Types Of Gold Coins
Gold coins have been minted from very early times starting with the coins created by king Croesus of Lydia. Around the same period, meaning the 6th and the 5th century BC, the Chinese had their own gold coin, the Ying Yung. All important kings in history managed to mint gold coins in order to show their power. Such an example is Alexander the Great.
First of all, make a list with the best well known coins: The Australian Gold Nugget “Kangaroo” Gold Coin, the Australian Lunar Gold Bullion, the Krugerrand coin, the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf Coin, The American Buffalo Gold Coin, the Gold Sovereign and the Vienna Philharmonic Gold Coin are among the most frequently used ones.
The minting process
Have you ever wondered how these coins are made? Well, in fact the process is not as fabulous as the result. Gold is melted and poured in a mold or just granulated, placed in the mold and then sent directly in the furnace.
Purity and weight
At the beginning, the coins were pure gold. Nowadays, the gold “bullion” coins preserved their content in a proportion of at least 90%. The rest of 10% of other metals such as silver or copper is necessary in order to make the coin more durable. In what concerns the weight, there is a standard weight for each size of coin. But this is correct for the present gold coins. In the past, their weight varied according to the wish of the king or queen who had to show their bust on the head of the coin.
Types of Gold Bullion Coins
Each country probably issued at least one representative gold coin in its history but the gold coins issued by the great powers of the world are the most valuable. Most of them are 24 karat gold and with the value added by time and history, they are extremely valuable.
Other characteristics related to the gold coins are purity and weight which vary la o certain extent. For instance, in case of purity, there is a margin of about 10 percent. Usually 90% is pure gold and about 10 percent is either silver or copper. In the case of weight, there are about 4 sizes and usually those who mint the coins have standard molds to preserve the weight.
In a nutshell, it does not matter what type of coin you own as long as it is part of a collection. In such a situation, any coin is as precious as you dream about.
Learn from professionals how to buy gold bullion in times of recession.
