This week our blog is about Junius Maltby. He isn't a traditional private mint, but he is the designer of a very popular and unique silver bullion round. He is a very active and prominent member of the silver YouTube community with his channel having over 13,000 subscribers.
If you want to read his full bio we would suggested checking it out here on his blog. His is an very eloquent writer and we strongly suggest following his blog, but we will try to do his story justice here.
His silver story starts like many others, starting in childhood, but unlike most it didn't start with coin collecting and then slowly finding silver. His started directly with silver and precious metal collecting. He was inspired by a small chest of coins his grandmother kept and also a sterling silver crucifix. He even requested his father to pay him in silver coins when he helped him with some physical labor. This first coin was a 1987 Silver Eagle and it still holds a special place in his heart.
His passion continued, and even as a young boy while his friend collected baseball cards, he would ride his bike to the local coin shop to buy and trade coins with the owners. He continued to amass gold and silver though his teen years and began to see the value of this stack a store of wealth and something that held some real value. He was even able to use the majority of this stack to fund his college education.
During his college years and than after graduating school for a period from 2001 to 2007, his precious metal stacking took a backseat while he was "seduced' by investing into the markets, but in 2007, he began to experience an awakening.
Junius has always has a passion for learning a knowledge that was instilled from a young age. He constantly researched and read market analysis and delved much deeper than the average reader. He began to realize his paper assets held no real value and he became worried he could loose it all. He started to understand and realize the market was heading into a rough place and he began to anticipate an economic upheaval.
He had another awakening when he went to the bank to withdraw his savings and they were not able to. The bank did not actually have money to give him, and their was no crisis, and he did not have massive wealth. Now he knew he needed to get the word out. He was active on message boards, websites and news outlets to discuss his thoughts on the economy, gold and metals to anyone that would listen. Finally in 2013, he started a YouTube channel to help find a community of like minded and interested people.
He started small with a simple camera and slowly started to develop a following. So much so that when he took a short break his first summer to enjoy nature and wilderness (one of his real passion, which we share), rumors started to spread. There was speculation that he was 'picked up the CIA' or he 'sold his stack and went away' (very atlas shrugged style). He has since developed a strong following and is a great resource from news from the silver, gold and financial front.
Most recently in September 2016, he had the idea to design and mint a silver round as a "challenge coin" for his YouTube followers and community. With the coin being release in early 2017. He kept the price purposely as low as he could to ensure it appealed to stackers like himself.
We really love the round for it's deep and philosophical meanings. We have always been drawn to rounds and art with deeper meaning. We certainly tried to incorporate that to our own round but certainly not as effectively as Junius. We would not be able to do the description justice and have included the original description from his channel and sites.
On the Obverse you see the face of Marsyas – who in Greek mythology was tied to a pole and flayed alive by the god Apollo after challenging the god to a musical contest. Marsyas was admired for his intelligence (sunesis) and self-control (sophrosune), not qualities found by Greeks in ordinary satyrs. Among the Romans, Marsyas was cast as the inventor of augury and a proponent of free speech (the philosophical concept παρρησία, “parrhesia“) and “speaking truth to power.” The earliest known representation of Marsyas at Rome stood for at least 300 years in the Roman Forum near or in the comitium, the space for political activity. The statue was regarded as an indicium libertatis, a symbol of liberty, and was associated with demonstrations of the plebs, or common people. It often served as a sort of kiosk upon which invective verse was posted.
The Reverse displays the ancient cuneiform inscription for the Sumerian word “Amagi”. Ama-gi is a Sumerian word written ama-gi or ama-ar-gi. It has been translated as “freedom”, as well as “manumission“, “exemption from debts or obligations”, and “the restoration of persons and property to their original status” including the remission of debts. Other interpretations include a “reversion to a previous state”[and release from debt, slavery, taxation or punishment.The word originates from the noun ama “mother” (sometimes with the enclitic dative case marker ar), and the present participle “return, restore, put back”, thus literally meaning “returning to mother”. Assyriologist Samuel Noah Kramer has identified it as the first known written reference to the concept of freedom. Its literal meaning is “return to the mother”.
The earliest known usage of the word was in the reforms of Urukagina. By the Third Dynasty of Ur, it was used as a legal term for the manumission of individuals, (the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves).
It is related to the Akkadian word anduraāru(m), meaning “freedom”, “exemption” and “release from (debt) slavery”.
Also on the reverse are the latin words for Gold and Silver as well as Liberty (Aurum et Argentum) (Liberatas).
Just as the The U.S. Silver Eagle is marked only "1 OZ. FINE SILVER" so is the Maltby round, on purpose. .999 is synonymous with "Fine Silver". The .999 to me is somewhat tacky, whereas the "Fine Silver" is classical, borrowing from the U.S. Silver eagle - my first ever precious metal coin.
The round can be purchased directly from quality silver bullion by clicking this link. Canadian and International orders can be placed from there by telephone only. If there is interest in obtaining some from us, please email us at phelimint@gmail.com
It was an honour to share this post with everyone not familiar with his round, or with Junius Matlby himself. The community on YouTube is very active, thoughtful and well educated with passion about the topic and we strongly suggest checking it it out.
The link to his YouTube channel is here.
Junius is also active on his blog here on blog spot.
You can support him and his efforts on Patreon here.
He is also active on Steemit here.
And lastly you can engage with him on the Metals Mafia forum here.
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The reverse of this coin bears a image of a seductive, tempting Succubus.
The succubus coin is much more than just a cool image of a pretty girl (although it certainly is). The succubus image has a much deeper and metaphorical meaning to us. It represents the struggle against any form of alluring temptation that may be wrapped in a seductive package but could ultimately lead to your demise.
In traditional folklore the succubus was a beautiful seductive demon who would seduce men, once these men were seduced their health would deteriorate and they would ultimately die. It's possible you could relate to a relationship of this nature where a partner was slowly drawing the life out of you, but on an even deeper level we feel the temptation and deteriorating effects can apply to so many aspects of one's life, not only relationships.
We also feel the succubus can serve as a constant reminder to understand the deeper meaning of anything and ensure we are not blinded by it's beauty or allure.
Lastly we also draw great strength knowing we have overcome challenges and temptations in our lives to breed character and form our personalities. This ultimately led us to our first release titled "Temptation of the Succubus"
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Junius
June 18, 2017
It was an honor to be approached by you friends and asked about a blog/interview such as this. Thank you for the kind words, encouragement, motivation and ongoing support expressed towards the channel. Thank you Pheli Mint! Your friend, Junius Maltby.