Sunshine Minting Gold Bars
Sunshine Mint gold bars - bullion with advanced anti-counterfeiting security features
Sunshine Minting Inc. (SMI), a.k.a. Sunshine Mint, is a privately owned American refiner/mint of precious metals that is based in the state of Idaho. More and more precious metal investors that buy gold bars choose SMI as their preferred brand. That is because of SMI's stellar reputation in the bullion market due to the advanced anti-counterfeiting measures it has adopted and some of which it pioneered.
All Sunshine Minting gold bars have unique serial numbers and are packaged in Tamper Evident Packaging (TEP). Additionally, the reverse of the bars have SMI's patented Mint Mark SI™ security feature which uses micro-engraving that is only visible through a special Mint Mark SI™ decoding lens. The word VALID becomes visible when holding this decoder lens above the circle in the middle of the reverse side.
All Sunshine Mint gold bars are made out of 99.99% pure gold, the international standard for gold bullion bars. The mint guarantees the fineness and weight of each bar. SMI bullion bars are instantly recognizable due to the soaring eagle design that appears on the front side of the bars. Many bar sizes are available from the smallest 1 gram gold bars up to 1 kg bars. American consumers that are investing in gold for their retirements can of course include Sunshine Minting bars in their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's).
Why buy SMI Gold Bars?
The Sunshine Mint is perhaps the most well-known private producer of precious metal bullion in America. It produces gold bullion bars in a wide variety of sizes ranging from 1 gram up to 1 kg (see table above). SMI gold bars are generally easy to recognize since the new frontal design shows a soaring eagle in the upper frontal area of the bar. The older Sunshine Mint gold bars just show the words SUNSHINE MINTING within a rectangular box in the upper frontal area of the bar though. However, these older bars generally have been sold a long time ago so it would be highly unusual for a precious metal dealer to still have some of them in stock. Most Sunshine Minting gold bars that are being traded nowadays already have the new frontal design.
SMI gold bullion bars distinguish themselves from their competitors through their unique security featues. All bars contain a unique serial number but that is just the beginning. The perhaps most unique security and authentication feature of Sunshine Mint Gold is the micro-engraved Mint Mark SI™ security mark. It only becomes visible when using the Sunshine Minting Decoder Lens. When holding this decoder lens above the circle that shows up in the middle of the reverse side of each SMI gold bar, the word VALID becomes visible.
Another important security measure that is used to protect each Sunshine Minting bar is Tamper Evident Packaging (TEP). The bars are fully enclosed within this packaging along with the assay card that serves as the mint's guarantee. The guaranteed purity and weight of the bars is both written on the assay card as well as stamped into the bar itself.
The larger Sunshine Mint gold bars (that are cheaper to produce) are generally available for lower premiums over the spot price of the metal. All SMI gold bars are eligible to be included in precious metal Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's).
Frontal Design
The new frontal design of Sunshine Minting Gold shows a soaring bald eagle within a circle at the top. The eagle is shown in full flight with outstretched wings and extended talons as if getting ready to strike some prey. A blazing sun sending out its powerful rays appears in the background, partially obstructed by the eagle. The words SUNSHINE and MINTING appear within the circle above and below the eagle & sun design. Underneath the circular logo appears the purity information .9999 FINE GOLD and bar weight (for example: 1 OUNCE). A unique serial number appears all the way at the bottom of the front side of each Sunshine Minting gold bar.
On an older Sunshine Mint gold bar, you won't find the eagle & sun logo yet. Older bars just show the words SUNSHINE MINTING within a rectangular box at the top. The bar weight appears underneath that in the middle of the bar and FINE GOLD .9999 appears at the bottom of the frontal side of these older bars.
Reverse Design
The reverse side of the new gold bars features a repeating pattern of rising suns as well as the Mint Mark SI™ security feature within a circle at the center. The Mint Mark SI™ feature contains micro-engraving that only becomes visible with a special decoding lens. When looking at the center through this decoding lense, the word VALID will be visible.
The older gold bars don't have the Mint Mark SI™ security feature yet but already showed the repeating diagonal pattern of rising suns on the reverse.
Sunshine Minting Silver Bars
Sunshine Minting Inc. (SMI) is an American company that has made a name for itself in the bullion market due to the advanced anti-counterfeiting measures it has adopted and some of which it pioneered. Especially SMI's patented Mint Mark SI™ security feature has won the respect of investors worldwide. It uses micro-engraving that is only visible through a special Mint Mark SI™ decoding lens. All Sunshine Mint silver bars are made of 99.9% fine silver. The bars are issued in many different weights ranging from 1/2 oz up to 100 oz. SMI's silver bullion bars are instantly recognizable due to the soaring eagle design that appears on the front side of the bars. Unique serial numbers and Tamper Evident Packaging (TEP) add further security against counterfeiting. All Sunshine Minting silver bars are eligible for inclusion in a Precious Metals IRA.
The Sunshine Minting Silver Bar page gives more information about the silver bars that the Sunshine Mint produces and allows you to compare current prices.