1 oz PAMP Lunar Year of the Monkey 2016 Silver Bar

History

The minted PAMP Lunar silver bar

Minted bars refer to the manufacturing process that is applied to create them. The process begins by heating silver materialin a furnace until it turns to a molten slurry. During the heating process, all unwanted impurities in the slurry are removed until only molten silver of high purity is left, most often at around 99.9%. The molten silver is then poured into moulds, usually in the shape of large bars, where it cools and solidifies.The solid silver is then inserted into a mill that rolls the silver into panels with a uniform dimension. Afterwards, the silver panels are inserted into ablanking press that punches blanks out of the silver panels. The next step involves the weighing of each silver blank to ensure that it is neither underweight nor overweight and those that pass this test are then polished forthem to obtain a shiny surface. The last stage involves the minting process where the silver blank is inserted into a minting press that presses its die with huge force to transfer the design from the die onto the silver blank. The result is a minted bar. The newly minted silver bar is then inspected before beingsealed in a transparent tamper-proof protective package.

The “Swiss made” PAMP 1 ounce Lunar silver bar

Switzerland’s reputation for producing high quality luxurious products is not limited to the watch industry but applies equally to investment silver. Switzerland is to silver what France is to wine, a statement supported by hard facts which show that most of the world’s silver is refined in this prosperous alpine country. Information from the London Good Delivery List shows that six refineries hold 90% of the silver market and four of those, including PAMP, are based in Switzerland. On average, Switzerland refines between 65-75% of the world’s annual supply of silver, making it the number one country in the world when it comes to refining silver and manufacturing bullion bars. The reason why Switzerland commands this position is because of the country’shigh level of security, efficient logistics, a strong financial system that accommodates some of the world’s leading international banks, and, most importantly, stringent laws that set high standards regarding the quality and purity of finished bullion products. For example, every PAMP silver bar contains an assayer’s stamp, seen on the reverse as “ESSAYEUR FONDEUR”, which guarantees the purity of the bar. To be able to put this marking on its bars, PAMP needs to comply with strict Swiss federal laws (Precious Metals Control Act) and employ an affirmed assayer who has acquired the needed federal assayer’s licences. Affirmed assayers must keep proper account of the determination of fineness that they perform and at any given time must make their books available to the authorities for inspection. In other words, every PAMP silverbar has its purity accredited by government and industry bodies, its quality complieswith the highest industry standards and is perfected by the best Swiss engineers, resulting in a product with silvered integrity that surpasses all standards of excellence. After all, it is Swiss made.