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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,652 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Your 20 Mark is not a "bullion coin," it's a Business Strike intended for circulation. It's just a fairly common one. In Mint State grades it carries a definite numismatic premium. There were 3 Emperors in 1888 in Prussia - Wilhelm I passed and was succeeded by his son, Frederick, who was already dying of cancer and only lasted a few months. He was succeeded by his own son, Wilhelm II, whose long and successful reign culminated in his starting WWI. All 3 monarchs were depicted on the 1888 20 Marks, and none of the 3 are particularly rare. The Frederick coin has interest as a one-year issue.
Those 3 different issues from the same year might be an interesting set, and the 20 Marks themselves are such a popular issue that they have their own PCGS Registry category.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Shale is right; it depends on where your numismatic heart is, and the size of your numismatic wallet.
I went into ancient coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1068 Posts |
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Gold is gonna fluctuate. Could go down, could go up. Colonials on the other hand...Will only go up. (It's not like they're striking a new batch this year) The same thing will happen with the Colonials... As long as there is a market for the Colonials and someone is willing to pay you for it, the value will go up... However, with the Colonial, you will only have a small market to work with whereas the gold coin you will have a much larger market since gold is involved... |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
You've got it and if you like it, keep it.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
Well, with the recent exchange rate crash, $280 isn't really an affordable amount of money to me.
For that matter, assuming I somehow could afford it, I'd definitely take the 20 mark coin over a nondenominated bullion gold round, even if the latter was slightly larger; and in the sort of coinage I'm collecting there isn't really any copper coin (and might not even be a silver one) that would make me want to part with $200 (or, likely, even $100) worth of money unless it's such a valuable rarity that I know I can sell it for more than that anyway.
However - at least assuming I already had a gold coin (i.e. that this one wouldn't have been the first gold in my collection) - if the alternative offer was a similarly-priced bunch of (old enough) "junk" silver (e.g. a dozen or so common-date Morgans), I might well take the silver.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3499 Posts |
Thanks for the input, everyone! My variety of the 1888A 20 mark is the most common in that it has a mintage of over five million. http://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/...-duid-162131Interestingly, it does seem that this coin lists as being around $400 in BU, yet it often sells online and in shops for little over melt value. For that reason I was referring to it as a "bullion coin." Honestly, I just traded for it in 2005 so that I could hold onto it until it matured in value. I always thought that it could potentially be traded for a rarer coin from Britain, colonial India, or other stretches of the empire (the areas that I primarily collect). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1132 Posts |
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The same thing will happen with the Colonials... As long as there is a market for the Colonials and someone is willing to pay you for it, the value will go up... There will always be a strong market, because there are so few of these coins. Quote:
However, with the Colonial, you will only have a small market to work with whereas the gold coin you will have a much larger market since gold is involved... There is a small market because these coins are simply not abundant. There is a "much larger market" for the gold Mark the Op posted because Quote:
it has a mintage of over five million Gold plays second fiddle to historical context (not to mention mintage figures). I GUARANTEE you there are no colonials (unless you include Spanish silver, which the OP clearly stated colonial copper) that come close to touching that figure. The 1928 double eagle had a mintage of 8.8M. The Fugio cent on the other hand, had a mintage of a meager 400k. That fact ALONE is why there is a smaller market. Not because they are made of copper. There's just not enough examples, which guarantees a premium on even the poorest of specimens. Edited by CopperCastle
01/10/2015 1:53 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
CopperCastle- Thanks for the thoughts on the matter. I would like to get more examples of post-colonial 1787 coppers that feature the Geroge III/Seated Britannia design. A very reputable local coin shop (which I have been frequenting for the last 20 years) acquired about eight colonial coppers of this ilk and sent them off to PCGS. Many came back F- VF problem free. So I kind of have my sights on one or two from Connecticut and Vermont in the $150-$200 range.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
937 Posts |
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If you were me, would you hold onto this piece as bullion or would you trade it in for, say, a nice copper colonial/post-colonial US half penny? Oh this is easy. Old copper beats new gold every single time in my book. But people say I am odd. |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
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My variety of the 1888A 20 mark is the most common in that it has a mintage of over five million. KM#515. He's by far the most common, until you consider it's the only one which has his face on it and the other two were in production for years. Many of them all were saved untouched, especially your type. All the same, $400 for one in Mint State is an appropriate price; if you see them enough cheaper to cover the cost of a slab, snag them. Dirty little secret: So many are held as bullion that they're relatively underrepresented in slabs, creating kinda-scarcity. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
I'm just wondering about the people saying that a coin from 1888 is "new".
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
SsuperDdave- very good points. I have noticed that a lot of British & European gold coins from the late 19th century and 20th century are often just treated as bullion pieces in the US.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Bullion is almost completely non numismatic, colonial copper is purely numismatic.
There is no reason why it is not possible to divide your spending. Philosophically, they need not be mutually exclusive.
I have some bullion value only platinum, and very many coins with a purely numismatic value.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
534 Posts |
It's your opinion. If you rather look at a chunk of gold keep it or if you rather look at a colonial trade it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
937 Posts |
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I'm just wondering about the people saying that a coin from 1888 is "new". Well 'new' is relative, isn't it? Compared to a well worn Vermont or NJ copper. An AU or MS 1888 Gold piece is quite new. Of course to many young people today if something existed before Facebook it is truly ancient. If I go on you will all know how truly old I am. |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 2,652 |
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Posted 01/10/2015 09:17 am
