What is silver bullion

Silver bullion is silver in the form of bars, coins, ingots or rounds. The best known silver coins are silver Eagles, Maple Leafs, Kookaburras and Britannia's. But not all silver bullion coins are created equal, and buyers must be aware of the differences to make educated purchases. Not all coins are struck to the same fineness. Also while some silver bullion coins have unlimited mintages, others offer smaller numbers and sometimes higher prices. The lowest cost way to buy silver bullion is in the form of silver bars and silver rounds. Many investors prefer rounds over bars because they are minted in the form of a coin and offer greater flexibility when it comes time to sell your silver. If you buy a one-hundred ounce silver bar you are restricted to selling the entire one hundred- ounces at one time. Whereas if you bought one-hundred one ounce silver rounds you have the greater flexibility of selling any number of rounds at anytime.

Westminster Mint offers a wide selection of the most popular silver bullion items including government issue, privately minted and brand-name products. All of the items we offer are internationally recognized. Our privately minted silver bars and rounds begin as silver grain bought directly from a refinery or as COMEX deliverable 1,000 ounce bars. The silver grain is delivered to us in sealed buckets. Each bucket is accompanied by an assay certificate attesting to its purity. The silver we receive is .999 pure or better. The industrial silver bars we buy are also sent directly from refiners and each bar is hallmarked stamped with its weight and purity.

We melt silver grain in batches of ten thousand-ounces at temperatures in excess of 1600 degrees where it turns into liquid. The silver is then poured into billet molds which hold eight-hundred ounces and then is extruded into strips. The strips are rolled to the precise thickness of the silver bars or silver rounds being struck. Each blank bar or round is individually weighed and cleaned before it is struck into a finished bar or round. Each item is individually hallmark stamped with its exact weight and purity.

Refinery sealed barrels of .999 silver grain being unloaded





Sacks of silver grain with Assay certificates

 

33,000 ounces of silver on its way to be melted down and transformed into silver rounds

 

10,000 ounces of silver being melted at 1600 degrees until it turns to liquid
Silver being poured into eight hundred ounce billet molds 

 
Rolls of silver from the billet moulds ready to be extruded 

Silver rounds being struck five hundred rounds per minute