Facts & Information
 About Today’s Fractional Silver Collectors Market.



1 Troy Ounce (unit of imperial measure) weighs 31.1034768 grams which is equivalent to 480 grains or 1/12th of a standard pound.
A standard Ounce weighs 28.35 grams.
(16 standard ounces to a pound) (12 troy ounces to a pound)
Most producers of fractional precious metal pieces use (units of imperial measure) but there are a few producers that produce some products with the standard unit of measure.
You may come across some products that are produced with the words troy gram don’t be deceived by this form of marketing, a troy gram is the same weight as a standard gram.



FACT--- 99.9% of Fractional Silver pieces weighing 1.5 grams or less being produced in today’s fractional market are not minted.



INFO--- one gram of .999 silver measures approximately 15mm x 0.8mm which is to thin and soft of a material to withstand a strike from a harden metal die without smashing the silver piece. Some silver pieces have been done this way using what they call a collar method by adding a metal collar around the silver blank to prevent the smashing of the silver piece, but the use of these metal collars becomes very expensive because the collars constantly need replacing, making the cost to produce these pieces exceeding the profit margin.
This is just one of the reasons why producers of small fractional silver bars and rounds/coins chose to use a kilm oven baked jewelers mold the same equipment a gold smith would use at your local jewelry store to custom make rings.
The cost of actual coin minting equipment can easily exceed $50,000.00 without facility costs, the cost of a kilm oven baked jewelers mold set up approximately $5,000.00 which can be easily operated in a basement or garage.



FACT--- with just about anyone being able to purchase this type of equipment and produce these kilm oven baked jewelers molded fractional pieces in their home’s the purity of these fractional pieces weighing 1.5 grams or less becomes very questionable.



INFO--- .999 silver is pure silver, .925 sterling silver is mostly silver with a small amount of copper (.075) added to make it stronger for jewelry, government issue silver bullion and pre 1964 coins are 90% silver with the other 10% being copper which makes the bullion round stronger as well as keeping it from forming spots and helps prevent some of the tarnishing, the differences of .999 silver, .925 silver and 90% silver can not be seen by the naked eye.



FACT--- Most Fractional Silver Pieces larger than a 10^th of a ounce on today’s fractional market are minted but there are a few producers that produce some of these pieces in a jewelers kilm oven baked mold when these molded pieces are placed side by side with a minted piece the difference can be clearly seen.



INFO--- does the retailer provide up close large photos showing the detail of the item being sold??? Or are the photos provided of the products in their listing small, dark and don’t show very much??? Do they offer a return policy??? Retailers that don’t accept returns aren’t showing much confidence in their products.
Is the retailer or producer licensed ???



FACT--- the term spot price is the current value of a precious metal on the NYSE.



INFO---- when purchasing stocks you must consider broker fees and commissions, when purchasing minted investment bullion you must consider the costs above spot price to mint the bullion and the costs of shipping the bullion to you, If your buying precious metals to invest you should consider that your paying for the production costs do you want to invest your money into the production costs per gram or per troy ounce.
Fractional Collectors Pieces are just that. for collecting not for investment.
Any other Questions you can always send us an email we will be glad to answer them for you.

Rising Star Mint is a ® registered trademark of Rising Star Mint Inc. and is Employee Owned and Operated  In The U.S.A