The Many Faces of the Collectible Gold Coin

The gold coin is one of the oldest forms of coins to be used. This is because even before the value of coins was printed on the coins themselves, the coins were valued simply for the weight of the gold which it was made out of. This made sense to trade through the use of gold coins because the gold had value as did the item or service the gold was being traded for. As countries become more established over time the gold coin was created to include more decorations including ornate obverse and reverse faces which held their own value.

The modern gold coin looks very different from the old coins. There are many different reasons for this. One of the biggest reasons for the changes in the ways that coins have been made is that they no longer have to be struck by hand. Additionally, there is value placed on the coins looking beautiful. These gold coins have also been created to commemorate events and people for the rest of the world to remember. While any good numismatist will surely know this information, it is good for all people to know the history of the gold coins and their place in the modern world.

New Striking Technology

Looking at an old gold coin it is easy to see that they were struck by hand. This is because you will see that one side shows more relief than others. This is because no matter how steady the die was, there were still blows which would catch a coin slightly off center. Slight shifts in the die between strikes could also cause double casting and other imperfections. The new methods allow for fewer strikes and more accuracy but slightly less character in the coins which are cast.

Value Placed on Beauty

Since the new coins could be struck faster and with less attempts, it was possible to offer coins with far more detail. This is why the modern gold coin places more value on beauty. Since the coins lost some of the intrinsic value when the modern mint was created, it opened the door to make the coins valuable in other ways. This is how you get coins which are designed by sculptors like the Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle or the English Gold Sovereign which was engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci.

Reasons to Mint Coins

With the ease in which the modern gold coin could be created, it cleared the way to create coins for just about any reason under the sun. These days it is common to find commemorative coins which celebrate human achievement or mourn the loss of those in tragedy. Other coins are made in order to celebrate past gold coins which are no longer in circulation. While some coins are worth millions, all gold coins are still worth at the very least the metal that they are made from. This gives them value no matter what you think about the way they were made.

Photo Credits: oliworx

Originally posted 2010-09-03 03:57:16. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Coin Collecting 101

coinsCoin collecting is an industry that has grown to encompass billions of dollars in sales. The earliest hobby of coin collecting is capable of being traced as far back as 1300 AD, which is when an Italian scholar known by the name of Fracesco Petrarca began to save coins and realized that his hobby collecting coins was growing in value. Collecting coins differs from the concept of numismatics in that numismatics specifically focuses on the study of currency like coins, monetary objects and notes, while coin collecting focuses on collecting those types of money for fun as well as profit.

People who make hobbies out of collecting coins tend to specialize in different specific types of collections. This is often determined by their financial resources and whatever they can invest, as well as the ease of availability for the type of coins. Collections can vary significantly including coin collections that focus on specific countries, coin collections that focus on certain eras and so on.

  • Coin collections focusing on a certain country are the most common type of coin collection because accumulating coins from a single country is generally a lot easier and more straight forward.
  • Coin collections that focus on a certain era in history may include Russian Revolutionary coins, United States Colonial coins and so on.
  • There are other obscure types of coin collections including collecting exonumia or error coins that are created improperly as a result die errors, designs that are uneven and double strikes, as these coins are generally in a high amount of demand. Another specialized form of coin collection is to focus on coins that come from one specialized civilization such as Roman coins, Aryan coins, Celtic coins or coins from the Goth era.

People who are interested in collecting coins can find hundreds of different coin collecting groups and clubs around the United States and around the world. Here, people who are serious about coin collecting gather so that they can discuss trends in coin collecting as well as numismatics. In the United States, a good option worth checking out is the American Numismatic Association which has a constantly growing roster of collectors that are all over the country. This organization was founded in 1891 and highly encourages the research and the collection of a myriad of different types of coins and currencies.

The American Numismatic association brings out a magazine every month that is known as the Numismatist. This is a virtual treasure trove of information for any collector, regardless of whether they are new to the art of have been collecting for years. If you are interested in collecting coins, it would be wise to check out the publication offered by this group of coin collectors, as it is a great place to jump start your understanding of the subject.

Photo Credits: Roger Smith

Originally posted 2009-08-04 05:08:52. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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