Here's my latest Apmex purchase, a five ounce nugget of fine silver from the Scottsdale Mint called the Tombstone Nugget.
Each of these solid, .999 Fine Silver bars is uniquely crafted by Arizonans in the Scottsdale Mint Foundry, 3 hours north of the historic town of Tombstone, Arizona. The bars are available in three sizes, 5 troy ounces, 10 troy ounces, and 1 kilogram, and each one "varies just a touch, with slightly different shapes, features, and personality," as described by the mint. Each bar comes with a Certificate of Authenticity from the Scottsdale Mint, and its own bag.
Being handcrafted, no two of these Tombstone Silver Nugget bars looks exactly the same as another, but every one of them uniquely represents the true value of silver, and provides a link to the history and folklore of the American Old West.
A hang tag attached to the storage bag provides the following history of Tombstone:
"The Town of Tombstone in Arizona was founded in 1877 by a prospector named Ed Schieffelin. Ed was staying at Camp Huachuca as part of a scouting expedition against the Apache Indians. During his time there he would venture out into the wilderness "looking for rocks", all the while ignoring the warnings he received from the soldiers at the camp. They would tell him, "Ed, the only stone you will find out there will be your tombstone". Well, Ed did find his stone. And it was Silver. So, remembering the words of warning from the soldiers, he named his first mine The Tombstone."
"In 1883, writer Patrick Hamilton estimated that during the first four years of activity the mines produced about $25,000,000 (approximately $633 million today). Other estimates include USD $40 to $85 million (about $1.05 billion to $2.23 billion today)."
"During these years famed killings took place in the Tombstone District such as the Gunfight at the OK Corral with Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid and others. Other mystery killings include miners being found dead with rock drill holes in their chest."
The unprocessed border of each piece gives the impression that it was just pulled from the ground.
So, if you are looking for a unique addition to your precious metals stack, the Tombstone Silver Nugget will be your Huckleberry.
In case you are not familiar with the phrase, "I'm your Huckleberry" means that I'm the man for the job. It became popular after the 1993 movie Tombstone when it was said twice in the film by Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer) to Johny Ringo (Michael Biehn).