Collecting coins is an interesting hobby but can also be an extremely valuable investment strategy. There are many opportunities available to expand a coin collection at little cost, however if you plan to collect gold and silver coins the initial cost will be higher. Rare vintage coins may sell for enormous sums, but there are still many bargains to be had.

Early Gold Coins

The Romans mainly used silver coins because the metal was freely available, and could be made into a durable alloy by adding a small amount of copper. They regarded gold primarily as being primarily for jewellery and rarely used it for coins.

From the 6th century BC, coins were struck in relative weights, so that one gold coin was worth 20 of the same weight in silver. Something along these lines survived in Britain until the outbreak of World War I, with one gold sovereign being worth 20 silver shillings.

The fineness or quality of gold was, and still is based on a unit known as the carat which, as well as being a weight, represents a 24th part. Using this measurement, pure gold is described as 24 carat. The purest gold used for medieval coins was 23 carat 3 ½ grains (.997 fine), which was the highest quality that could be produced at the time. English gold was reduced to 20 carat by 1545, but was eventually set at 22 carat (.9167 fine). This was originally known as ‘crown gold’ due to its initially being used for the crown series of coins. The remaining percentage was made up of copper, added to produce a long-lasting alloy with a reddish lustre and this 22 carat gold continues to be used for sovereigns today.

The USA eventually settled on .900 gold fineness. Mexico opted for .875, while France and Germany preferred .900 fine. The first major bullion coin of recent times, the Krugerrand, was also minted to .9167 standard (22 carat; the most practical and hard-wearing quality), but later bullion coins were made for the highest purity. Canada achieved .999 pure gold for the Maple Leaf (from 1979), but improving refining techniques brought the famous ‘four nines’ gold introduced in 1983. Bullion coins now have both the weight and fineness of the metal inscribed on them.

British Gold Coins

Gold Guineas – The gold guinea was first issued in 1663 under Charles II and was named this because most of the gold came from Guinea in Africa. It was valued at 20 shillings, but this increased as the price of gold climbed. The very last guinea was issued in 1813, as the ‘Great Recoinage’ of 1816 replaced it with the pound, though it continued in common parlance valued at 21 shillings, until 1971 when the move towards decimal coinage made it obsolete.

It is important to remember the different finenesses of gold used when thinking of investing in or collecting old coins 22 carat was used for the sovereign (20 shillings), half sovereign (10 shillings) and crown (5 shillings), but 23.5 carat for the noble (6s 8d) and its sub-divisions. The gold guinea (21 shillings) was replaced by the sovereign in 1816.