What I enjoy the most about collecting vintage silver is comparing and contrasting ingots from the same refiner. Since there is not a published history book on precious metal refiners. It makes it difficult to understand why or how they produced many different varieties. In a sense the collector community are the ones putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
I have published articles here on Steemit that reference SMITHS silver ingots. Believed to be produced out of Nemo, Texas. Somewhere around the 1970s-80s. I discovered a unique piece that sparked my interest. It is a 40 gram example that only demonstrates the classic .9999 purity stamp. Featured below with a couple notes..
I have seen this style SMITHS ingot before. The long trapazoid shape. There is also a stubby taller version. What I have NOT seen before is a SMITHS ingot that does not say "SILVER" OR "SMITHS" on one or each of the sides. I am going to present some examples below of the other variety SMITHS ingots I am familar with. All or which are unique to each other. Seen below..
There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason in the stampings of the SMITHS ingots. The two charactoristics that remain the same are the .9999 purity stamp and the signature trapazoid style. Each ingot has a smooth rounded reverse side. Below are a comparison photos that include the new 'blank' variety.
This is an excellent example of building a collection around a single refiner. Being able to compare and contrast examples can lead to filling in a mystery being early production methods. Collecting never gets old or boring when nothing is the EXACT same!! They are all unique in their own way!
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