posted 02-24-2004 02:52 PM            

Hello,

I need any info re: a collection of silver pennant-shaped one-oz.(?)There are pieces depicting airlines of 34 countries with logos for each on reverse and date they originated.

I believed they came from an estate sale approximately 20 yrs. ago. Since then they have been sitting in musty safe. Each pennant is tucked in fordable plastic pocket container.

Are there more of these pennants?
How old are they?
Are they of interest to silver collectors? Origin maybe?
Tell me what you know...
Thanks!

posted 02-25-2004 11:00 AM            

The Franklin Mint is a private company that has for several decades mass produced "instant limited edition collectables" of all kinds. Tokens made of silver have been some of their most popular items, but they also make diecast toy cars, teddy bears, tankards, pocket knives, "faberge style" eggs, etc, etc, etc. They make prety much anything where they can take a popular theme and turn it into something where they can make a set to sell to people who will buy. They draw their "collectable ideas" from trends they see in antique collecting, newspaper headlines, anniversaries of famous events, hollywood themes, historical figures, etc.

posted 02-27-2004 04:16 PM            

Really old ones from around the 1200s through the 1600s or 1700s are usually called jetons if they are from Europe or charms if they are from Asian countries.

Rectangular ones tend to be called plaquettes if they are smaller than 20cm or plaques if they are larger.

Ones that have a cash value on them or that say "good for" something in trade are normally called tokens.

Ones that were made as awards for something are normally called medals.

Ones that are none of the above tend to be called medallions.

During the 1800s and first half of the 1900s there were a great many medallions, medals, plaques and plaquettes made with designs done by famous artists and sculptors of the day. These are found in gold, silver, bronze or brass. Designing these was considered an art form back then and there are collectors of these.

Most of the ones made in the past 50 years or so tend to fall into the "instant collectibles" category. The ones made of silver typically are made with 1 ounce of silver and while the companies churning them out marketed them as rare collectibles with large surcharges over their melt value, once they are on the market they tend to be treated by most people as simple bullion which makes the original buyers unhappy. One never knows what people will collect or the price they will pay for something though so this is just a generalization.

posted 03-12-2004 11:58 AM            

Silver Bullion comes in sevaral sizes and shapes, 10 grams (Credit Swiss), half ounce, 1 ounce, 10 ounce 100 ounce, and in Rounds, Rectangles, Blocks you name it.

There are large number of One Troy Silver (FINE) Bars. These are created for just about every notable occurance of anything that catches the public eye. Most have an intrensic value of the spot market as bullion, but a number of older ones could have a collectable value as well. I would suggest that you contact a local dealer to look at your collection and tell you their value, or send pictures to some of the firms that purchase these type of collectables (Coin Dealers).

The only other suggestion I can think of is that you may want to contact an independent apprasier through one of the national apprasial organizations.

We generally don't do any appraisals or valuations on this site.

I hope this helps...