Facts About Gold Coins

As the name points out, gold coins are coins made almost entirely out of gold. They have been used from a very long time, starting from King Croesus of Lydia who emitted the first coin which was made entirely of gold in 540 BC. Another example of a well known coin was the Ying Yuan, the Chinese coin used in the 6th and 5th century BC. The famous Alexander the Great used to mint golden coins and distribute them in all the territories that he had conquered. Later on, all important kings and other leaders did the same.

In fact, the production of gold coins stopped during the Great Depression in 1933, but they are commercialized even nowadays. Gold coins represented money meaning that the money they used, were made of gold. Nowadays they represent money from a different perspective. First of all, their metal is precious and can be sold at a very high price. Secondly, the fact that they were used in a different epoch adds more value to the coin, making it more expensive.

In what concerns the process of production there are two ways of obtaining gold coins. The first one implies melting the gold and pouring it into a mould while the second method implied using granules of gold which were supposed to be melted in a furnace.

Since it is about gold, the gold collectors buy coins that they call “bullion coins”. The purity of the gold from such a bullion coin differs from 90% up to 99, 9%. The rest of the percentage is represented by the alloy material, meaning copper or silver. The purpose of any of these two metals is to offer durability to the coins.

Besides purity, another important characteristic is its weight. Normally, there are 4 sizes for gold bullion coins, but the 1 oz bullion coin is the most frequently used.

Moreover, remember that gold was used at the beginning just to adorn. For this reason, gold coins are usually decorated with different symbols representative for the country which mints the coin: animals, famous kings or queens and so on.

Regarding their number, it is estimated that there are as many as 250 million coins in the world. Coins made out of this precious metal are denominated in troy ounces or in grams. Actually, the first denominated coin was the Krugerrand from South Africa especially because most of the gold mines in the world may be found on that continent. The Krugerrand was for nine years the only gold bullion coin commercialized on the international market.

Other important coins in the world are the Australian Gold Nugget “Kangaroo” Gold Coins. The funny fact about them is that they were placed in a plastic case meant to protect the coin. If you are found of the Chinese animals from their calendar, they can be admired on the Australian Lunar Gold Bullion coin.

Another famous gold coin is the Vienna Philharmonic Gold Coin, a 24 Karat coin, which was in great demand in the `90s. Still, the most famous coin in the world is the Gold Sovereign, first minted in 1817. The Americans’ have their own famous coins, the American Buffalo Gold Coin, made only with American gold.

In short, all these gold coins have their historical and economical value and collectors or investors would be glad to have them. No matter of their wear.

Source by Jack Wogan

Facts About Gold Coins