10 oz Scottsdale Mint Archangel Michael Silver Bar

The 10 oz Scottsdale Archangel Michael Silver Bar

The Archangel Michael is a minted bar series from Scottsdale Mint of Scottsdale, Arizona, and the 10 oz silver version is its largest format. The bar contains 311.035 grams of .999 fine silver and depicts the Archangel Michael as a winged warrior with sword and shield, standing over a defeated serpent, a classic iconographic scene from Christian tradition. The series also includes a 1 oz silver bar and a 1 oz gold bar at .9999 fine.

What makes the product unusual is the combination of subject and format. Faith-based bullion is a real niche with a dedicated collector base, but most religious-themed products are rounds or coins; a 10 oz minted bar with this level of design detail is uncommon. The Archangel Michael himself is venerated across Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, which broadens the design's appeal beyond a single tradition. Scottsdale Mint is ISO 9001:2015 certified, follows ASTM standards for purity and weight, and backs the bars with a 100% guarantee on purity, weight, and content; its crowned-lion hallmark has become a recognised brand mark in the bullion world.

As an investment, the bar sits in the sweet spot of the silver bar scale: 10 oz silver bars typically carry 4-8% premiums against 8-15% for 1 oz bars, and the weight remains liquid with dealers everywhere. Buyers are paying something for the design over a plain generic bar, so the cheapest-ounces case belongs elsewhere; this is a bar for stackers who want their weight with artwork attached.

Archangel Michael 10 oz Bar Specifications

The obverse carries the Archangel Michael design, drawn from centuries of religious art and inspired by classic Renaissance sculpture and painting: a muscular winged figure triumphant over the serpent representing Satan. The reverse bears the Scottsdale Mint lion logo, a male lion wearing an ornamental crown, with the mint name and the bar's weight and purity markings.

There is no dedicated anti-counterfeiting technology on these bars, no serial numbers and no assay cards beyond the packaging; the sealed individual capsule provides tamper evidence and the lion hallmark serves as the brand identifier. Standard silver bar checks apply at this size: counterfeit 10 oz bars exist in the wider market, but plated copper, lead, or zinc cores fail a precise weight and dimension check or a magnet slide test, and silver has no tungsten-core risk because tungsten's density would make a fake obviously overweight.

Archangel Michael Bar Tax Treatment

The bar is a private mint product with no legal tender status anywhere, so it earns no coin-specific exemptions; it is taxed as ordinary .999 silver bullion.

• United States: the primary market. Most states exempt bullion bars of this purity from sales tax, though around ten still tax bullion and a few use thresholds (Florida $500, New York $1,000, California $2,000). Its .999 fineness equals the IRS 99.9% silver minimum, so the bar generally meets IRA purity requirements; eligibility in practice depends on the custodian, and IRA metal must be held at an approved depository. Long-term gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%.
• United Kingdom: 20% VAT on new silver, with margin-scheme rates possible from VAT-registered dealers on pre-owned bars. No CGT exemption, since the bar is not legal tender; gains above the £3,000 annual allowance are taxable.
• European Union: full national VAT rates on new silver (17-27% by country), with margin-scheme treatment available on second-hand bars in some markets.
• Canada: 0% GST/HST at 99.9%+ purity. Australia: GST-free at 99.9%+ purity. New Zealand: GST-exempt at 99.9%+ purity, no formal capital gains tax.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: no purchase tax and no capital gains tax in either jurisdiction.

Scottsdale's Michael vs Ukraine's Coin and Generic Bars

The most famous Archangel Michael bullion product is not this bar but Ukraine's 1 oz silver Archangel Michael coin, issued since 2011. The Ukrainian piece is government-minted legal tender with stronger numismatic appeal, but its availability has been disrupted since 2022 due to the conflict. The two serve different buyers: the coin for legal-tender collectors, the Scottsdale bar for stackers who want the subject in a lower-premium private-mint format, and in a 10 oz size the coin never offered.

Within religious-themed bullion more broadly, PAMP Suisse produces faith-based bars such as the Cross, Romanesque Cross, and Ka'Bah designs, though none feature the Archangel Michael. Various private mints strike generic Archangel Michael rounds; Scottsdale's version is distinguished from those by higher production quality and its ISO 9001:2015 certification.

Against plain 10 oz bars from producers like Sunshine Minting, Asahi, or the Royal Canadian Mint, the calculation is design versus cost. All deliver the same 311 grams of fine silver at the weight class where premiums drop most sharply from the 1 oz level, and the marginal step up to a kilo bar saves less than 1% per ounce more. The Scottsdale bar asks a design premium over generics but offers brand recognition through the lion hallmark, which matters at resale where recognised-brand bars command tighter spreads than no-name silver that typically sells at melt value only.