I posted about a silver bar that I got with an Eagle design that didn’t have mint markings. As I haven’t been able to ascertain the bar’s origin, I asked if anyone else knew. No one has said they know as of this post, so when @glenalbrethsen said he was considering making one up, I thought I’d beat him to the punch. So here’s my totally fictional story of the round and why there’s no mint marking.

200 Year Anniversary Round

The year was 1966 and Silas T. Young had just made a big life-changing decision. He had seen the old gas station on the corner of 5th and Waxton for sale and had jumped at the opportunity. When he bought the building, he wasn't even sure what he would do with it, but as it was a good location and a fair price, he wanted to take a chance at working for himself.

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After telling his boss at the sawmill that he was going to be leaving, Silas went about updating the building. He redid the roof as it leaked in places, and remodeled the inside to have more open space. What really changed the course of his life was when he ran into an old friend who had bought the rights to a silver mine. The friend, Daniel Waters was looking for a way to sell the silver that his crews were going to be mining out of the ground. Then Silas got the idea to open a private mint and manufacture silver rounds and sell them on the market.

Thus Young's Silver Co was born. Silas poured all his money into the new business and through his hard work and the constant stream of silver from Daniel Waters’ mine, business was good. Silas sold the rounds and bars his company made mainly through wholesale channels to small coin stores that sold to the public.

After 10 years of constant success and growth, Silas was looking to slow down and enjoy some time with his family. In 1976, he hired another friend, Jackson Whitehill to as manager to help run the business. Things went well for a while. Then Silas started noticing irregularities in some of the numbers when he’d check the books. He finally figured out that Jackson had gotten into gambling trouble and had been skimming silver from the company to pay his debts. He hadn’t stopped gambling either, and he kept losing so the debts grew.

Jackson had been planning on paying it back, but in a desperate bid to win his freedom, he borrowed all the silver that was in the shop as collateral for a final “sure thing” of a bet. The bet wasn’t a sure thing and Jackson lost. With the loss, he also lost any chance of redemption, and Silas’s business. Orders that had already been paid for were due, but there was no silver for completing the order.

Silas decided the only thing he could do was sell the building and land to get enough money to buy silver to complete the last orders. He sold everything and had almost enough money to complete the orders, but he needed just a bit more money. The only thing he had left to sell was his mint mark.
A newcomer to the minting game was looking to acquire a reputable brand and as no one knew that Young’s Silver Co had been compromised, it was still an attractive target for takeover. Silas had no other options, so he sold his brand and die which got him just enough money to complete the last order.

The last order off the line was the 1 ounce 200 Year Anniversary bars with a Walking Eagle on front. Because Silas had already sold the brand, the bars went out unmarked. There were only 30,000 of them made and most of them were immediately melted down and re-minted into other bars and rounds. It is estimated that only 500 of the bars remain in circulation today.

After closing Young’s Silver Co, Silas went on to join a partnership with Daniel Waters to open a department store and when they finally sold, they turned a huge profit!

Jackson Whitehill was seen leaving town shortly after the mint closed, but he was never seen in town again. Someone said they saw him in California, but seeing as I’m in South Carolina, they’re clearly just making up stories.

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I hope you enjoyed this little fictional history. I made it all up. All characters and names are fictional and any resemblance to persons real or imaginary was unintentional.

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@themanwithnoname