Meet Steve and Diane Austin

I am Steve Austin,  I am married to my best friend Diane Austin who is also a silver art collector and 999 Silver Bar enthusiast. I am a graduate of the University of South Alabama and live near Montgomery, Alabama.

I have been collecting for many years now and greatly enjoy collecting and the never-ending fun of learning about Vintage Silver Art Bars, old pours, studio art (i.e., H. Alvin Sharpe & Ken W. Smith pieces), trial strikes/test pieces, errors, enamels, die history, mint history, hobby specific paperwork, original art bar artwork and anything else that helps bring the stories of the hobby together. Some of my favorite pieces are TM-78V and TM-78EN 1990 World Series Cincinnati Reds, TM-5 Pete Rose, RM-1 Silver Certificate, GCM-17, Darwin, PEM-4 Barfather, Sunshine Mining, Company Wildflower enamel series and DT Mint Death Dealer Card Set.

I started a collector group on Facebook some years back and expected about sixty to eighty members and now have over seven-thousand members of which over three thousand are fairly active. I feel it is a community effort in the gathering and freely sharing of information that drives this fantastic hobby and will keep it going for the following generations of collectors and future researchers and historians. With that being said, I also hold membership in CONECA (Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America) and FUN (Florida United Numismatists) and the ANA (American Numismatic Association). I am currently the President of IASAC (International Association of Silver Art Collectors) and have also served as Vice President and recently in Chattanooga, TN at the Annual Convention was honored as a Duane Spellman Award for Distinguished Service recipient.   I always have a zest to receive and share information pertaining to the hobby. I enjoy attending shows to meet fellow collectors and getting to know everyone. This is indeed a wonderful hobby with a community of fantastic people as its core. 

My name is Patricia “Diane” Austin, but I go by Diane with friends and family.  I am currently an IASAC Trustee and the editor of the club newsletter “The Silver Bugle” and enjoy all the stories, bios, information and getting to learn more about the hobby and its great members. Recently, at the 2022 Chattanooga Tennessee IASAC Annual Meeting I was greatly honored to be named as a Duane Spellman Distinguished  Service Award recipient.
I enjoy traveling around the country meeting collectors and getting to know such good people. I have made some great friends over the years, too many to mention here.
My favorite pieces are generally the Cartoon issues like Disney and other Rarities Mint pieces. Also, the AMC Cartoon Celebrities, animal themed pieces, and pieces like the cartoon Greathouse Productions. My favorite vintage art bars are the Wizard of Oz set by The Silver Mint and the Yellow Brick Road pieces by International Silver Ingot Company. As far as new art bars my favorites have to include Pepper Mint (Halloween Night in Oz) and Postal Express Mint (Bar Father; which is actually a tribute bar to my husband, Steve Austin) My husband got me more and more interested in art bars instead of just rounds years ago which opened up a whole new world of art.
We have the Facebook collector group Silver Bars and Art Collectibles which is very fun as I get to interact real time with other collectors and mints.
I have had an eBay store for thirteen years and have 100% positive feedback for which I am very proud.