Homepage / Popular Bullion Refiners: Engelhard

Engelhard Bullion

Since the early 80's, the name "Engelhard" has been synonymous with quality silver, gold, and platinum bullion.

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Engelhard History

Engelhard Round Information

Bullion Bars History & Manufacturing

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Serial Numbers & Mintage Figures

Where You Can Buy Engelhard Bullion

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Silver Bar Information

Gold Bar Information, etc.

Engelhard Page Sources

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The History of
Engelhard Industries

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The company was a producer of silver and silver alloys in mill forms and it owned and operated the world's largest precious metals smelter.

In 1950, after Charles Engelhard, Sr. died, Charles Engelhard, Jr. assumed control of Engelhard Industries.

After taking over the company, Engelhard Jr. expanded operations to South Africa, South America and Europe and built Engelhard Industries into one of the world's leading refiners of precious metals.

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Goldfinger

Ian Fleming, the creator of the James Bond Series, and a friend of Engelhard, used Charles Engelhard Jr. as his inspiration for the character 'Auric Goldfinger,' in the novel and film; Goldfinger.

By comparing these pictures, with the video below, you can see the resemblance of Auric Goldfinger, from Charles Engelhard Jr.

Goldfinger

The Catalytic Converter

Charles Engelhard, Jr. died on March 2nd, 1971. 

Sadly, he did not live to see some of his company's biggest and most profitable innovations, concerning platinum group metals (PGMs).

In the early 70's, after Engelhard's death, the company developed the first catalytic converter, for gasoline engines, helping the American auto-industry meet stiff new EPA standards. 

The converter's design used a honeycomb of platinum group metals that changed exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine into less toxic substances.

The Engelhard Corporation is now owned by BASF Chemical Company.

On May 30, 2006, Engelhard Industries was taken over by BASF Chemical Company after the board agreed.

BASF paid $US39 per share, for the Engelhard, at the time the transaction totaled $5 billion.

BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany.

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Engelhard Bullion Rounds

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The Engelhard 1oz. silver rounds were the first bullion rounds minted and marketed to the public.

The company started "The American Prospector" gold and silver bullion rounds in the 1970's and continued to mint them, until 1988.

The gold rounds are much harder to find, they were produced in the following sizes: 

• 1/10oz.
• 1/4oz.
• 1/2oz.
• 3/4oz.

         and in 1 troy oz.

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"The American Prospector" silver rounds were produced in the following sizes:

• 1/10oz.
• 1/4oz.
• 1/2oz.
  

         and in 1 troy oz.

Just like the gold rounds, the fractional sized silver rounds were produced in smaller amounts and are much harder to find.

Plus, the smaller silver bullion rounds have higher premiums, due to the rarity of the round. 

The 1oz. silver rounds can usually be found nearest to the spot price.

The obverse side of the round displays the image of a prospector panning for gold.  In addition, the obverse side displays the words "U.S.A", the year of issue and the name of the Engelhard round, "The American Prospector."

There were two different Prospector rounds minted by Engelhard, the reverse side of the round will either display the Engelhard logo or a Silver Eagle. Included on the reverse side is the weight and purity of the round.

Unfortunately, the company (now BASF), no longer produces bullion for the public, although you can still find them on the secondary market, through different bullion dealers and auction sites.

Even though the company no longer produces bullion for investment
purposes, they do still deal in the precious metals industry concerning
the platinum group of metals (PGMs).

Liberty Trade Silver Rounds

Engelhard and Johnson Matthey produced 'Liberty Trade Silver Rounds' to learn more about these rounds visit the Johnson Matthey page.

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Engelhard Bullion Bars
History & Manufacturing

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In the mid-70's, when inflation was rearing its ugly head, Engelhard realized that there was a strong consumer demand for precious metals bullion.

Engelhard made gold, silver, platinum & palladium bullion bars during
this time.  It wasn't until the early 1980's, that the company started to
produce bullion rounds. 

Even though the company's expertise was in the Platinum Group Metals (PMGs), Engelhard is best known among bullion investors for their silver bullion.

Most Engelhard bullion bars are marked with a serial number (but not
all), in addition, most Engelhard bars display its Name or a large "E" along with the bar's weight and purity.

Engelhard produced Bullion Bars using 3 different methods...

Minted Bullion Bars - are cut from a cast bar that has been rolled to a uniform thickness. The cutting is done with a die to create blanks that have a specified dimension and weight. All the surfaces are smooth and even. Markings are usually stamped on the bar using a minting press.  In addition, company markings on minted bars will be "raised" due to this process. (Minted bullion photo provided by the courtesy of Heraeus)

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Casting or Poured Bullion Bars - are produced by pouring molten precious metal directly into a mold.  Markings are usually stamped on the bar using a hammer or a press.  In addition, company markings on cast bars will look depressed or "sunken," into the bar.

Note: Engelhard often called their Minted bars, "Cast Bars" and their
Cast Bars, "Poured Bars." 

See the 10oz. Silver bars section below, to see how the company categorized, the numerous "characterizations," on these bars.

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Extruding Bullion Bars - Process in which a metal or another material is forced through a series of dies to create a desired shape or shapes. Markings are usually stamped on the bar using a hammer or a press.   Like Engelhard Cast and Poured bullion bars, company markings on extruded bullion bars will look depressed or "sunken" into the bar.

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Serial Numbers (#'s)
& Mintages of
Engelhard Bullion

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If you are looking for Engelhard bullion serial numbers and mintage figures 'All Engelhard' is the site you want.

To help individual investors keep track of the bars they own, it is common practice for refiners to put serial numbers on small bullion bars.

However, refiners rarely keep a database of the serial numbers for bullion bars that weigh under LBMA Good Delivery specifications.

In some cases, collectors/investors will come together and start a database for the public to find and identify who made the bullion, for Engelhard bullion the site you want is "All Engelhard."

For those looking for serial numbers or mintage figures about Engelhard bullion, go to All Engelhard and 'click' on 'DEFINITIVE PAGES' to find the type / size of bar you are looking for.

In addition, in each section below, this guide has helped you find some of the pages on the All Engelhard's site that related to the most popular bullion bar sizes.

Engelhard stopped producing investment bullion bars in 1988, after the price of precious metals had fallen, and demand for bullion dried up.

However, Engelhard bullion bars can still be found on the secondary market click this link to see this guide's affiliated dealers who sell Engelhard Bullion.

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Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars

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When Engelhard was producing bullion, the silver bullion bars were by
far, their most popular and widely produced.

Engelhard made silver bullion bars as small as 5gram to as large as a 1000oz "Good Delivery" bar.

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Odd Sized Bars

Odd sized bars are much harder to find than the more common sized bars.

Due to popular demand, expect the value of these bars to be higher than the intrinsic value of the bullion bar.

Furthermore, they made several silver bullion bars of odd sizes, these sizes include:

• 5 gram
• 10 gram
• 1/2 oz.
• 2oz.
• 3oz.
• 100 gram
• 4oz.
• 7oz.
• 500 gram
• 20oz.
• 25 oz.
• 1 kilogram
• 50oz..
  
  'Click' here for more information, Photos and Serial Numbers on the Odd Sized Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars.

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1 oz. Silver Engelhard Bars

Most of the one-ounce bars were minted and were quite possibly the most widely produced.

These bars were not only made for investors but also given as gifts, made into art bars and at the time corporations handed them out to employees as rewards.

'Click' here for more information, Photos and Serial Numbers on the One Ounce Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars

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5 oz. Silver Engelhard Bars

Many of these bars seem to have been cast or extruded, although there
are minted versions of the 5oz bars.

'Click' here for more information, Photos and Serial Numbers on the Five Ounce Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars.

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10 oz. Silver Engelhard Bars

The 10oz. Engelhard bullion bars were the first silver bullion bars to be produced by the company, in addition, these bars probably have the most information written about them throughout the web. 

Although many of these bullion bars have been melted down, mintage figures for these bars range from as high as 2 million, to as low as 1.5 million. 

It is virtually impossible to know how many are still in existence.

10oz Bars were both Cast and Minted. As stated above, Engelhard kind of muffled these definitions in there early produced bullion bars.

For the 10oz. Bars with a "P" prefix before the serial number, signifies a "Poured" Bar.

10oz Bars with a "C" prefix before the serial number, signifies a "Cast" Bar or Minted Bar.

Furthermore, 10oz Bars with a "W" prefix before the serial number, signifies a "Wide Poured" Bar.  "W" prefixed 10oz. bars are very rare.

Bars with no prefix were the First to be produced in the 10oz. series, like the one in the photo, above right.

'Click' here for more information, Photos and Serial Numbers on the Ten Ounce Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars

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100 oz. Silver Engelhard Bars

The Majority of the 100oz Silver bars were poured or extruded.

Unfortunately, some counterfeiter's have taken advantage of bullion investors by drilling these bars and filling them with lead. 

About.Ag also has a couple of good pages on noticing the signs of a Fake Engelhard Bullion bar, "click," Here and Here, to see these pages.

'Click' here for more information, Photos and Serial Numbers on the One Hundred Ounce Engelhard Silver Bullion Bars

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Engelhard
Gold Bullion Bars

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Due to the scarcity of these gold bars and because of the odd shapes of the bars, many of these bars carry a collector's premium. 

Furthermore, due to the low production of gold Engelhard bullion bars, information about them is scarce.

The known sizes of the gold Engelhard bars are:

• 1 gram
  
• 5 grams
• 10 grams
• 1/2 tael (18.75 grams)
• 20 grams
• 25 grams (pictured)
• 1 oz.
• 1 tael - (37.50 grams)
• 50 gram,
  
• 2 oz.
• 10 tolas (3.746 oz.)
• 5 oz.
• 10 oz.
• 20 oz.
• 1 kilogram (32.150 oz)
  
• 10 tolas (3.746 oz.).

1oz and smaller bars are known to be minted bars and bars above 1oz. in size are mostly cast or poured. 

1oz. Engelhard gold bullion bars have been observed in both minted and poured.

Odd sized Engelhard bullion bars have also been known to be produced, the most recently observed specimen of this example was a 1.608 poured bullion bar, sold on an auction site.

The majority of serial numbers observed on the Engelhard Gold bars,
have no prefix

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Engelhard Platinum & Palladium
Bullion Bars

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Known sizes of Engelhard bullion bars in both Platinum and Palladium are the 1oz and 10oz. bars and these bars are known to be minted.

Information on Engelhard's platinum bullion is very hard to find, however, 'All Engelhard' recently created 'this page' about the Platinum bullion that Engelhard produced.

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Engelhard Bullion Sources:

BASF / Engelhard International Ltd 

2facetruth

About.Ag

All Engelhard

Reference for Business

CMI Gold & Silver

Time - Clean Air Buff

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