New Lionel/APMEX Mint Car with 1 Ounce Silver Bullion Bricks PICS!!!

Cool idea, but your paying about $160 for the rolling stock over the spot price of the freight.

Yeah but the bricks alone are a bullion product (there is a bid/ask spread).  I put the car at about $89 which is the sticker price on these.  They would not sell silver for melt value of course.  Its a nice looking well-made car IMO.  Even if divide the whole price by 8 that's about $44 per ounce.  Retail silver price can exceed $100 + for certain coin/medal products.  The Lionel medallion is about $30.

For the precious metals collector that has everything!

@Mike W. posted:

Yeah but the bricks alone are a bullion product (there is a bid/ask spread).  I put the car at about $89 which is the sticker price on these.  They would not sell silver for melt value of course.  Its a nice looking well-made car IMO.  Even if divide the whole price by 8 that's about $44 per ounce.  Retail silver price can exceed $100 + for certain coin/medal products.  The Lionel medallion is about $30.

Mike,

With all due respect, anything outside of spot price for a precious metal, excepting graded numismatic specimens, is IMHO the same as buying Franklin Mint collectables.  I have an appropriate hedge in metals, but its all in bullion.  And I have ben able to easily trade bullion for portable durable goods both ways.  Not so much with the specials.  But YMMV and my experience is not everybody's.   My advice would be to buy the car from Lionel and load it with "generic" 1oz bullion bars, with either near a pound of silver or pocket the difference.

Yeah its just like any other exclusive Lionel product.  I would prefer the bricks had the Lionel logo so at least the custom aspect would make them less bullion like.  I assume you are familiar with all the modern world coins that are sold graded in a 70 grade costing sometimes $200+ for a 1 ounce silver proof (exclusives, First Day of Minting, all those strategies.)   That is where my comparison is drawn from.  Not investment bullion.  So $33 or $43 per ounce is on the lower end of pricing.  If one likes it and enjoys it, then its worth the price.  Investment potential is not why most collect including myself. You have the coin crowd that only likes coins used for circulation and then others like these modern non-circ. items just because of stunning designs etc...even if they are produced in high numbers.  Just like the train hobby.  Some collect and don't operate.  Some purely operate and see no value in boxes and mint trains.  The two sides often think each view is the only view haha!  Someone may say that MPC Lionel will never be valuable.   Someone looking for a certain piece may beg to differ.   I will buy stocks and simple bullion for investment.  If I make a profit off a train or collectible then that's just a bonus.

BTW Franklin Mint minted beautiful pieces and made some fine products of non minted items.  They pioneered many coining techniques used by others today.  Their old products were very high quality for the price.  FM sweated details in terms of R&D and accuracy etc.   Their products are iconic and if taken care of many will sell for more than issue price.  Its all related to changing tastes etc...  Yes even "manufactured collectibles" can become scarce.  A blanket opinion does not apply to all.  Just like fine china ware from the famous producers or sterling place settings...not valued by most of todays younger crowd but still a very fine product...and desired by the specific collector.   The recent use of FM name is NOT the real original business.  Franklin Mint collapsed in 2004 due to losing focus and trying to open retail stores in malls and sell wholesale.  All bad ideas.  Their competition is still going strong and those products are not nearly as well made. 

Back to the original subject,  it's a nice looking car and fairly unique.  I like it..  Value is in the eye of the owner.

Seems reasonable compared to a several hundred dollar engine that is stuck in reverse

ROTFLMAO!

Jon

Pretty cool.

More bars are needed for the visual appeal. I might buy some 1 oz bars of choice closer to spot and stack them in both areas adjacent to windows.

You have to deal with  the load it will represent in the the consist if you intended to run it on the line! Would want it first after locomotive I would think.

@EJN posted:

Pretty cool.

More bars are needed for the visual appeal. I might buy some 1 oz bars of choice closer to spot and stack them in both areas adjacent to windows.

You have to deal with  the load it will represent in the the consist if you intended to run it on the line! Would want it first after locomotive I would think.

Yeap, have to do some real physical consist planning just like in the real world.  For those of us that do the switching thing makes for an interesting planning problem.

Have you invested in Palladium.  It may have peaked but has been a solid performer.   

For EJN, In my photo of the mint car I just put the two bars in.  If all 8 are in place it looks uniform.  Just don't turn it over.  I would have preferred some type of plastic long capsule that holds all 8 and drops into the car.