1 oz Silver Card Silver Bar

A Credit-Card-Sized Silver Bar You Can Cut With Scissors

The 1 oz Silver Card from Local Silver Smith takes the credit-card format pioneered by Pyromet and makes it available from a small-batch US artisan producer. Each card contains one troy ounce of .999 fine silver pressed into the dimensions of a standard credit card, thin enough to be physically cut with household scissors into smaller pieces for fractional trading.

This format appeals to buyers who value divisibility above all else. Unlike a conventional 1 oz silver bar, which must be sold or traded as a single unit, the Silver Card can be portioned into any denomination the holder chooses. The concept sits somewhere between traditional bullion and the old idea of constitutional silver, where smaller denominations enabled everyday transactions.

The card ships in a protective sleeve and measures approximately 85.6 x 54 mm with a thickness near 1 mm. That thinness is what makes the scissor-cutting feature practical. The trade-off is a higher premium than standard 1 oz bars, reflecting the specialised manufacturing process required to produce a uniformly thin sheet of silver at this precise weight.

For preppers, gift-givers, and collectors drawn to novel formats, the Silver Card offers something genuinely different from the standard rectangular bar. For pure weight accumulators focused on minimising cost per ounce, conventional bars from larger refiners will deliver more silver per dollar spent.

Silver Card Technical Details

The credit-card dimensions are not arbitrary. The format is designed to fit inside a standard wallet, card sleeve, or document holder. At 1 mm thick, the card is comparable to three stacked credit cards. The uniform thickness across the entire surface is what allows clean cutting into smaller pieces without specialised tools.

Local Silver Smith is a small artisan mint based in New Hampshire, producing hand-crafted silver pieces. Their Silver Card follows the same basic format popularised by Pyromet's original Silver Card product, which demonstrated that a troy ounce of silver could be pressed thin enough to cut with scissors while maintaining structural integrity. Pyromet, founded in 1969 by Jay Miller in Chester, Pennsylvania, pioneered this format and was later acquired by Ames Goldsmith in December 2022.

The .999 fine purity meets the standard threshold for investment-grade silver bullion across all major jurisdictions. No serial numbers, assay cards, or advanced security features are included; authentication relies on weight measurement and the manufacturer's hallmark.

Silver Card Tax Treatment by Country

As a .999 fine silver bar (the card format is legally classified as a bar, not a coin), the Silver Card follows standard silver bullion tax rules in each jurisdiction. It carries no face value and is not legal tender.

• United States: No federal sales tax. State-level exemptions vary; approximately 35 states exempt bullion from sales tax entirely, while others impose thresholds (California over $2,000, Florida over $500, New York over $1,000). Capital gains taxed at the 28% collectibles rate for holdings over one year.
• United Kingdom: Subject to 20% VAT on purchase. Not CGT-exempt (no legal tender status). The margin scheme may apply if purchased second-hand, reducing effective VAT to near zero on the dealer's margin only.
• Canada: GST/HST exempt at .999 purity (meets the 99.9% threshold for precious metals exemption).
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade silver (meets the 99.9% purity requirement).
• New Zealand: GST-exempt for fine silver at 99.9%+ purity in bar form.
• Singapore: GST-exempt under the Investment Precious Metals (IPM) scheme at .999 purity.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.

IRA eligibility for this product depends on custodian approval. The .999 purity meets the IRS minimum threshold for silver in a precious metals IRA, but the custodian must accept products from the specific manufacturer. Larger, LBMA-accredited refiners typically face fewer approval hurdles.