Gold Coins and Bars The Most Prized Possession to Have
Posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2009
by Patrick Mahoney
Contempo Enterprises, LLC
Gold Coins Bars, Then and Now
You have likely seen them countless times in pirate movies and TV shows. They shine and shimmer, and just looking at them makes one feel rich -- or want to be.
Today, though, gold bars and coins are traded as commodities and collector items. Unlike the coins and bars of old, today's gold coins and bars are classified as gold bullion, or gold bought in bulk form. They can be easily converted to cash anywhere in the world.
Bullion gold coins are most valuable when their collector's values are high. Uncirculated means coins that are stamped with a design not found in the common markets, whereas proof coins are first stampings of a new design. The term "proof" comes from the purpose the coins serve: by being the first stamped, they verify the quality and precision of the coin dies meant to be used in minting coins for public use.
Among the most famous gold coins are the South African Krugerrand, Canadian Maple Leaf, Australian Nugget, Austrian Philharmonic, Britannia, and American Gold Eagle. For information's sake, a gold sovereign is specifically a British gold bullion coin, and not just any gold coin.
Bullion gold coins have numismatic value -- that is, they are valued by coin collectors. This means that between a gold coin and a gold bar, the gold coin will have a significantly higher value. Additionally, the value printed on the coin is no indication of its price. For example, on the 1-ounce American Gold Eagle, the value "Fifty Dollars" is stamped, but the coin is worth around 950 US dollars; a full nine times the face value, and almost ten percent more than the price of a gold bar of the same weight. Truly, these are worth more than their weight in gold!
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