2 oz Bull & Bear Silver Round

The 2 oz Bull & Bear Silver Round from Golden State Mint

The Bull & Bear series is one of the few bullion designs built around finance itself. The obverse carries a charging bull with head lowered and hoof raised against a geometric backdrop, the symbol of market optimism; the reverse shows a bear upright mid-roar, paw raised in a defensive swipe, for caution and correction. Most private mint rounds lean on patriotic, wildlife, or historical themes, so the market motif gives this series a distinct identity among generic silver.

The maker is Golden State Mint, one of the longest-operating private mints in the United States, founded in 1974 by Jim Pavlakos and now run with his son Andrew, with facilities in Fullerton, California and Lake Mary, Florida. GSM mints in-house and is known for short lead times. The Bull & Bear is the mint's own design rather than a licensed theme, and the series spans an unusually broad range: rounds from 1/10 oz up to this 2 oz size and beyond, plus bars, all in .999 fine silver, with the same bull and bear imagery across every format.

As a round it carries no face value and no legal tender status; the price is metal plus a modest fabrication margin, the standard private-round proposition of coin format at near-bar premiums. The 2 oz weight doubles the silver per unit over the standard 1oz Bull & Bear round while keeping the same design on a larger canvas.

2 oz Bull & Bear Round Specifications

The design does not change year to year; the same bull and bear imagery runs across all production years and all sizes in the series, from the 1/10 oz fractional rounds up to the 10 oz bar. The GSM logo appears incused on the obverse beside the bull, and the weight and purity are inscribed on the piece.

There are no series-specific security features. Private mint rounds lack the anti-counterfeiting technology of sovereign coins, so authenticity rests on the basics: a precise weight check against 62.21 grams, dimension verification, and metal testing where doubt exists. The magnet slide test works well for silver, which is diamagnetic; ferrous fakes stick, and the common counterfeiting approach of copper, lead, or zinc cores shows up as a weight or dimension mismatch. GSM ships rounds in protective acrylic capsules, which is the sensible way to store them given silver's tendency to tarnish on exposure to sulphur compounds.

Tax Treatment of Bull & Bear Silver Rounds

Rounds are taxed as silver bullion, not as coins; the distinction matters most in the UK, where the CGT exemption attaches only to UK legal tender coins.

• US: The primary market for this product. No federal sales tax, and roughly 35 states exempt bullion outright, with several more exempting purchases above a threshold. Long-term capital gains are taxed at the 28% collectibles rate. On IRA eligibility, treat with caution: although the IRS purity floor for silver is 99.9%, GSM rounds do not come from a sovereign mint or an exchange-approved refiner, and most custodians will not accept them. Confirm with a custodian before buying for a retirement account.
• UK: 20% VAT on purchase, and no CGT exemption on sale. Rounds offer no tax advantage over bars for UK buyers.
• Canada: 0% GST/HST. The federal exemption covers silver refined to 99.9% or better in coin, bar, ingot, or wafer form, and a .999 round qualifies.
• Australia and New Zealand: GST-free at 99.9%+ purity, which .999 fine silver meets.
• Singapore: 0% GST for qualifying investment silver at 99.9%+ purity; no capital gains tax.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no duties, no capital gains tax.

Bull & Bear 2 oz Round vs the RCM Coin and Other Generics

The most direct rival shares the theme. The Royal Canadian Mint launched its own 2 oz Bull and Bear silver coin in 2025: .9999 fine silver, a CAD $10 face value, Canadian legal tender, created in partnership with TD Precious Metals. The RCM coin buys government backing, higher fineness, and sovereign-mint security at a sovereign-coin premium. The GSM round buys more silver per dollar. That is the round-versus-coin trade in miniature, played out on the same bull-and-bear theme.

Against other private-mint generics, the series competes with the Buffalo, Eagle, and Walking Liberty designs that dominate the round market from mints like SilverTowne, Sunshine Minting, and Highland Mint. Premiums are comparable, low over spot in the way of generic .999 silver, so the choice comes down to design preference and range. The Bull & Bear's finance theme is the differentiator, and the series' breadth (fractional 1/10, 1/4, and 1/2 oz rounds through to 2 oz, 5 oz, and bars) is wider than many competing generic lines offer.

The 2 oz format itself is a middle path: more metal per piece than the ubiquitous 1 oz round, less commitment than the 5 oz Bull & Bear round. For buyers stacking weight rather than collecting designs, the larger pieces marginally reduce per-unit handling.