A collector’s delight and a hobby of a numismatist, gold coins are a subject to a lot of analysis and study. They entail a lot of historical and monetary value. Read on to find out more on value of gold coins.
“The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit“, was what Ralph Waldo Emerson said about gold. Well, if there was a list of top 50 things most desired by people the world over, I think gold and gold-related things would come in the top 10 of quite a few.
All said and done, I mean, who does not know the fact that since time immemorial, gold coins have been given away by kings and royalty as a prize. Come to think of it, was it not an amazing type of investment? So the point was that gold coins ruled then and the value of gold coins is still unfettered and undiminished. This is more so for those who collect these coins and exchange them with other like-minded people. Gold coin values are different the world over, and not all of them are coveted. Here is a bit more on gold coins with regard to American gold coin value.
American Gold Coin Value
Basically, the value/worth of gold coins is determined by age, rarity, and the number of coins which were originally minted. So, it is very clear that the rarer the coin, the more the value and so on. Now, the value of old coins, along with the aforementioned characteristics, depends upon its type. These types are mainly the American Gold Eagle (bullion coin), Liberty Double Eagle, Saint Gaudens Double Eagle, and so on. There are also a few 24-karat gold bullion coins, like the American Buffalo, also known as the gold buffalo.
American Eagle Gold Coin Value
The official gold bullion coin of the United States, the American Gold Eagle was first released by the US Mint in the year 1986. But not before it was authorized under the Gold Bullion Coin Act of 1985. Very authentic and impeccably designed, these coins are the top rung of coins. When it’s about the value of coins, face value is an important aspect. Face value refers to the value of a stamp, coin, or paper money as printed on the coin or stamped on the bill by the authority minting it. Now, the true value is considered to be the face value in most cases with an exception of bullion coins. So normally, the market value of bullion coins depends on the market value of gold content, rather than the face value.
As per statistics of early 2009, the value of eagle gold coins in denominations of 5 dollars, 10 dollars, 25 dollars, and 50 dollars is 130 dollars, 275 dollars, 550 dollars, and 1,000 dollars respectively. That means that a 5 dollar American Gold Eagle would fetch a value of 130 dollars when traded, and so on. Now, the actual prices at which they are sold can vary, depending on the ongoing spot gold price. All of these are 22-karat gold coins. Now, American Buffalo coins are 24-karat bullion coins which were put to sale by the United States Mint in 2006. It got a gold coin value of around 900 dollars, and that too, it was a proof coin, which has a very special significance. It is like a test coin, just like we have in newspapers, the initial prints are with glitches. Beyond that, if it’s an extremely rare bullion coin, well, the value can soar real high.
Value of Collector’s Gold Coins
Coin collection is a hobby with lot of people, and as such, they are ready to pay any price to get hold of a ‘one-of-its-kind’ gold coin. When it comes to collector’s gold coins, the 1933 Double Eagle is considered the big catch. A few years back, this coin was sold for a never-before monumental 7,590,020 dollars at Sotheby’s. This is till now the highest a gold coin has ever been sold at. These double eagles range from anything from 1,300 dollars and can go up to like 7,000 dollars.
Collector’s gold coin values have been always on the expensive side. There was one gold coin produced by the royal Canadian Mint, which weighed 100 kg, with a face value of 1,000,000 dollars in 2007. To add to this whopping figure, the value of gold was worth more than 2 million. There are many such incidences of people having bought the rarest and most authentic and intricately designed gold coins at a huge price.
This was just an overview. For those who are fascinated about gold coins and are avid collectors of gold coins, I would say that do not let the Midas Touch fog your evaluation of the gold coins, because all that glitters is not gold!