Silver Towne

This American foundry and numismatic clearing house of rare and precious coins from around the world has been at it since the 1940’s. The initial stock was quietly culled from coins collected in an under counter cigar box, as Leon Hendrickson, part owner of a Winchester, Indiana restaurant, would change out interesting and appealing coins – drawn to the collectible nature of the currency. The hobby parlayed itself into a sizeable showroom and distributorship of coinage, and one of the largest domestic foundries amid a silver boom. Bars and rounds of silver are poured from molten globs in the hollow of glowing crucibles into familiar denominations of one, five, and ten ounces. The maker’s mark of Silver Towne has become almost iconic of the precious metal movement – a miner’s pick, pinging forth with action lines.

Silver Towne also offers assaying and grading services for metals and coins, seeing how the investment and collecting mindsets of both are intertwined. There’s a certain satisfying, self reliant feeling that comes of hefting a five ounce bar in the hand, and balling the fist. Something, perhaps, the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson might articulate. An intrinsic value, demonstrated in raw metal – a .999 purity – devoid of any alienation present in paper, credit, and other promissory currencies.

The Winchester, Indiana showroom is open 9-5, Monday through Friday, and 9-4, Saturday.