What Are Silverbacks? A Straight UK Guide to Silver Notes

Silverbacks apply the Goldback idea to silver: a durable polymer note with a precisely stated quantity of metal sealed inside and detailed artwork across the surface. They are attractive, well made and genuinely collectable. They are also, on the numbers, an art product rather than a way to own silver, and the company that issues them says as much itself.

Key takeaways

• A 1 Silverback holds 1/1000 troy oz of .999 silver. A one-ounce silver coin contains a thousand times as much metal.
• The issuer does not present them as bullion. Goldback, Inc. describes Silverbacks as collectibles and attributes past appreciation to collector demand rather than the spot price of silver.
• Almost all of the price is premium. With so little metal underneath, there is no meaningful floor beneath the value if collector interest cools.
• Buy them for the series, not the stack. The Silver Dragon note and the Legends of Olympus series are the reason to own one.
• Silver carries VAT in the UK. Silver does not meet the investment gold definition, so silver products are charged at the standard rate.

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What a Silverback actually is

Silverbacks are issued by Goldback, Inc. Hero Bullion reported that the company works with Valaurum, the manufacturer of Goldbacks, to produce them, and the construction is the familiar one. Silver is laid down in thin layers and sealed between polymer sheets, producing a flexible, water-resistant note. Our guide to how Goldbacks are manufactured covers the process in detail, and it is materially the same technique.

The flat format is what makes the range worth looking at. Depositing metal onto film allows colour and fine detail that cannot be struck into a coin, which is why the artwork, rather than the weight, is what the notes are sold on.

Goldback, Inc. describes Silverbacks as collectibles rather than currency. They are not legal tender in the United Kingdom, and no business here is obliged to accept one as payment.

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The number that changes the decision

A 1 Silverback contains 0.001 troy ounces of silver. It is worth being concrete about what that means, because the marketing around fractional metal products often is not.

Silver and gold are not interchangeable at this scale. Gold is worth many multiples of silver per ounce, which is why a thousandth of an ounce of gold still represents a real, if small, quantity of value, while a thousandth of an ounce of silver represents a token amount.

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What the maker says about its own product

This is the part most write-ups skip, and it is the most useful evidence available. Goldback, Inc. does not market Silverbacks as a silver holding. On its own Silverback page the company says their value:

"comes from their collectibility, artwork, and storytelling"

and that past releases:

"have appreciated over time based on collector demand rather than the spot price of silver"

Two things follow. First, anyone selling a Silverback as a way to accumulate silver is describing it differently from the company that makes it. Second, the appreciation that has happened is real, but it is collector appreciation, which behaves nothing like metal. Collector demand can rise a long way and it can also fade, and past performance of a series is not a forecast for the next one.

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Silverbacks and Goldbacks: the same format, different economics

The two products share a manufacturing idea and almost nothing else. A Goldback holds 1/1000 troy oz of gold, which is a small but genuine quantity of value, and that metal content sets a floor under the note. A Silverback holds the same fraction of a metal worth a fraction as much per ounce, so there is no comparable floor.

That is why the Goldback format works as fractional bullion and the Silverback format does not, and it is fairer to a buyer to say so than to blur the two together. If the note format appeals to you but you want metal content behind it, our comparison of Goldbacks and fractional gold and our explanation of Goldback premiums give an equally frank account of what those cost. What are Goldbacks is the place to start if the format is new to you.

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So why do people buy them

For good reasons, once the metal question is settled.

The artwork

The Silver Dragon note, made with the Silver Dragons channel, and the Legends of Olympus series are designed as pieces to look at rather than stack. The detail available on film is the entire reason the range exists, and it stands comparison with the artwork on Goldbacks.

Series collecting

Silverbacks are issued in defined series and mintage years, with certified and graded editions alongside standard notes. That produces the structure collectors enjoy in trading cards or limited prints: a defined set, known scarcity and a secondary market. Goldback, Inc. has described the Hades note as the first in the Legends of Olympus series, where the earlier Silver Dragon was a stand-alone piece.

A low-cost way in

They are among the least expensive ways to own a physical, precisely specified piece of precious metal, which makes them approachable as a gift or a first purchase, provided the buyer understands it is a keepsake rather than a holding.

Durability

The silver is sealed inside polymer rather than exposed at the surface, so a Silverback is not subject to the surface tarnishing that affects an uncapsuled silver coin, and it survives handling far better.

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How to buy one well

If you have decided you want one, the decisions that matter are collector decisions, not metal ones.

• Decide standard, certified or graded before you look at prices. A graded note in a sealed holder is a different product from a loose standard note, with a different resale audience and a much higher entry price. Buying graded because it was available, rather than because you wanted graded, is the commonest way to overpay.
• Check the series and the year, not just the design. Two notes with similar artwork can belong to different releases. The release is what a collector is buying.
• Treat condition as the whole ball game. With so little metal underneath, a creased or handled note has lost most of what a buyer would pay for. Keep it flat, keep it out of direct sunlight, and handle it by the edges. Our guide to storing and protecting notes applies to Silverbacks without modification.
• Assume a slow resale and price the purchase accordingly. Silverback collecting is centred on the United States, and the number of UK outlets listing them is small. If you may need the money back quickly, this is the wrong product.
• Do not buy on a run of past appreciation. Some releases have traded above issue price and others have not. The issuer itself attributes appreciation to collector demand, which is not a floor.

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What most people get wrong

Comparing the price against a one-ounce coin

A Silverback and a one-ounce silver coin can sit at broadly similar price points. They are not comparable products, because one holds a thousand times more silver. Judging them on headline price alone is the single most misleading thing you can do here.

Treating them as a silver stack

You would need a thousand 1 Silverbacks to hold the silver in a single one-ounce coin. Nobody accumulates silver this way, and nobody should try.

Assuming the premium comes back on resale

Because almost none of the price is metal, there is no meaningful floor under the value. If collector interest in a series fades, so does the price. That is a materially different risk profile from bullion, and it cuts in both directions.

Expecting a deep UK secondary market

The collector base sits mainly in the United States. Selling one in Britain may take patience and a narrower pool of buyers.

Assuming silver is VAT-free because gold is

It is not, and the difference is set out below.

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Who should buy one, and who should not

Worth considering if you like the artwork, you collect series and want a defined set to build, you want an inexpensive physical gift with real craft behind it, or you are curious about the technology and want an example in hand.

Leave it alone if your goal is silver exposure, wealth preservation, or anything you would describe as investing. For those objectives a one-ounce silver coin gives you a thousand times the metal in a form any dealer will recognise and quote on. Buying a Silverback for investment reasons is a mistake the product itself does not claim to fix, and our comparison of gold and silver works through what each metal is realistically for.

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VAT and CGT on silver in the United Kingdom

This catches out buyers who have read about the tax treatment of gold and assume it carries across to silver. It does not.

HMRC's Notice 701/21 exempts supplies of investment gold from VAT, and defines investment gold by fineness: bars and wafers of not less than 995 thousandths, and coins of not less than 900 thousandths or that have been legal tender in their country of origin. Silver is not covered by that notice at all. It is charged at the standard rate of VAT, which GOV.UK gives as 20 per cent and applies to most goods and services. That cost applies to any silver product regardless of how little silver it contains, and gold investment in the UK sets out the gold side of the same question.

Capital Gains Tax is a separate question and should be kept separate. HMRC's Capital Gains Manual states that sterling currency is exempt under TCGA92/S21(1)(b), giving Sovereigns minted in 1837 and later years and Britannia gold coins as its examples. A Silverback is not legal tender anywhere, so no currency exemption is in play, and the manual treats items that are not legal tender under the chattels rules instead.

None of this is advice about your own position, and the rules change.

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Frequently asked questions

How much silver is in a Silverback?

A 1 Silverback contains 1/1000 of a troy ounce of .999 fine silver, which is 0.001 troy oz. A standard one-ounce silver coin contains a thousand times as much.

Who makes Silverbacks?

Silverbacks are issued by Goldback, Inc. Trade coverage of the range reports that the company works with Valaurum, the manufacturer of Goldbacks, to produce them. The construction is the same: thin layers of silver sealed between polymer sheets.

Are Silverbacks the same as Goldbacks?

They use the same technology and come from the same company, but the economics differ completely. A Goldback holds 1/1000 troy oz of gold, which is a small but genuine quantity of value. A Silverback holds the same fraction of silver, which is a token amount by comparison.

Are Silverbacks a good investment?

They are better understood as collectables than as investments. Because the silver content is very small, almost all of the price is premium, so there is little metal value underpinning them. Goldback, Inc. itself attributes past appreciation to collector demand rather than the silver price, and resale in the United Kingdom can be slow.

Which Silverback series exist?

The range includes the Silver Dragon note, created with the Silver Dragons channel, and the Legends of Olympus series, which Goldback, Inc. has described as beginning with the Hades note. Notes have been offered in standard, certified and graded editions.

Will a Silverback tarnish?

The silver is sealed inside polymer rather than exposed at the surface, so a Silverback is not subject to the surface tarnishing that affects an uncapsuled silver coin. Creasing and handling are the risks to guard against instead.

Are Silverbacks legal tender?

No. Goldback, Inc. describes them as collectibles rather than currency. They are not legal tender in the United Kingdom, and nobody is obliged to accept one as payment.

Do you pay VAT on Silverbacks in the United Kingdom?

Yes. Silver is not covered by the investment gold exemption in HMRC Notice 701/21, so silver products are charged at the standard rate of VAT, which GOV.UK gives as 20 per cent.

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