Sunshine Minting struck 10 oz. .999 fine silver bar

Privately-minted Silver Eagles Silver bullion investors have made 999 fine silver bullion rounds a preferred way to own silver bullion. And, Sunshine Minting 1-oz 999 fine silver bullion rounds have become the preferred silver bullion rounds in America. Perhaps, rightfully so.

Because of the famed Sunshine Mine, the name Sunshine is practically synonymous with silver. Although Sunshine Minting is no longer associated with Sunshine Mining, having separated in 1994, Sunshine Minting is carrying on the tradition of Sunshine being associated with silver. The company is a major silver bullion supplier. In addition to the 1-oz silver bullion rounds pictured above, Sunshine Minting produces 100-, 10-, and 1-oz silver bars. Further, Sunshine Minting supplies silver to the US Mint for its Silver Eagle program.

1-oz Sunshine rounds come loose in bags, generally 250 coins to a bag. A Sunshine silver round is 37 mm in diameter.

(The original Sunshine Mining no longer exists, and its demise illustrates the pitfalls of investing in mining stocks. For more than 100 years, the company's name was synonymous with silver because of the famed Sunshine Mine, which is now mothballed. A few years ago, management borrowed huge sums of money, but low silver prices made it impossible to service the debt. As a result, creditors converted their debt to Sunshine stock, diluting shareholders to about 4% of their previous positions. A few months after that, the creditors took for themselves out of the company a supposedly "world class" silver property in South America, leaving the "reorganized" Sunshine Mining and Refining Company only a shell. One bad management decision sank a company with over one hundred years of history. Although speculating in mining company stocks can be exciting, physical bullion offers investors much greater security.)