MTB/PAMP release the fourth of their quirky fine silver PEZ dispenser sets – The Chick

One of the more unusual bullion ranges on the market today, MTB/PAMP’s PEZ series takes the little hard candy sweets and remakes them in fine silver, right down to the exact dimensions. The beauty of that, is the hundreds and hundreds of custom dispensers that have made PEZ the phenomenon it is, will all accept the silver tabs as well.

Now on its fourth incarnation, each of which has a little engraved privy mark for the subject on the silver pills, we get a chick this time. Previously, we’ve had Santa, the Gingerbread Man and a rubber duck, so quite a whimsical selection. Each has sold out pretty quickly, so there’s an obvious demand for them.

Available from today, the pack has a mintage of 3,500 sets and comes with the chick dispenser and six of the five-gram silver tabs. You can also buy six packs of the tabs seperately, although without the privy mark. A really unusual concept that seems to have found favour amongst collectors.

THE PEZ STORY

Pez (stylised as PEZ) is the brand name of an Austrian candy and associated manual candy dispensers. The candy is a pressed, dry, straight-edged, curved-corner block 15 mm (​5⁄8 inch) long, 8 mm (​5⁄16 inch) wide, and 5 mm (​3⁄16 inch) high, with Pez dispensers holding 12 candy pieces.

1927 – PEZ is born when Austrian Eduard Haas II introduces tins of peppermint candy. known as ‘Pffefferminz’ in German, hence PEZ.

1949 – After years of selling them in small tins, the inventor Oscar Uxa patents a small mechanical dispenser and shows it at the Vienna Trade Fair that same year. It held 12 tablets, just as the latest dispensers do.

1952 – PEZ sets up operations in the USA in New York City and gets their first dispenser patent

1956 – A dispenser styled like a space gun is released, followed a year later by a three-dimensional character head, and then a year after that, their first licenced dispenser – Popeye.

1960’s – The range of flavours and character styles increases dramatically, with unusual flavours like Chlorophyll and Flowers.

1973 – The company finally starts manufacturing the candy in the US after decades of production in Europe.

1978 – New interchangeable rubber head character dispensers are introduced.

1984 – Little tabs are added to the dispenser base to allow it to stand up. These feet are used by collectors to date and value vintage dispensers.

1991 – PEZ becomes part of popular culture with the first collector convention in Ohio. Just two years later, PEZ hits the cover of People magazine and is the star of a Christies auction in New York.

2000 – The first furry ‘plush’ dispenser launches.

2005 – Star Wars comes to PEZ, followed by American Chopper family, the Teutals, in 2006 and Mickey Mouse in 2007, the last of those celebrating the 80th anniversary of PEZ.

Today, PEZ remains super popular with over 70 million dispensers sold annually, along with 5 billion candies across 90 countries. A new range of designs are released in a catalogue every year.