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Buying Silver Coins for pleasure and profit?
Silver coins are one of the oldest forms of money.
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass form of
coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of
the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins.
Another ancient one is Chinese 6th or 5th BC Ying Yuan.
Many factors determine the value of a silver coin, such as its
rarity, demand, condition and the number originally minted. Silver
coins coveted by collectors include the Denarius and Miliarense.
Other than collector's silver coins, silver bullion coins are
popular among people who desire a "hedge" against currency inflation
or store of value. Silver has an international currency symbol of
XAG under ISO 4217.
Before 1797, British pennies used to be made out of silver while the
ancient Persians used silver coins between 612-330 BC.
Silver Coins - History
Silver coins have evolved in many different forms
through the ages, a rough timeline for silver coins is as follows:
1980 - current : Modern silver bullion coins, mainly from 39mm -
42mm diameter, containing 1 troy ounce of pure silver in content,
regardless of purity. Smaller and bigger sizes exist mainly to
complement the collectible set for numismatics market. Some are also
purchased as a mean for the masses to buy a standardized store of
value, which in this case is silver.
1960s - current : Modern crown sized commemoratives, using the
weight and size of the old world crowns.
1930s - 1960s : Alloyed in circulating coins of many different
governments of the world. This period ended when it was no longer
economical for world governments to keep silver as an alloying
element in their circulating coins.
1870s - 1930s : Silver trade dollars, a world standard of its era in
weight and purity following the example of the older Mexican 8
Reales to facilitate trade in the Far East. Examples: French
Indochina Piastres, British Trade Dollar, US Trade Dollar, Japanese
1 Yen, Chinese 1 Dollar. Smaller denomination exists to complement
currency usability by the public.
1500s - 1800s : World silver crowns, the most famous is arguably the
Mexican 8 reales (also known as Spanish dollar), minted in many
different parts of the world to facilitate trade. Each major world
powers then would have their own set of crowns, so named because the
obverse of the coin will carry an effigy of the country's ruling
monarch at the time of minting. Size is more or less standardized at
around 38mm with many minor variations in weight and sizes among the
many different issuing nations. Declining towards the end of the
19th century due the introduction of secure printing of paper
currency. It is no longer convenient to carry sacks of silver coins
when they can be deposited in the bank for a certificate of deposit
carrying the same value. Smaller denominations exist to complement
currency usability by the public.
Ancient - pre 1500s : following the designs from the ancient era but
produced with better methods and equipments to make better currency
standard
ancient coins : used in Europe and Asia, mostly a cast piece stamped
with an identification, either an effigy of the ruling monarch or
some other designs.
The most common world silver bullion coins, preceded
by minimum guaranteed purity, and the year of introduction:
99.90% 1982 Mexican Silver Libertad
99.90% 1983 Chinese Silver Panda
99.90% 1986 American Silver Eagle
99.99% 1988 Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
99.90% 1990 Australian Silver Kookaburra (minted by the
Perth Mint)
99.90% 1993 Australian Silver Kangaroo (minted by the Royal
Australian Mint)
95.80% 1997 British Silver Britannia (from 1997, proof version only.
Public issue from 1998 by the
Royal Mint)
99.90% 2008 Austrian Silver Vienna Philharmonic
99.90% 2010 Russian George the Victorious
Silver Rounds
Privately minted silver coins are commonly called "silver rounds" or
"generic silver rounds". These coins usually have a set weight of 1
troy ounce of silver (31.103 grams of 99.9% silver). These carry all
sorts of designs, from assayer/mine backed bullion to engraved
gifts, automobiles, firearms, armed forces commemorative, holidays,
etc.
Why Silver is used for Coinage
Silver coins were among the first coins ever used, thousands of
years ago. The silver standard was used for centuries in many places
of the world. And the use of silver for coins, instead of other
materials, has many reasons:
Silver is liquid, easily tradable, and with a low spread between the
prices to buy and sell. A low spread typically occurs when an item
is fungible.
Silver is easily transportable. Silver and gold have a high value to
weight ratio.
Silver can be divisible into small units without destroying its
value; precious metals can be coined from bars, or melted down into
bars again.
A silver coin is fungible: that is, one unit or piece must be
equivalent to another.
A silver coin has a certain weight, or measure, to be verifiably
countable.
A silver coin is long lasting and durable. A silver coin is not
subject to decay.
A silver coin has a stable value and an intrinsic value. Silver has
been an ever scarce metal.
A silver coin is difficult to counterfeit, and the genuineness is
easily recognisable.
Silver is inherently beautiful.
PLEASE SEEK
PROFESSIONAL ADVICE BEFORE YOU BUY OR SELL GOLD, SILVER & COINS.
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