I have found absolutely no information on what the starting sheets of fine silver were made for. Given the numbers of cuts (or sheers) on the ingots I haveexamined, and the fact these exist on all edges of most ingots, the original plates had to be of some substantial size. These large plates were stamped withthe Type III large oval hallmark which appears sheared through on the reverse of a number of examples. This does not seem like a logical way to cast silversince most commonly "bar shapes" were, and still are used. Great question and certainly one that remains high on my research list.

Moving beyond the original plate production, the distribution into the mainstream can be assumed to have occurred similarly to what is represented by theU.S. Mint Bar Delivery Receipt included in the San Francisco Sheared Plate page on SILVERINGOTS.COM https://www.silveringots.com/san-francisco/sheared-plate-ingots

For this very same ingot, No. 1767, I have a scrap silver deposit receipt, an assay and process invoice and the document pictured on the website, the bardelivery receipt. For this particular transaction, scrap silver wear was presented to have processed and in exchange, an equal weight of Sheared Plate ingotswas returned to the customer.

Regarding dates of issue, the San Francisco Sheared Plate Registry dropdown under "Registries" https://www.silveringots.com/san-francisco/san-francisco-sheared-plate containsall of the dates that I have on these under the NOTES column. The No. 1 Sheared Plate ingot is dated 1952 on the reverse, No. 477 is dated 1954 on the reverseand from No. 1322 on I have found a few that are dated 1955 on the reverse.

All great questions and it is good to find another collector out there! Anyone that has any of these in their collection that is not included in theRegistries please let me know and I will add them. Contact information at SILVERINGOTS.COM orkenconaway@aol.com

For more information, see:
San Francisco - Sheared Plate Ingots(https://www.silveringots.com/san-francisco/sheared-plate-ingots)

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NOTES FROM E-SYLUM READERS: JULY 7, 2019 : Silver Ingot Questions(https://www.coinbooks.org/v22/esylum_v22n27a11.html)