Gold Articles

By Jeff Garrett I began my career in numismatics in the mid-1970s. At the time, precious metal prices played a relatively small role in the market for rare coins. Gold sold for around $150-200 per ounce and silver hovered in $4-6 per ounce range. The rare coin market was a quiet, cottage industry. The most accurate and widely used price guide was the Red Book which was published just once per year and highly anticipated. Many coin dealers would not price their coins until the new edition arrived. The market for rare coins was also much smaller, and investors had barely given numismatics a glance. Rare coins were also incredibly inexpensive in the mid-1970’s. A superb 1879 Four Dollar Stella could be purchased for under $10,000 and many rare coins were a fraction of today’s levels. Rare coin grading was still evolving, with most still using adjective grading. By the late 1970s inflation had become the number one problem in the U.S. The numismatic world was…

span.anchor { display: block; position: relative; top: -200px; } Condition of Collectible Coins Versus Bullion In coin collecting, the numerical grade of a coin can be a vital factor in determining its value. However, there is a huge difference in the importance of grading between precious metal coins for the investor market and precious metal coins for the collectible market. To state it in the simplest terms, the condition of a bullion coin is not a factor in the investor market. It's all about the precious metal itself. A coin is silver, gold, or platinum...or it's not. The value is based entirely on its precious metal content, not its numerical grade. Essentially, it's irrelevant whether a coin is in pristine condition or not. For example, the Gold Eagle and Silver Eagle bullion coins from the United States Mint are made for the investor market. Gold coins are struck in one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce, and tenth-ounce sizes, while the silver coin is…