PAMP Fortunana 1 gram

Hi, I'm new to the board and also relatively new to precious metals.

I've purchased a 1/10th oz gold britannia which I encapsulated and am greatly enjoying.

Deciding I wanted to give bars a try, I looked for my best fit. That turned out to be a PAMP 1 gram bar in assay from sd bullion. I'd never seen one in person, only online, but was pretty excited to have it in my hands.

Then it arrived. Shockingly, subpar. The bar rattles loosely in the packing. Veriscan will not work for me, under any conditions.

The idea of a "protective" layer that needs to be removed is very outdated and really makes the product look shoddy. I would prefer an assay that was protective, as well as strong, and still beautiful as shipped. Argor-heraeus lunar assays, as an example.

And side rant, but why don't they simply put the weight of the assay+gold on the assay card as well as the gold weight?

Definitely not what I would expect from one of the top producers in the world. But, at least my friends and I did get a catchphrase out of it.

"That's PAMP disappointing"

Just sharing. Argor-heraeus will be my next purchase!

Anyone else find PAMP underwhelming, at least on the lower scale of weight bars, in terms of presentation?

Hello @SGF and welcome to our forum.
I'm sorry you were disappointed by PAMP, who are usually a very good firm. !g bars can be a bit tricky as capsules tend to be too big. Better luck with Argor-Heraeus

Thank you! Do you have experience with PAMP? I'm curious if the larger bars (5g, 10g, etc) suffer from the same "loose capsule" feel?

Have a pleasant day,

B

The only PAMP bars I have are the 1oz silver Lunar series, and I am very happy with them. My only gold is fractional coins from other mints, and their capsules seem ok.

Pamps lady fortuna 1g bars in a 25 pack are great.

You can break off 1 or 5 from the card for presents or for selling.

All assay info on each gram.

No rattling either.

Welcome to the forum and apologies for my late reply.

I used to love Pamp until I realised they were doing nothing to stop fakes!
As far as carded goes. Even in a 1oz 20g and 10g bars ALL will rattle.

@The Cat's Mother --- I was able to hold a PAMP lunar 1oz bar yesterday. You are right!!! What a difference! The quality was very apparent on all levels; annnnd the bar didn't move.

Sadly, the lady fortuna versions are considerably lesser quality with their naked eye presentation and longevity.

I will say, after reviewing with the jewelers loupe, the name PAMP being made up of very tiny gold colored sparkles is beautiful. I'd wager that is more of a security feature than anything, but it is a nice feature!

AceBullion wrote:Welcome to the forum and apologies for my late reply.

I used to love Pamp until I realised they were doing nothing to stop fakes!
As far as carded goes. Even in a 1oz 20g and 10g bars ALL will rattle.

Wow. That truly is shocking. I guess they've been riding on their quality level for a long time. Glad there are many alternatives out there!

@SGF if you like the PAMP lunar series, the Mint is starting off another series this year with the Year of the Dragon. Now's the time to get started as the last series appreciated quite quickly (and they aren't cheap to start with ). I think they are one of the best series around, along with the three Silver Shield series and the Bhutan series.

@SGF, the one-gram Valcambi bar also rattles. But the 2.5 gram to one-ounce Valcambi bars do not. Can't say I really care about the one-gram rattling. After all, it's always stored, and the plastic is soft compared to many coins that rattle in their hard plastic capsules.

The Cat's Mother wrote: @SGF if you like the PAMP lunar series, the Mint is starting off another series this year with the Year of the Dragon. Now's the time to get started as the last series appreciated quite quickly (and they aren't cheap to start with   ). I think they are one of the best series around, along with the three Silver Shield series and the Bhutan series.

Thank you! Yeah, the 2024 Lunar Dragon was the one I was able to hold. It is stunning. The reverse decoration was spectacular through the loupe.

I'll check out the other two series as well!

Periodic Table wrote:@SGF, the one-gram Valcambi bar also rattles. But the 2.5 gram to one-ounce Valcambi bars do not. Can't say I really care about the one-gram rattling. After all, it's always stored, and the plastic is soft compared to many coins that rattle in their hard plastic capsules.

Copy that. Thanks. Very good to know re: Valcambi.