Can I have a certificate of authenticity or purity for my coins and bars?

Government mints such as the Royal Canadian Mint, United States Mint, The Perth Mint and Austrian Mint do not issue certificates for investment silver bullion coins or bars. Exceptions are gift items or special limited edition coins whose value includes a 'collectible' or numismatic factor beyond bullion value and sell individually for a much higher premium. This is a different market segment altogether.

Investment bullion coins are certificates in themselves as they either state “9999 Fine Silver” (Maple Leafs), “Fine Silver” (American Eagles or the German equivalent of “FeinSilber” in case of the Austrian Mint), or “999 Plata Pura” (Pure Silver in Spanish, on the Mexican Libertad coins). “Fine Silver” is defined as .999 Purity.

The coins are also legal tender representing Canadian Dollars, US Dollars or Euros. Asking for an additional certificate of authenticity for these coins is akin to asking for a certificate of authenticity for the US dollar, Euro or our Singapore dollar notes. In the case of bars, the private mints are all brand name mints which have third party assayers and maintain product quality for their reputation.

Furthermore, a certificate of authenticity only makes sense if the item being certified is uniquely identifiable using a serial number that matches the certificate. Silver coins and small bars do not have serial numbers therefore a certificate could not be linked to the specific coins, making the certificate effectively meaningless. However you can have a DUX Test perfomed on your bullion and have it marked with a TPL (tamper proof label).