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Coin Value
People sometimes collect the oddest things for the oddest reasons. Some people just have a hobby where they like to find every sort of stamp from a specific era and others want stamps from all over the place. It differs from person to person. Some people like to collect coins from all over the world and from various times in the past. Some of these collections are rather extensive and when we see a coin that is bright and shiny with an emblem on it that we do not recognize, we check the date and…stop. 1870? Those other than the collector would stop to think what the coin’s value would be.
Coin value is not something that is just randomly determined according to some arbitrary system based on a bunch of ‘experts’ in the field. Well, in some cases it is but the general trend is that it is not. Scholars have developed three important criteria that are used to determine whether something is a ‘true coin’ and thus if it has coin value. Coin value, as a side note, here does not refer to the number on the coin that it was worth at one time but the value of the coin as a collector’s piece or an antique. The three criteria that scholars and academics have developed are:
- The coin must be made of some valuable material like gold or silver and actually be worth the amount of gold and silver in the coin.
- The coin must have a standard weight and a certain degree of purity.
- The coin must be marked in some way to identify who makes it ‘legal.’
While these criteria are a favorite amongst the learned and others, the general collector – or person for that matter – is not really too concerned about these things. Coin value can be determined in other ways.
Problem is, that the other way to determine coin value is a rather arbitrary system that is based on the opinion of ‘expert’. The coin value being spoken about here is the value of the coin as a collector’s item only. One of the major aspects of a coin that might harm or help its value is its condition. After the general condition of the coin the next factor to determine its value is its historical significance and if there is none how rare it is to collectors. Oddly, the beauty of the coin does not really add much to its value except to those collectors who are more intersected in aesthetics. What the coin is made of can also help or hinder its value, of course, but it is one of the last factors that serious collectors look at.
The best way to determine a coin’s value is to go to someone who knows. Do not be surprised if the coin is not worth much. Just because a coin is old does not mean that it will be worth something. The criteria that collectors and scholars use are, like many things, mysterious and to the average person is likely to remain that way.
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