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 Replies: 19 / Views: 2,569 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
In my experience - these are very common silver coins. At least no one has bothered faking them yet. (At least that I know of).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
I cannot speak to the coin or it's metal content, but as an ebay seller, I highly recommend doing the research *before* you make a purchase. Your concern seems to be whether or not it is gold or silver, perhaps looking for a good deal on gold. Same thing happens all the time with my sales and people trying to get good deals on silver without realizing that the item either isn't silver, or has a lower silver content than they thought. Always, always, always do the research prior. If I'm way off the mark I apologize, but that's the general gist of what I'm getting with your inquiries. |
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New Member
 United Kingdom
12 Posts |
Obviously I'm an idiot and a novice. The item description was un researched metal detector find...duh I got it for £40 quid so no major disaster if it isn't valuable...just humiliating.
Are those pics of a silver coin or gold one. Thats the question. Is it worth £40?
Thanks for the help.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3453 Posts |
I can't help you with the coin but can say we ALL have been there at some point and time so don't beat yourself up too much; just try to learn from this experience.
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Quote:
Obviously I'm an idiot and a novice Far from it. We have all been there  I'm almost positive it's silver. All Denars are to my knowledge. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Valued Member
United States
462 Posts |
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
Hungary made gold ducats as well as silver denars, but the designs were different. The gold ducats of the mind-1500s did not have the shield on them, so this is definitely a silver denar.
Is it worth £40? That's probably a little steep, though this coin is in fairly nice condition. US$10 to $30 seems to be a more typical going rate.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2892 Posts |
In general, as others have said, these coins are common and can be picked up for £10 - £30. However this is a particually nice one so I'd put it at the upper end of that scale - if it's a rare date it might even be more. While you probably have overpaid a small amount (a few pounds) you now have a really nice example of that particular coin. If there is to be any increase in value over time - these top quality coins are where it's at, so in some respects you have chosen wisely.
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New Member
United Kingdom
12 Posts |
Is it possible for a silver coin to look so much like a gold one? If it if how did the seller do that?
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
If the picture is taken with a yellow-coloured light, everything will look yellower - and silver can look kind-of goldish. That appears to be the case here. For example, I would assume the yellowish-coloured background grid is actually white. So I did a bit of fooling around with the colour balance, to make the background look whiter. This is probably closer to how it looks in hand:  I'm not very experienced with colour image manipulation; I'm sure others could make a much better effort of "cleaning up" the sellers pics. Of course, if someone was deliberately trying to deceive, they could manipulate a picture the other way, too, to make it look even more golden. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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New Member
United Kingdom
12 Posts |
so how do I find out where it was minted and if its a rare date on the coin?
I really appreciate the help.
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
The mintmark is on the obverse (Mary side): "KB", the mintmark for Kremnitz, a city in what is now Slovakia (which was part of Hungary at the time). It is by far the commonest Hungarian mintmark, as the mint was situated there in proximity to the rich silver and gold mines. As for "rare dates", I'm afraid my catalogues don't go back to the 1600s, so I an;t speak with authority. But to the best of my knowledge, there aren't too many people trying to collect this series by date, not outside of their native Hungary anyway. So I'm not sure that "rare dates", if they exist, are significantly more valuable than common dates. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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New Member
United Kingdom
12 Posts |
Is it possible that they use the same mint for gold and silver?
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Moderator
Australia
16868 Posts |
Um, yes. Both gold and silver coins were minted there, because both gold and silver were mined there.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5362 Posts |
Normanity There is NO catalog of values for coins dated before 1600 - not that is up to date, in the English language and easily located anyway.
In practice, I see about 1 of these a year coming through the shop in North Carolina. They are typically sold for $5 each (to ME) but at that price they would hang around a long time at the shop - as they have in the past. (I think I have gotten 7 in just that way and I have been here 8 years). Demand for most foreign silver material is near zero at prices over spot and most silver coins hit the melt bin. I can and do still get high grade 8R coins for under $30 (melt plus profit for the shop). It is just too bad I can not save all the coins from the melt bin and take the time to find homes for then.
I am a part time authenticator and I attribute foreign coins (when requested)for a dealer in NC.
To find out if this is in fact a "rare" date means finding some collector or society who specializes in the series and who is willing to disclose what he (they) knows about them. That is a tall order - I have never run into anyone who does more than I do which is to put them aside as curious. I never let a hammered coin go to the melt bin except Islamic material with holes.
Price for any coin is a combination of rarity and most importantly DEMAND. Therefore I suggest that Hungary is the place to search for collectors of this series which will require an understanding of the language. Most texts that are specific enough to identify rarities by date will NOT be in English (usually German - possibly French - but NOT English) - that is a guarantee based on 50 years of collecting experience.
I would bet that if you focused on this series for 20 years - you could become a WORLD renowned Expert on the type. I don't see people lining up for that job.
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Posted 12/30/2012 8:02 pm
