Dear Fellow Trainees:
Having been blessed or cursed with my last name, depending upon the way we view things, train friends who know what I collect often give me leads as to odd ball or specialty items. Of course, they love spending my money. And I suppose like many of us, I didn't put up too much resistance.
The other day another toy train friend, Brad Kaplan, sent me a photo of a mint car that I was totally unaware of.
I was not sure if this was a legitimate item, so the first thing that I did was contact Lionel.
Yup, it certainly was. And only 500 were made.
And to make matters worst still, there are two distinct variations.
https://www.apmex.com/product/...z-ag-mini-bricks-x-2
https://www.apmex.com/product/...z-ag-mini-bricks-x-8
Both have the exact same SKU of 2128380, but the Starter Set contains 2 x 1 oz. of .999 fine silver and the Collector's Set contains 8 x 1 oz. of .999 fine silver.
And yes, I did weigh them, they are 1 oz. each.
In fact, the with the mint car weighs a whopping 1 lb 6 oz.
The cost of this item may change if the price of silver changes, so this is basically a living breathing item, sort of speak.
So, as we are a sharing group, here are the images of each one, I couldn't resist buying both.
I did do a little modification though. The Styrofoam that holds the silver bars has a tendency to move around a bit during reassembly, and the silver bars fit in holes in the Styrofoam that don't quite hold them well enough in case of a derailment.
Scotch Permanent Double-Sided tape appears to have resolved both issues.
Bob Mintz
