1 oz Texas Silver Round

The Texas Silver Round

The Texas Silver Round is an annual release from Texas Mint, produced continuously since 2013. Over 3 million rounds have entered circulation, making it one of the most successful private-mint series in the US market. The round is struck in .9999 fine silver, a full step above the .999 standard used by most private mints, matching the purity of sovereign coins like the 1 oz Canadian Silver Maple Leaf.

Texas Mint is a division of Texas Precious Metals, itself a subsidiary of Kaspar Companies, a family business founded in 1898 in Shiner, Texas. Kaspar Companies manufactures industrial steel products; its entry into precious metals through Texas Precious Metals (founded 2011) and Texas Mint (spun off 2018) is an unusual lineage for a bullion producer. The parent company has processed over $4 billion in precious metals transactions and shipped more than 75 million ounces of silver since inception. Shiner, Texas (population roughly 2,000) is better known for Shiner beer; Texas Precious Metals is the largest employer in Lavaca County.

The design format is consistent: the obverse always carries the geographic outline of Texas with the Lone Star, while the reverse changes annually. From 2020 to 2023, the reverse designs honoured the Texas Revolution in chronological order: the Battle of Gonzales ("Come and Take It" cannon flag), the Battle of the Alamo, the Goliad Massacre, and the Battle of San Jacinto. Earlier designs featured Texas wildlife and landmarks (cowboy, longhorn, white-tailed deer, coyote, bobcat, Capitol dome).

For buyers in the 1 oz silver round market, the Texas Silver Round combines private-mint pricing with sovereign-grade purity. The .9999 fineness is a genuine differentiator over .999 rounds from SilverTowne or Sunshine Minting, and the annual design programme gives each year's release a distinct identity without sacrificing the low premiums of the round format.

Texas Silver Round Specifications

Annual Reverse Designs

Selected designs from the series:

Packaging

• Individual rounds in plastic flips
• Tubes of 25 (note: 25 per tube, not the more common 20)
• Mini-Monster Boxes of 250 rounds (10 tubes), a format pioneered by Texas Mint as a more accessible bulk option
• Monster Boxes of 500 rounds (20 tubes), sealed with unique serial numbers, constructed from cold-rolled steel with powder-coated finish rather than the plastic containers used by most producers

The steel monster boxes are a distinctive feature of the Texas Mint product line. They are sealed and individually serial-numbered, providing tamper evidence and traceability that plastic monster boxes do not offer.

Authentication

The rounds carry no advanced security features such as holograms, micro-text, or decoder-based verification. Authentication relies on the quality of the die work, weight verification, and the .9999 purity which is verifiable by XRF or Sigma Metalytics testing. The four-nines purity itself provides a basic authentication signal, as most counterfeit rounds target the simpler .999 composition.

Texas Silver Round Tax Treatment

The Texas Silver Round is a private mint product with no legal tender status. Its .9999 purity exceeds the minimum threshold for tax-exempt classification in every jurisdiction that gates exemptions on fineness.

Purchase Tax

• United States: No federal sales tax. IRA-eligible; the .9999 purity exceeds the IRS Section 408(m) minimum of .999 for silver, and Texas Mint products are widely accepted by IRA custodians. Texas has no state sales tax on precious metals. Approximately 35 states exempt bullion from state sales tax.
• United Kingdom: 20% VAT on silver rounds. Not commonly available in the UK market.
• Canada: GST/HST exempt. The .9999 purity exceeds the 99.9% threshold.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade silver at 99.9% purity.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt at 99.9% purity. No capital gains tax on disposal.
• Singapore: GST-exempt under IPM for qualifying silver at 99.9% purity.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax or import duty.
• South Africa: 15% VAT on all silver bullion.
• EU: Standard VAT rates (17-27%) apply. Rarely available from EU dealers.

Capital Gains

• US: IRA-eligible for tax-deferred (Traditional IRA) or tax-free (Roth IRA) growth. Outside an IRA, gains are taxed as collectibles at a maximum 28% long-term rate.
• UK: CGT at 18-24%. Not CGT-exempt. £3,000 annual exemption.
• Canada: 50% inclusion rate on capital gains.
• Australia: CGT with 50% discount for holdings over 12 months.

From Shiner Steel to Silver: The Texas Mint Story

Texas Mint's origins are distinctly non-numismatic. Kaspar Companies, the ultimate parent, was founded in 1898 as a steel fabrication business in Shiner, Texas. For over a century, the company manufactured industrial products ranging from commercial kitchen equipment to security enclosures. In 2011, Kaspar Companies launched Texas Precious Metals as a subsidiary to enter the bullion market. Texas Mint was spun off as a dedicated minting division in 2018.

The first Texas Silver Round appeared in 2013. Early reverse designs drew from Texas iconography: cowboys, longhorns, native wildlife, and the state Capitol. The series found its most cohesive run with the Texas Revolution sub-series (2020-2023), which depicted four major battles in chronological order: Gonzales, the Alamo, Goliad, and San Jacinto. This four-year narrative arc, tracing the Texas Revolution from its opening skirmish to its decisive victory, gave collectors a reason to acquire each annual issue as part of a set.

The "Come and Take It" 2020 Gonzales design, depicting the defiant cannon flag that Texan colonists flew when Mexican soldiers demanded the return of a small cannon, became particularly popular and is one of the most recognisable designs in the series. It draws on a phrase with deep resonance in Texas culture.

Over 3 million Texas Silver Rounds and more than 4.2 million ounces of Texas Mint branded products have been produced since 2013. The series also expanded beyond the 1 oz round to include 1 oz bars, 10 oz bars, and 100 oz bars, all in .9999 fine silver.

Texas Silver vs Other 1 oz Silver Rounds

The Texas Silver Round's strongest competitive point is its .9999 purity. Most private mint rounds are .999 fine, including widely traded options from SilverTowne and Sunshine Minting. Only Scottsdale Mint's Cowboy series matches the four-nines standard among private rounds. In the broader market, only the Canadian Maple Leaf and Australian Kangaroo achieve .9999 in sovereign silver coins.

Against the 1 oz SilverTowne Buffalo Round, the Texas round offers higher purity and an annually changing design, while SilverTowne offers wider dealer distribution and a static design that is the most recognisable private-mint round in the US market. Both trade at comparable premiums, with the SilverTowne Buffalo sometimes available at a marginal discount.

The 1 oz Sunshine Minting Silver Round competes on security rather than purity. Sunshine's MintMark SI technology provides verifiable authentication that Texas rounds lack. Sunshine rounds are .999 fine. Buyers who prioritise purity choose Texas; buyers who prioritise authentication choose Sunshine.

Against sovereign coins, the Texas round's .9999 purity eliminates the specification gap entirely. The 1 oz Silver Maple Leaf matches the purity and adds legal tender status, government backing, micro-engraved security features (Bullion DNA), and deeper international liquidity. The Maple Leaf costs more, and the Texas round is the better value per ounce for buyers who do not need those additional features. For US buyers specifically, the 1 oz Silver Eagle is only .999 fine, meaning the Texas round actually surpasses it on purity while costing significantly less.