Silver ingots get snapped up hot off the press
Arizona Coin Collector
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20081123/NEWS/811229978/1073/NONE&parentprofile=1058&title=Silver%20ingots%20get%20snapped%20up%20hot%20off%20the%20press
Nevada Appeal
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Silver ingots get snapped up hot off the press
Bronze versions also available
By Karen Woodmansee
Nevada Appeal Staff Writer
Collectors and railroad buffs lined up for the latest
opportunity to support the reconstruction of the V&T
Railway - silver commemorative ingots.
They were minted at the Marshall Mint in Virginia
City at 10 a.m. Saturday morning, with buyers
lined up at the door waiting to get in.
The 1-ounce, .999 percent pure silver ingots designed
by Dayton artist Steven Saylor cost $100 each and
were packaged in a special case with numbered cards
for authenticity.
The ingot is part of this summer's Railway
Reflections International Art Expo, and the front
and back show steam engines, one crossing a trestle.
The minting, originally set for Aug. 2, was held
up by a breakdown of the DiMaio press.
Saylor, who with Jim Clark organized the expo,
said 60 were sold Saturday. Some are still
available for sale at the Marshall Mint, and others
will be offered to interested Virginia City shops.
Saylor also had 100 bronze ingots with the same
design minted and available for $10.
"They're beautiful," he said. "They look just
like gold."
Doug Walling, who operated the press, said it
took 150 metric tons of pressure to make each
side of the ingots, which are double struck, just
like the U.S. mint makes coins.
Walling said the ingot is specially fabricated,
and the cost is reflective not only of the spot
market price for silver but also the fabrication.
"As opposed to being just a block of silver," he
said. "They are more valuable than the spot price
of silver."
Saylor said all proceeds from the ingots will
benefit the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation,
the fundraising arm of the effort to reconstruct
the V&T Railway all the way to Carson City.
Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at
kwood...@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.
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