the experience your looking for and can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars in the silver collectible art bar purchasing business ~

Be humble when asking there advice ~ Most have paid a very high price over many years for what they can save you in only a few words ~ One being buy the 2007 silver index guide book first chance you get or any year guide book for that matter as cheaply as you can ~

More Dummies Guides coming forth ~ Did you know that a troy pound has only 12 troy ounces? A troy ounce is 31.1 grams ~ A troy ounce is 480 grains ~ check out metric-conversion.org ~ Look at weights/troy-pounds-to-troy-ounces.htm ~ Ebay pages do not allow full links in these guide pages ~

If this reading has helped you in anyway please provide the feedback so that other volumes to assist you can be written ~ Were already looking at a couple guide previews ~ Thanks again ~

Tommy & Linda ~ SilverSeas1