Costs of 1.4 million euros: High silver price: Ministry had to have coins melted down

Silver coins can be an investment or a gift. However, the sharp increase in the price of a troy ounce of silver a year ago destroyed the calculations for the manufacturers. The Federal Ministry of Finance also had to cancel the planned sale of two coins.

It could have been a classic Christmas present for the grandchildren. But just over a year ago, according to a media report, the Federal Ministry of Finance had to cancel the planned sale of the silver coins "Three Kings" and "125 Years of the Wuppertal Suspension Railway".

The reason was the sharp rise in the price of silver, reported "Spiegel", citing a response from the Ministry of Finance to a request for a report from the Green Party's budget keeper Sebastian Schäfer. The nominal value would therefore have been significantly lower than the material value. This means that the silver in the coin would have been worth significantly more than the euro value represented.

Both types of coins therefore had to be "deformed in a mint", melted down and given a new face value. According to the report, the “Three Kings” coin cost 624,000 euros. Melting down the “Wuppertaler Schwebebahn” coin cost 733,000 euros. The total costs were almost 1.4 million euros.

Clear criticism from the Green Party's householder

According to the report, the ministry still expects a “significant coin profit in the upper single-digit million range.” One reason is that the silver content of the “Three Kings” coin has been reduced. The Christmas coin will now be released on November 5th as a 50 euro coin.

Green Party householder Schäfer criticized the fact that tax money had been “literally and negligently shredded” here. “This is simply not how citizens’ money should be handled.”

At the end of last year, the price of silver rose massively. The increases even exceeded the price of gold. In January of this year, the price of one troy ounce of silver (around 31.1 grams) rose above 100 US dollars (around 89 euros) for the first time. A year earlier, at the beginning of 2025, the troy ounce price was still at $30. The price is currently just under $50.