Currently, there are numerous mints that produce series of beautiful silver bullion pieces that are backed by the government with a legal tender status. These coins obtain their monetary value for being both beautiful and their metal content, but unfortunately, many people do not know a lot about them. So, here is some more information about them with my top six favorite silver bullion series from all around the world. 6) The American Silver Eagle Series Of all of the modern bullion series that are produced, the American Silver Eagle is one of my favorites. First produced in 1986, this series is still in production where they are a favorite among coin collectors, investors, and coin dealers. Since their introduction, they have been produced at three mints; Philadelphia, Westpoint, and San Fransisco with the corresponding mint mark on many pieces. Their design is inspired by the walking liberty half a dollar which were produced from 1916-1947, and designed by Adolf A Weiman. Each coin contains one full troy ounce of .999 silver, where their mintage varies a lot because they are produced only to fulfill the demand for them, where millions of coins are oftentimes produced every year. The reason why this series is placed so low on this list is that there is simply not a lot of variety and a lot of market hype for these coins. These coins oftentimes sell for a very high premium above its bullion content if there is any change from its normal design which has been produced since 1986. Although the design is striking, there is not much variety as the only thing that seems to change is the coins finish, and whether if it's in a proof or uncirculated, with the rare exception such as the lettered edge on the 30th-anniversary pieces. This is why this coin is placed at number 7 on my list. 5)The Queens Beast SeriesAlthough this series just started in 2016, they are honestly some of the coolest coins on the market today! These coins are produced by the royal mint in the United Kingdom, where the obverse always depicts a portrait of Queen Elizabeth the second. So far, there have already been three different designs produced, being a lion, a griffin, and a dragon. Each of these coins weighs two troy ounces as opposed to many other series which only weigh one, which is expensive for many collectors; but allows for a larger design on the piece. In fact, they are even producing a ten troy ounce version containing the Lion design this year! However, with the series being so new the average mintage is currently unknown; but they deserve this spot on this list due to the unique designs that many people love. These coins are being produced in many different formats, which increases the options that collectors have but make collecting them less affordable to collect them all. Also, many collectors have complaints about unfinished edges, which are not too bad considering the extra metal content that they provide; but they do catch on to soft cotton materials easily. 4) The Mexican Libertad SeriesWithin the Mexican Libertad series, there have been two general designs produced since its introduction in 1982 which are commonly referred to as the "old style" and the "new style." The old style was minted from 1982 until 1995 and depicts a forward facing view of the famous Angle Of Independence Statue. On the reverse, there is a traditional depiction of the Mexican coat of arms which consists of an eagle eating a snake atop a prickly pear cactus amongst rocks. The new version, which was first produced in 1996, and are still being minted today depict a forward facing view of the Angel of Liberty statue on the obverse, where on the reverse there is a depiction of the traditional Mexican coat of arms in the center and various other depictions of the coat of arms surrounding it. Unlike the silver eagle series, most years have a relatively low mintage which is oftentimes under a million or under. Additionally, there are many different sizes produced where the smallest piece that is produced weighs a tenth of a troy ounce and the largest piece weighs a kilo. Additionally, they come in both proof and mint state finishes which are why these beautiful coins are ranked six on this list! 3) The Chinese Panda SeriesThis series of bullion was first produced in 1988, where they are produced by the Peoples Republic of China. On the obverse of the coin, there is a depiction of a panda where every year the way the panda is portrayed changes except for 2001 and 2002. On the reverse, there is a depiction of a building known as the "Temple of Heaven", which is a very famous Chinese building in Bejing that is well-liked due to its history, and stature in traditional Chinese culture. The designs of these coins are amazing, and the mintage of these pieces is relatively low which leads to them carrying high premiums. Unfortunately, they do not weigh an entire troy ounce of silver, but rather 30 grams which are 1.105g of-of silver less than a troy ounce. In fact, unlike much other bullion series, where the coin typically come raw tubes, these coins come in individually hard plastic cases 2) The Australian Koala SeriesThis series was first minted in 2007, where on the obverse there is always a depiction of Queen Elizabeth the second, and on the reverse, there is a depiction of a koala which changes every year. Multiple sizes are sold, with the smallest size weighing one-half of a troy ounce, and the largest weighing a kilo. These coins come in both proof and bullion finishes, and unlike many other series, they come in a very high quality hard plastic capsule from the mint. This, combined with the low premium and my love for the designs is why this series is ranked so highly on this list. 1) The Canadian $20 For $20 SeriesThese coins are honestly on of the coolest series that have ever been produced when it comes to modern bullion, which is why it is on my list as number 1. This series was first produced in 2011 by the Canadian royal mint and was minted until 2016. The concept behind this series is a small silver bullion is sold, which contains a quarter of a troy ounce of silver, for twenty dollars (CAD), but these coins have a legal tender status and a face value of $20(CAD). Throughout the series, a lot of amazing designs have been produced, where popular themes such as Bugs Bunny and Superman are featured on many of the coins. In fact, a few of the designs even had a glow in the dark feature! Unfortunately, these coins were given a noncirculating legal tender status as opposed to a circulation legal tender status, which means that banks and businesses do not have to accept them for their face value in payment, and many do not. Therefore, people were having a very hard time using them and gladly returned them when the Canadian mint would allow them to do so. In my opinion, if they were given a circulation legal tender status, they would have been extremely successful and I feel that this fact, combined with the awesome designs is why it deserves the number one spot on the list. Well, there you have it; the top seven silver bullion series. Out of all honesty, there are so many other awesome modern bullion pieces that I love but did not include on the list because they were not a part of a series. I hope that you enjoyed this article and that it helped you learn about some of the modern silver bullion series that are out there. By: Brandon Spiegel, owner and founder of Let's Start A Coin Collection
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Coin shows, in my opinion, are the best way to grow your coin collection while networking with professionals in the industry. They are extremely popular, because of the resources that they provide to both collectors and dealers; but unfortunately, they are very intimidating to new coin collectors. Hopefully, this article will help you better understand what to expect when going to these events, so they will be as enjoyable as possible. The Formatting
Formal Or Casual?Many people do not know whether they should attend a coin show in a suit and tie, or simply shorts and a t-shirt as thousands of dollars exchange hands in a fairly casual environment. Fortunately, coin shows are considered to be fairly casual as the majority of the people in attendance tend to wear clothes that appear to range from casual to semi casual. However, if you do show up in a suit and tie then you will not be overdressed as formal dress is oftentimes seen among some dealers and collectors. EtiquetteFor the most part, common courtesy is the most prevalent form of manners that are at coin shows. However, beyond this, there typically are some coin show specific etiquette tips mainly in the unspoken guidelines that are present when looking at coins. If the coins are in a case, always ask the dealer to look at a coin that you want to look at. When a coin dealer is taking a coin out of his or her case, let the dealer take the coin out of the case and do not take the coin out of the case yourself unless the dealer specifically tells you to do so. If you have others attending the show with you, keep in mind that every coin dealer is like a different shop so if you want to show someone else a coin make sure that the person goes to the coin as opposed to the coin going to the person, and never take the coin at hand away from the table. Also, when looking at coins it is best to keep it above the table so the coin dealer will know where the coin is at. Also, make sure that you keep the coins that you have already purchased away from the top of their table, so they will not get confused with the dealer's inventory. Cash Is KingAnother massive aspect of coin shows is that the vast majority of dealers do not accept credit cards, where cash is definitely king. This is because credit card processing companies typically charge a fee of about 3% of the selling price and coin dealers operate on very small profit margins, so they simply cannot afford the fees. In fact, even if a coin dealer does accept credit cards they typically pass the fee on to the consumer, so make sure that you always have cash on hand. Fortunately, if you forget most coin shows do have an ATM machine on site. In addition to cash, I also recommend having a pocket magnifier on hand and possibly a good reference manual that will help you purchase good coins at good prices. One Last TipI personally do not recommend going to coin shows on Sundays, as many dealers do not even attend them on this day. Many coin show dealers are simply retired people, so they only show up for the business days of the coin shows.
I really hope that this article will help you know what to expect when going to a coin show, so you will have the best time possible! You never know what you will find at the coin shows, but you can be sure that there will be some awesome coins among the many dealers that attend them. No one wants to think about it, but it is a very sad truth that there are people out there that will go out of their way to take what is not theirs. This is a major threat for coin collectors because a lot of value is oftentimes contained within a small area! Fortunately, there are many interesting methods that you can store and protect your coins to keep them from theft. 1) Purchase a "Beware of Dog Sign" Burglars hate dogs, as when they are interrupted by someone that they do not know they tend to bark; which annoys a lot more people than the person that is trying to rob your house. In fact, there are even some cities that have a policy where if a dog is kept barking for a certain amount of time, police will come out to the location. This method is especially effective because burglars tend to target the people they are going to rob before they do so they hopefully not even target your home in the first place with this method. This effect is especially realistic if you actually own a dog, but if you do not have a beware of dog sign on your fence is still very effective! You can even leave a few dog bowls and toys in your backyard to make the effect more realistic, but make sure that you do not purchase a motion sensing barking machine as many consider them to be unrealistic. 2)Use A Diversion Safe From a realistic standpoint when someone is going to rob a house they are looking to make the most money possible as quickly as they can, where they typically spend an average of 8 minutes in a house. This causes there to be a lot of places where they do not check, so a diversion safe is very effective! The concept behind a diversion safe is simple; it’s basically a secret compartment that is made to hide in plain sight, such as a can of fruit that is actually a container. Because this subject is so broad, however, there are a few more specific methods discussed below! a) Buy Your Own Diversion Safe Many companies actually sell diversion safes that are made out of the container they are supposed to look like! Everything that you can think of, from canned fruits to water bottles are actually utilized to make these safes which make them very realistic! In fact, there are many that actually have working components such as a water bottle with the top and bottom portions containing water, to amazing fully functional versions! There even is one that is also a fully functional clock, and another that is a fully functional stick on LED light! Surprisingly they are cheap, as the fully functional clock diversion safe costs less than $20 on Amazon! b) Your Fridge Or Freezer Unless someone came to rob your house of a bite to eat, they are not going to check either your fridge or freezer! This method is much more cost effective than a diversion safe, where something as simple as packaging from food that was already consumed can fool anyone! c) Inside Of A Dry Food Item In Your Pantry Oftentimes people have many items in their pantry, which is likely another place that a theve is not going to look. Places such as inside of a box of dry pasta, or a box of cereal are perfect places to hide valuable coins! When doing this, I strongly recommend keeping your coins in a plastic baggie as dry food can lead to hairline scratches on your coins unless they are in a third party graded holder. d) Inside Of A Lawn Sprinkler Head Lawn sprinkler heads can be purchased for just a few dollars, and can actually be used to store a few coins! The best part about using this method is how difficult it is to discern a normal water sprinkler head to one that is simple not working! All you have to do is purchase a sprinkler head, take out the inside and make sure you can store coins in it. Then, put your coins in it; place it somewhere towards the back of your garden or bushes and no one will notice the sprinkler head that is not working! Please keep in mind that it may be more dangerous than the previous methods, because if someone does find out about your storage place than they can steal your coins without ever going inside. 3) Use A "Decoy Safe"Oftentimes when scaling your collection you will acquire multiple safes as the first one that you get tends to become a little too small after a year or two. Although it may seem like a pain to keep it around, you can actually use it to protect your collection by having a "decoy safe". By doing this, you keep your collection in 2 safes where you use the smaller safe to store just a few flashy silver coins with the rest of your collection safely stored in your main safe. This method is effective because it tricks thieves to thinking that they hit the motherload when in reality, they only found the tip fo the iceberg. When partaking in this method, just make sure that the decoy safe is a little bit visible, where your main safe is well hidden to achieve the best results possible! 4) Use A Safety Deposit BoxMany banks offer safety deposit boxes which are about the safest way to store your coin collection as banks typically have very high-quality security. Please keep in mind, however, that you need to look into the bank specific policies that are associated with them as oftentimes they are not insured, and states create their own rules and regulations to determine if a safety deposit box is "vacant" or not. Additionally, they are oftentimes only accessible during normal bank hours which can be an inconvenience. Typically there is a yearly fee associated with them too, where the small ones which are typically about 2''x 5''x 12'' have a fee ranging from about $15-$25. Medium sized boxes which are usually around 4''x 10''x 12'' usually have a fee ranging from $40-$65 Large safety deposit boxes usually have a yearly fee ranging from $185 to $500 and are about 15'' x 22'' x 22''. The sizes and costs associated with these boxes vary widely from bank to bank, so make sure that you check the specific policies and offers before making the commitment. 5)Own your Own SafeThere are many options out there when it comes to owning your own safe. Although they are not as secure as safety deposit boxes, they are much cheaper and definitely more convenient as you can access them anytime throughout the day or night. When purchasing a safe, I strongly recommend finding some sort of way to hide it either if it is under a pile of clothes, or under your bed, just make sure it is not in plain sight. As a word of warning, do not purchase a fireproof safe to store your coin collection. This is because the material that makes a safe fireproof contains a lot of moisture which causes black spotting on your coins over the course of a few years. Please keep in mind that there are services such as the NCS that can restore your coin collection if it is damaged in a fire, but the black spots are very difficult to remove. 5) Purchase Numismatic InsurancesVarious companies such as coin-insurance and Highwood offer insurance that is specifically for coin collections. In fact, if you are a member of the American Numismatic Association (which costs as little as $28 dollars a year) you can get a discount on numismatic insurance from Highwood! This kind of insurance is perfect because in the case of something such as a robbery you can get a part of your coin collection back! although the cost can vary, it is oftentimes considered a good service to have if your collection is worth over ten thousand dollars.
Well, now I guess it’s time for me to get back to hanging up beware of dog signs so everyone will know about my pets. I really hope that you found this article to be useful and practical, and that you will use it to secure your collection and keep it from getting stolen! When it comes to keeping your collection safe from theft, it is better safe than sorry, as you can never know when trouble will strike. -Brandon Spiegel, Owner And Founder Of Let’s Start A Coin Collection |
Author: Brandon Spiegel.
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