US Assay Silver

Assay is the industry term for determining the purity of precious metals. Therefore, an assay office is charged with assessing metals before they are turned out for public use. The United States currently uses assay offices for coinage purposes only. It’s actually against the law to stamp anything on a piece of silver which indicates that it has been assayed by the United States. This is why you’ll find some long and mildly confusing verbiage on fine silver bars which have come from US assay offices!

In order to comply with the law, the stamping on these bars must inform that the silver in the bar was from a stockpile which used to be stored at a US assay office. Any of the current or former US assay offices may be named on a fine silver bar. The currently operating assay offices include Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and West Point. Former US assay offices which are no longer in operation include those in Ozark, Arkansas; Tuscon, Arizona; St. Louis, Missouri; Helena, Montana; Salt Lake City, Utah; Deadwood, South Dakota; Boise, Idaho; New York, New York; and Seattle, Washington.

An interesting item for collectors is the so-called “grease bar,” produced by the US Treasury. These fine silver bars are easy to miss, since they bear absolutely no markings of any kind. They were issued to individuals who cashed in US Silver Certificates. These certificates had a deadline for conversion; they were required to be cashed in, as it were, and redeemed for bullion no later than June 24th, 1968. US Silver Certificates were available in denominations as low as one dollar, and often families saved them up over time. Therefore, when the due date came around, the Treasury converted the Certificates into bullion by pouring extremely rough-looking ingots and bars. The name “grease bar” came from the practice of simply writing the bar’s weight and purity on the bar itself in grease pencil.

If you come across a suspected “grease bar,” you should have it verified if at all possible. These bars are usually worth significantly more than officially stamped fine silver bars, simply because of the interesting history they carry.

Due to the laws regarding a US Assay Office and the long-winded wording on fine silver bars which have been produced from their stockpiles, these bars are favorites among collectors. Investors love them simply for their reliability, and collectors of all kinds enjoy the historical element. American history collectors, silver collectors who are interested in history over wealth, and collectors of government memorabilia all enjoy these fine silver bars. They are a wonderful way to add to your silver investments, to own a piece of history, or to spark an interest in history in a young person.

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