What's up YouTube Silver dragons here And today I'm so incredibly excited to Be talking to the legend himself hi ho Silver how are you doing my friend I hope I'm doing great it's really cool To talk to you man after all these years Thanks for uh sitting down with me today Absolutely now for people who don't know Hi ho silver he's been around in the Silver Community for much longer than I Have he's a pillar of not only the Silver stacking Community but also the Silver pouring Community as well First On YouTube now on Instagram he also owns Bunker bullion he makes some beautiful Hand-poured silver you have to check him Out but the topic of the video today is What you're now getting into hi ho it's Making your own silver minted coins Slash rounds now obviously to be a coin It has to be backed by a Sovereign Nation so what you're making is around And you're making it as sort of a Collaboration with another mint but what I wanted to do is sort of pick your Brain because there's not a lot of Information out there on the internet Talking about you know how to make your Own silver coins slash silver rounds and You know many people want to make them For different reasons maybe for their Business uh for you know uh to pass down To their kids or what have you but You've gone through this process can you
Talk about what it took to go from just Design to the actual finished product Um I can talk about how What I did kind of happened and went Down and how typical that is Um when people are pursuing a custom Project is maybe accurate maybe somewhat Different because Um Antagio mint had followed me back in the Old days on YouTube and I had followed Him and we were aware of each other's Growth in the industry and I have really Really a lot of respect for the work That Antonio mint does and so I had this Idea when I saw An engraving basically that had been Carved into a sculpture at the base of a Of a building in Washington DC at the Base of some stairs and I thought wow That's inspiring and it was it was George Washington Um Praying at Valley Forge it was entitled To prayer at Valley Forge and it was Based on an engraving which was in turn Based on a painting done at the end of The 19th century and it just kind of Moved me and it it uh it's something That I always wanted to do and I just Approached uh Mark mogani at intolio Mint and said How would you like to work together on This this is an idea I have and I
Entitled it in God we trust and when you See the round it's got In God We Trust Prominently in the background field of The reverse and it's just a stunning Design and so I presented the idea and The subject matter and the the concept And asked him if he would like to work With me on it and it At that point it might be different than Other people's experience because It it's actually collaborative around a Dual branded piece and it was a real Honor for me too because When somebody puts their business logo Next to somebody else's business logo That requires a lot of trust and uh it Made me feel good that he had that kind Of trust in how I operate and how I've Handled myself As a person and so we have an intalio Mint bunker bullion piece it's actually Bunker bullion's first minted release That we work together to do the design And uh and he meant it uh and it's it's A stunning piece that's getting a lot of Uh praise as it's getting seen oh yeah Well it's absolutely stunning and I will Show it off here in the video so people Can actually see it and I do appreciate You uh sending me one of these beautiful Works of art to show off to everyone I Got number 183 out of 250 and Um it's just absolutely gorgeous
Um so you had the artwork you had the Idea and and you approached him Um how long did it take to really go From just an idea to like hey we are Making the dies for these like we're Going you know how what how long did That take Uh we spent over a year but it doesn't Have to take that long I wasn't in a Hurry and Um it was something that wasn't Something that he usually does actually Hasn't done this kind of dual branded Piece with anybody uh before so it Wasn't on a schedule for us but Um I would suspect Within Within six months it can happen it Probably depends on how the dyes are cut So when I I called him and I said hey Um what do you think and here's the Here's the artwork the first step that We did was to Take uh take the subject matter and Figure out how to frame it within a Round And where that should be Um And so it it gets uploaded into a Computer Graphics program Uh and then you can obviously move a Circle around and zoom in and out so you Find that that proper framing Um and what you can because you want to Be as close up to this the actual
Subject in this case George Washington As you can be without losing too much of The the background interest so that's it Seems simple but it's it's hard Sometimes to find it well so that uh They did pretty quickly and we had a Basic design and then so with that in The computer Uh my understanding is you highlight Those special points within the design To To bring forward at least the illusion Of being forward uh to add depth and to Draw the eye to the point that the Artist wants the eye to be drawn and so That was done Um now was that something that he knows How to do or did you have to hire Someone else to do that step All of the all of the work was done Within his shot that intolio and so Um Tony brought Anthony grot I believe is His main main guy and he's really Skilled and talented and I I think he Does the computer work too I don't want To be inaccurate but uh They together did that and then that Gets sent in this case to a European Engraver who's incredibly skilled and Who remains anonymous because this Engraving wasn't his design and artists Don't like to put their names on things That aren't their creation but he went
To work on that uh On preparing the Masters to cut the dyes And just is And you'll you'll be able to attest and As people see it it's as good if not Better than anything the U.S mint has Done anytime recently with George Washington's likeness I mean it's it's Well done likeness of George Washington It's just beautiful yeah it looks like Him I mean you could you could tell just With the naked eye I don't even need to Put it under microscope it honestly Looks a little um High Relief like it's Not super high relief but the relief on It is certainly higher than what you'd Expect on a bullion piece Definitely it's a it's a really Strong strike it's probably not Technically high relief but you're right It is so well Engraved and the dies so well designed And executed in the minting that it's It's really beautiful and uh so then the The dyes get cut and as that was Happening on the obverse uh we turned Our attention to the reverse and he had A design that he was kind of working With with uh his company name in the Background of the field and I wanted the Name of this piece to be called In God We Trust Um So he put that in I said let's let's put
That in in the background of the field And so behind our two logos he's on the Left and mine on the right you see in God we trust in there and then it's got A a nice rim with some stars and uh two Ounce Troy 999 fine silver and uh the Bunker bullion up at the top and that Was kind of designed and tweaked and Took a little bit once you get those Designs then the producer will send you Basically proofs and uh It's it's the computer rendering of this Is basically what the design is And then from there you go ahead and you Cut the dies and polish the dies and Prepare them these uh these rounds have A readed edge except for the the small Place where the numbering is Um I also did 50 other uh smoothed edged Versions that have alternate finishes Um gilded and antiqued and approved but The ones we did that are numbered so Then you have to kind of set a collar to Do those and and all of those things Kind of just add to the the cost of of The final production Um and once that's done then you do a You do a test strike and you take your Computer shot of it and you really zoom In and make sure that Um the die is performing how it should And From there it's a matter of scheduling With the mint here's when
This happens that's where You pay for whatever that you're going To do you can sometimes provide this Over you can sometimes purchase this Over through them which is what I did Because a big company gets a little Better deal on it than I do oh I see Uh if we could back up to the to the Making of the dies do they do those Themselves okay and then the in God we Trust it is it's very very like I can See it I can easily read it but is that Like a special security feature almost Like how small that is do they have to Do anything special to be able to Engrave it that small or was it just Their normal equipment as far as you Know That's that's all just That's just all high quality Equipment And dye production and striking ability Yeah I think his logo if you see has a Little bit of a security feature built Into it Uh but the In God We Trust part is just A fine detailed text I see but it's it's Raised and and so it does kind of stand Out and glimmer a little bit yeah it Looks really nice Um so how long did it take uh from the Dyes being produced and and to say okay We now have the dyes uh how long did you Have to schedule out for them to be Minted and they actually have a mint
There do they press them in-house or Where do they do that It uh he has a large operation in Denver Colorado and that's where they meant all Of their pieces and uh that's where These were minted Um I don't know how typical our schedule Was I Was preparing to go Um present my my poured things in Las Vegas in the end of August so I wanted To make them available to the community Before I I went down there for a couple Days so uh we kind of rushed it as Quickly as we could to get through Probably It was probably a couple of months maybe Okay 10 weeks eight ten weeks but I Don't know how quickly or how slowly it Would typically be that's what what it Was and then he moved me up in the in The production schedule so that I could Have enough time to do what I needed to Do with them which was appreciated so I Don't know the proper answer to that so If someone wanted to get something Custom made I mean they'd be looking Probably like a year out I mean it's Going to take quite a while It you can definitely do it faster and There are people in the silver Community Probably on YouTube definitely on Instagram and Facebook that have minting Operations where they do their own Design and and they do things faster but
Uh with entirely other They're busy producing their rounds that Are Are successful so fitting into his Schedule was maybe a little more tricky Than it would be with some myth so I Think you could probably Someone will correct Us in the comments If we're wrong probably within a couple Of months you could probably strike Something with the way guys have such Cool gear in their shops and in their House now where they can just you know Make little 3D printed things and then Make a make a die of them and and do all That in-house so it can happen quickly It's it's a matter of how quickly and Everything you do is a is an expense Right now I don't want to Um put you on the spot too much as far As like cost goes uh but I'm assuming You obviously have to pay for all of the Silver and then the labor as well so When someone is thinking about getting Something custom made I mean they're Certainly not going to be paying spot or Anything remotely close to that I mean It's quite a lot of Labor and time right Like lots of things in this case in Particular you need to make enough of Them so that you spread those costs out Over more units So the way I chose my pricing was I Wanted at the end of this limited
Mintage two ounce piece to have enough Uh To fund a one ounce follow-up that would Be a lower premium piece for 2023 and We're almost there so if we're getting Closer to selling this piece out it will Sell out probably within a month and Then I should have the funds where we Can do that that one ounce follow-up Same piece only a one ounce version Um I really just find it inspiring and I Think that it's a message that can be Taken religiously but it can also be Taken patriotically it could be taken Psychologically any number of ways Depending on what depth of analysis you Want to to go into but I think it's Inspiring I think it's a message that uh That makes sense things in our country Don't need to be going this way Uh we need to Elevate some idea of what is good And collectively together work toward Good as individuals Um and so I want as many people as Possible to see and have this piece and The one ounce version is how that'll That'll happen so pricing it can be Expensive I would say Um Probably double spot if you make a Couple hundred of them that's just a Guess but it's not inexpensive and the Time is a huge part of the cost yeah I
Can imagine and and also Um the dies now the dies that you had Made for this piece do you have to Remake uh obviously the side that says 2023 and the weight and stuff like that But like the George Washington side can That handle enough strikes to go another Thousand or or how long do they last I don't know I guess we'll find out I I Assume that yes it can Um when they're because of I mean so Many of these will have mintages of Multiple thousands Um And I can imagine that they remake dies Too often with the cost time and expense Involved but Um I have not asked that specific Question and we'll we'll find out I Anticipate maybe doing 500 of the one Ounce but we'll see how that goes as we Uh we consider that for next year and Who knows you know if it catches on I Think the quality is terrific people Don't look to some retired or former YouTuber you know who pours silver uh For a piece like this but maybe someday They will how cool would it be to have a Series and In God We Trust series I Think would be would be neat Um with various subject matter Um Who knows well I would love to see a Series and I I love the subject matter I
Love the In God We Trust that's such a Powerful thing that I feel like we've Sort of lost in this country a little Bit and we definitely need to get back To that yeah as far as making more Pieces in the future I do want to Mention this piece that we're talking About in the video people can still buy It it's a very limited mintage and like You said it's probably going to sell out Within a month so it's kind of like Their last shot if they want to get one Of the first you know first editions Um and where could they find that hi ho Well if you'll remember way back well I I was doing it for sure when you started Your your channel uh within maybe a year Of starting my Hi-Ho Silver YouTube Channel I kind of figured out to do what I wanted to do and the silver stacking World I needed the ability to easily Sell So I built my own website it's called Tastysilver.com I'm handling all the Sales it's just me I do uh I do all the bad do everything it's it's my site Tastysilver.com if you go there you'll See a link uh and you'll be able to find More information and see HD photos and And some video of the obverse and Reverse get a really good look uh at the Piece and uh so that's where it's Available all right well I don't want to Take up too much of your time here uh hi
Ho silver but I really appreciate you Sharing your experience with everyone And hopefully if there's people out There who are thinking about getting Custom stuff made in the future this Will help them give them some insight on Sort of the process and and how it works So I really really thank you for sharing All of your knowledge with us and also For being just such a great member of The community for so many years Um seriously I really appreciate it Hi-Ho Silver thank you thank you I Appreciate it congratulations to you on All your success and to all you stackers Dudes we were just stackers I think one Of the cool things and and I'll just Kind of wrap up on on this from my end Uh dragons Neither of us could have envisioned I'm I assume I know it's true for me no clue As I was getting into this silver Hobby And silver business kind of thing uh Where I would be now not it would have Never entered my mind as a possibility But By being open to experiences in life and Having some sort of an idea of get up in The morning and work hard and and handle Things in a moral way and and make Yourself available to help others you Know life opens up opportunities to us And so uh just keep your heads up I know Things are a little tough and lots of
Arenas right now and uh if I can do it You can do it you just kind of keep Working man and love your families love Each other try to live a good moral life And things will work out great stack on Man absolutely great message uh from a Great person thank you so much I Appreciate the time Thank you I appreciate yours too and to Wrap this one up I want to say a massive Thank you so much to all of you for Watching this video and I will see you In the next one silver dragons out
