Buying Silver Bars Online
When it comes to buying silver bullion, investors frequently turn to silver bars as a primary option. Why would investors choose silver bullion bars over silver bullion coins? While each investor’s opinion is their own, there are common factors that push many toward silver bars, including:
- Variety of styles: cast bars, hand-poured bars, minted ingots
- Affordable pricing: silver bars have lower premiums over the spot price of silver than silver bullion coins
- Countless options: not only are bars available in various styles, but also countless weights ranging from 1 Gram and 1 Troy oz to 1 Kilogram and 400 Troy oz
If you’ve been considering silver bars, JM Bullion has an immense selection of bars available to purchase. Below you can learn about the different types of silver bars, the reasons behind the popularity of different weights, and find out some fun facts about some of the most popular designs.
Types of Silver Bullion Bars
As alluded to above, there are varying styles of silver bars for sale that you’ll come across as you look to invest. Minted ingots are a popular choice among investors for numerous reasons. A minted ingot starts as a long cast silver bar which is fed into a stamping press. This computer-controlled press will precision cut each bar to an exact size and weight, and then stamp a design into the bar. Some minted ingots have exciting designs, while others bear only important markings. Minted ingots are a top pick for investors because of the precision involved and the assayer’s guarantee backing the weight, purity, and metal content of each bar.
On the other hand, investors and collectors alike may find the allure of cast or hand-poured bars too much to pass up. Countless refineries still use these traditional techniques to create bars with little flair to the design, but the same purity and value as any other silver bar. Now, it’s important to realize that not all cast or hand-poured bars lack flair. Refineries such as the Atlantis Mint and Monarch Precious Metals in the United States pride themselves on producing hand-poured, hand-stamped silver bars with designs that ensure no two bars in the same series look exactly the same.
Regardless of the type of silver bar you purchase, you can rest assured that the refinery producing it uses .999 or .9999 pure silver content. Most silver bars, though not all, come with an assay card that authenticates the individual product and verifies its weight, purity, and content.
Which Size is Your Size?
Silver bars come in a wide array of sizes. There’s no wrong choice to make when buying silver bars. The most popular weights tend to be 1 Troy oz and 10 Troy oz. There are numerous reasons behind this, including the variety of designs and styles available in these weights, as well as the affordability of silver in each weight. Additionally, smaller silver bars such as these are easier to store and resell when needed. However, there is also value in buying larger silver bars such as 25 oz, 50 oz, 100 oz, and even 400 oz bars.
Generally speaking, the premium for silver goes down as the size of the bar goes up. Buying a singular 400 oz bar can be more affordable for a bulk purchase than buying 400 individual 1 Troy oz bars because of the premium per ounce of each bar. Just remember, smaller bars offer affordability in the moment and flexibility, while larger bars make it easier to make larger investments per purchase. When selecting a silver bar by weight, it is entirely up to the individual’s preference and goals when buying silver.
Popular Silver Bar Designs
You’ll find no shortage of fun, impressive designs available on the silver bars for sale at JM Bullion. Our catalog includes some of the finest designs in the world, as well as some lesser-known options which offer an ideal combination of pure silver and collectible design appeal. The following are some of the most popular silver bar designs available:
- PAMP Suisse Fortuna: The obverse design depicts the Roman goddess of Fortune and is a staple of the Swiss refiner. Today, PAMP is recognized as the world’s leading bullion brand and the Fortuna design is known to investors everywhere as a symbol of PAMP’s success.
- SilverTowne Silver Bars: SilverTowne is one of America’s most prominent private mints and offers a variety of silver bars for sale. The most popular design from SilverTowne is its Prospector logo, but other options include American Flag designs, an American bald eagle, and even retro versions of its popular Prospector on as a landscape orientation rather than portrait.
- Sunshine Silver Bars: The Sunshine Mint of Idaho is another prominent, private American mint that produces both silver coins for foreign reserve banks, silver bullion bars for investors, and even silver blanks used by sovereign mints for the production of coins such as the American Silver Eagle. The most common design from Sunshine is its American eagle logo with a sunburst design behind the eagle.
- Royal Canadian Mint Silver Bars: The Royal Canadian Mint is one of the few sovereign mints around the world that produces silver bullion bars. The design you’ll typically find from the RCM is that of its logo on the primary face. The Royal Canadian Mint silver bullion bar has the sugar maple leaf design of the mint with inscriptions in French.
- Royal Mint Silver Bars: The Royal Mint recently introduced a beautiful new silver bar in 2018 with the image of Britannia on its surface. Unlike the designs of Britannia on modern bullion coins, the image on the Royal Mint silver bars have a classic visual of Britannia that dates back to some of the original depictions of the female personification of Britannia on British coinage in the 18th century.
- Johnson Matthey Silver Bars: Johnson Matthey was once one of the greatest refiners of silver and gold in the world. Though it has divested from its refining business, you’ll still find Johnson Matthey silver bars available to purchase. These commonly feature the Johnson Matthey logo of crossed hammers with the refinery name inscribed on the product. The opposite side often features the repeating image of those crossed hammers.
- Geiger Silver Bars: Geiger Edelmetalle of Germany has a growing portfolio of silver bars for sale to investors. While their various products feature similar images of Schloss Guldengossa on the obverse and an LEV rhombus on the reverse, this imagery comes in two different formats. There are minted ingots with these images, as well as new silver square bars with enhanced security features and acute attention to detail in the production of the bars.
- Monarch Silver Bars: Monarch Precious Metals is a private American refinery founded in 2008. The refinery sets itself apart with hand-poured, hand-stamped processes in the production of all its precious metal products. Those products are all a minimum .999 purity for both silver and gold. Examples of designs include hand-poured, stackable rounds with the Monarch Precious Metals “MPM” crown logo, the Viking Silver Bars with various images of Viking warriors on 5 oz silver bars, and even stackable “Lego” themed silver bars that playfully stack together for easy storage.
- Asahi Refining: This brand is new to many North American investors, but the facilities it owns are nothing new. Asahi Refining is based in Tokyo, Japan where it was founded in 1952. In December 2015, Asahi purchased the North American refining and assaying facilities of Johnson Matthey as the latter company exited the precious metals industry after more than 150 years. Asahi produces silver bullion bars in popular 1 oz, 10 oz, 1 Kilogram, and 100 oz weights with its corporate logo and assayer marks.
Buying Silver Bars from JM Bullion
When you’ve found the right silver bar for you, we can help you with any purchasing questions. Our customer service team is available to you at 800-276-6508, online using our live chat, and via our email address.
