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About the 5 oz Tombstone Nugget Silver Bar
Scottsdale Mint's Hand-Poured 5 oz Tombstone Nugget
The 5 oz Tombstone Nugget is a hand-poured .999 fine silver bar produced by Scottsdale Mint, designed to evoke the raw silver extracted from the mines of Tombstone, Arizona during the 1870s and 1880s. Each piece is individually cast, making every nugget unique in shape and surface texture. This is the opposite of precision-minted bullion: the irregular form, rough edges, and varying surface finish are deliberate features, not defects.
Tombstone was founded in 1877 by Ed Schieffelin, a prospector who had been told by soldiers that all he would find in Apache territory was his own tombstone. The mines he discovered (the Good Enough and Tough Nut) produced millions of dollars worth of silver at 1880s prices before underground water flooding began in 1881-1882. The inscription "Tombstone Arizona Territory" on each nugget references this historical period correctly: Arizona did not achieve statehood until 1912, and during the silver rush era it was still a US territory.
Scottsdale Mint, founded in 2008, operates facilities in Scottsdale, Arizona and Casper, Wyoming. The company also mints legal tender coins for over 20 sovereign nations, but the Tombstone Nugget is a proprietary private mint product with no face value or government backing. Each nugget ships with a Certificate of Authenticity and some sizes include a miner's pouch, reinforcing the frontier mining theme.
The practical trade-off with hand-poured silver is storage efficiency. The 5 oz Scottsdale Stacker, from the same mint, is engineered for neat interlocking stacks. The Tombstone Nugget, by contrast, has irregular dimensions that resist tidy arrangement. Buyers choose the Tombstone for its tactile character and aesthetic appeal, not for space-efficient stacking.
Tombstone Nugget 5 oz Specifications
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 5 troy oz (155.52 g) |
| Purity | .999 fine silver |
| Production method | Hand-poured cast bar |
| Shape | Irregular nugget (each piece unique) |
| Obverse markings | "Tombstone Arizona Territory," weight, purity |
| Reverse | Natural nugget texture (no additional markings) |
| Manufacturer | Scottsdale Mint, Arizona/Wyoming |
| Packaging | Certificate of Authenticity, miner's pouch |
| Serial number | No |
| Legal tender | No |
| Face value | None |
Available Sizes in the Tombstone Range
| Size | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | Hand-hammered round | Flatter, more coin-like than the nugget bars |
| 5 oz | Hand-poured nugget | This product |
| 10 oz | Hand-poured nugget | Mid-range size |
| 1 kilo | Hand-poured nugget | Largest in the range (32.15 troy oz) |
The 1 oz Tombstone Hammered Round is a related but distinct product. It is hand-hammered (struck) rather than hand-poured, producing a flatter, more disc-like shape with an antiqued appearance. The 5 oz, 10 oz, and kilo versions are all hand-poured nugget bars with irregular profiles.
Tax Treatment for the Tombstone Nugget
As a hand-poured private mint bar with no legal tender status, the Tombstone Nugget follows standard silver bullion tax rules with some caveats around IRA eligibility.
- United States: IRA eligibility is uncertain. Standard IRA rules require .999 purity from a COMEX/NYMEX-approved refiner for silver bars. Scottsdale Mint is not COMEX-approved, though they are a well-known private mint. Some IRA custodians may accept Scottsdale products; buyers should verify directly. Capital gains taxed at up to 28% (collectibles rate). Sales tax varies by state; most states that exempt bullion do so based on purity and form.
- United Kingdom: Subject to 20% VAT on silver. Not CGT-exempt. Available from some specialist international dealers with higher shipping costs from the US.
- Canada: GST/HST exempt as .999 fine silver in bar form under federal investment precious metals rules.
- Australia: Subject to 10% GST. Classification as investment-grade silver depends on whether the hand-poured format qualifies as a form "commonly traded on commodity markets."
- Singapore: IPM exemption at .999 purity in bar form. The irregular shape may invite scrutiny but purity and weight are the determining factors.
- Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.
Tombstone Nugget vs Other Hand-Poured and Standard Bars
vs 5 oz Scottsdale Stacker: Both come from Scottsdale Mint, but they serve opposite purposes. The Stacker is precision-minted with interlocking edges for organised vault storage. The Tombstone is hand-poured with irregular shapes for tactile and aesthetic appeal. The Stacker carries a serial number; the Tombstone does not. For efficient accumulation, the Stacker is the practical choice. For a display piece or a gift with character, the Tombstone has the edge.
vs Monarch Precious Metals hand-poured bars: Monarch is another US private mint specialising in hand-poured silver. Monarch offers a wider variety of novelty shapes (skulls, tombstone-shaped bars, loaf bars) at comparable premiums. The Scottsdale Tombstone Nugget has stronger brand recognition and the Tombstone mining heritage narrative, but Monarch appeals to buyers seeking more varied designs.
vs PAMP Suisse or Valcambi bars: Fundamentally different products. Swiss refinery bars are precision-minted, serialised, sealed in assay cards, and carry LBMA accreditation. They command tighter bid-ask spreads on resale and are accepted with minimal friction by dealers worldwide. The Tombstone Nugget trades at wider spreads and carries a collector premium that may or may not be recoverable at resale. The Swiss bars are for efficient capital deployment; the Tombstone is for buyers who value the production method and heritage as part of the ownership experience.
5 oz Tombstone Nugget Silver Bar: frequently asked questions
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Yes. The Tombstone Nugget is a hand-poured .999 fine silver bar produced by Scottsdale Mint with an intentionally irregular, rough-hewn shape resembling a raw silver nugget pulled from a mine. Each piece is unique in shape and surface texture due to the hand-poured production method. The bar is stamped with "Tombstone Arizona Territory," along with weight and purity markings. It comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and some sizes include a miner's pouch.
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Tombstone, Arizona was founded in 1877 by silver prospector Ed Schieffelin, whose Good Enough and Tough Nut mines became significant silver operations at their peak in the early 1880s. The Scottsdale Mint Tombstone Nugget commemorates that mining heritage. The inscription "Tombstone Arizona Territory" references the historical period before Arizona became a US state in 1912. The hand-poured, irregular shape is designed to evoke the look of raw ore from those mines.
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Silver bars attract VAT in the UK at 20% and in most EU countries (rates vary by member state). In Canada, investment-grade silver bars meeting the purity threshold of 99.9% are generally GST/HST-exempt. In Australia, silver bullion bars are GST-free when they meet the 99.9% purity threshold. Check local rules, as VAT and GST treatment can depend on the specific transaction and seller.