The motive behind forging coins is generally profit. Usually produced by a syndicate or an individual, counterfeit coins can be produced for either circulation or for collectors. We see a variety of forged coins, and in themselves, they are very interesting.

There are those amongst the numismatic community who don’t like to discuss the existence of counterfeit coins, as they perhaps consider that their very existence undermines the integrity of the hobby and dealers in general, which can lead to buyers not wishing to spend money on coins for fear of them being fakes. But, we believe it’s an essential part of what we do as a business. To be open and up front about counterfeit coins is a good way of ensuring confidence in our customers and in turn, they feel confident in knowing that they are going to be purchasing a genuine coin from us.

A question we’re often asked is “how do you spot a fake?” and our answer is “with years of experience” and although this is not helpful to the beginner, it is true.

We can, however, direct you to our very informative web pages:

http://www.24carat.co.uk/counterfeitcoins.html

http://www.24carat.co.uk/fakes1.html

If you see the latter, then you’ve come to the right place. We buy and sell coins. We are happy to buy any coins, be they valuable or rare or indeed, just junk. As a dealer, we happily and successfully buy and sell coins every day of the week, from the high end gold collectors’ pieces to humble farthings. Should you ever buy a coin from us, we’ll buy it back. This is how “dealing” works.

We’re often intrigued by coin dealers who do not actually deal. To be a coin dealer, surely one would expect said “dealer” to buy as well as sell. And indeed, we’re surprised by those who place limits on what they will buy. It’s not really dealing if you only sell coins, is it? To be a true dealer, one expects both the sale and purchase of coins.There are those who simply sell, making as much profit as possible. The “wholesaler” will maximise their profits by sell, sell, sell. Even smaller merchants do tend to make their living by simply selling. Which is fine, but can we call them “dealers?” Quite often, a customer is expected to wait for weeks for the dealer to get the coins to auction, and then to pay commission and charges etc. As a true dealer, our business is to obviously make a good living but we make that living by ensuring our customers know we both sell and buy. There and then.

Many large and well known coin wholesalers and distributors do seem to sell at extortionately inflated prices, but never buy back. This leads the customer to consider the smaller reputable dealer when they require a buy back service. We think we do a great job at taking up the slack. We experience customers every week who are shell shocked at how much over the odds they have paid for a particular coin. We see utter disappointment on their faces when we, as a dealer, have to inform them how much they have lost between buying from the large wholesaler/distributor and selling on to dealers such as Chard. We believe we provide honesty and integrity at every juncture.

So, our advice is to carefully research your dealer. Do they buy coins…?

…but not advice!

For well over 40 years, Chards have been happily dealing with customer enquiries, and a large proportion of them have been “what’s my coin worth?” Our answer is that we’re delighted to help and our charges start at 1% with a £5 minimum, with added VAT!  We’re often surprised at how many people expect our expert advice for free. Would your solicitor or accountant give you half an hour of their time for gratis? We’re in the business of making a livelihood too…but, we more often than not do provide a free advice service and we are happy that our customers go away happy and return year on year. Which they do.

But! Here’s a few pointers…

Providing a free valuation is actually an offer to buy. We do pride ourselves on being honest and competitive. So if we offer a price, then we respectfully ask that customers don’t haggle! It’s uncomfortable. Usually, customers call us to ask “what’s this coin” which is fine if we had video calling. But we don’t. To see a coin “live” can elicit a 5 second response of price and grade, whereas a lengthy 20 minute conversation by phone only results in a frustrated customer and an equally frustrated dealer who’s had 20 minutes of free time used. Our best advice is to use a local library resource or museum who would happily help you identify a coin. We would also recommend using a coin catalogue. It’s then we can offer you a price. We often have interesting conversations with people who ask for our free expert advice, and then argue with us! If you think you know better, why contact us in the first place! We do often find that people are astounded that their grotty old coin is not worth anything, and give us a hard time for telling them so! Don’t shoot the messenger!

So what is your old coin worth? Most coin collectors are not wealthy! They’re just interesting people with an interesting hobby. They want to buy at the lowest price possible, and dealers want (and have) to make a profit, so we like to meet somewhere in the middle. Don’t expect fortunes for your old coin, and you won’t be disappointed.

Look at our pages. There are lots of them. Everything you need to know is here frequentlyaskedcoinquestions[1]

Respectable sources are claiming that the new coins, which are made of steel and plated in nickel, are hazardous to those who suffer from skin conditions such as ezcema, dermatitis and psoriasis. It appears the Royal Mint and the Treasury have introduced these new coins without any medical assessments. So not only are they too thick for many vending machines, parking meters and public telephones etc., they could be a serious implicative factor in worsened skin health in some people.

Mainly a cost-cutting exercise, the introduction of the new coins has made British dermatologists call on the Government to assess them to consider the actual health risks. Made of steel and nickel plated, they replace the more expensive cupro-nickel coins. In a move initiated by the previous Labour government, the Treasury suggest that the they will save the Royal Mint around £10 million pounds a year. However, the dermatologists have already contacted the BMJ to claim that the coins could pose a real financial burden on the NHS. In Sweden, the nickel plated coins have already been banned due to their risk to skin health.

Sources claim that there has been no assessment whatsoever into the impact on skin health, by either the Treasury or the Royal Mint. Even though official guidelines have been met by the Royal Mint, it seems health assessment has been omitted.

So, would it appear that the potential health risks, which could potentially cost the NHS millions of pounds in extra skin health care, is of no consequence? Sir John Beddington, the Government’s head Health Advisor has been called in to assess the matter. One would hope that he considers the financial costs to the tax paying public…

So, what of the future of cash? There are those who suggest that crime statistics will fall, including personal robbery and bank robbery. The suggestion is that should a society become mainly cashless, then the prevalence of theft will fall dramatically. On the other hand, if a country becomes mainly cash free, then surely the prevalence of so called “cybercrime” would increase? Should countries follow suit like Sweden, then perhaps we are faced with a world without coins and notes. In the current economic climate of banks folding and millions of pounds being lost through investment, is it really wise to entrust all our hard earned to banks?

And what would this mean to us as collectors?

It may be that mints would still produce coins for commemorative purposes and the like, and of course, we would still be able to collect investment bullion. But there would no longer be any new issues of circulating coinage, and surely this would damage the future of coin collecting? One train of thought is that the ceasing of production of coins/notes would spell the end of collecting due to the massive increase in the perceived value of coins. Would it announce the end for coin collectors? Not sure about this… if there are fewer and fewer coins produced then perhaps the younger prospective coin collectors would have less and less at their disposal. However, even though relative metal value would still be buoyant, it may be that the decrease in actual coins available would decrease their value as collectors pieces…

One thing is certain, the cashless society is a long way in the future.

Here’s to more collecting!

New coins get minted all the time.

Many of them are lovely. Some are ok, and some of them really are special.

The Royal Canadian Mint have unveiled a new twenty five cent coin to be released on 16th April 2012. The first in a set of four coins featuring dinosaurs, this interesting quarter has something a little different. This new coin has a picture of a pachyrhinosaurus lakustai on its obverse.  In 1974, a teacher discovered the remains of this dinosaur in the Peace Country, Canada and the beast was named after him in 2008. Certainly, having the dinosaur named after him was an honour in itself, but to also have this special coin designed is very special.

What makes the coin really interesting though is the photo-luminescent technology used to enhance the colour picture. Looking at the coin, on first impression it looks like any other colour picture coin, but it’s when the lights are dimmed that the coin is shown in its full splendour. The picture disappears and the beast’s skeleton appears, glowing in the dark! Only 25,000 coins are minted, so they would make a great collectors piece.

But is there room for such coins? Are they just a fanciful piece of silly dreamed up by a room full of designers trying to outfox their contemporaries? Or are they really a part of coin collecting in the future?

There are those collectors who would suggest that coins should remain as they are in their respective metals, and not be faffed about with and there are some who consider that there is much room for coloured, curved, hologram and bi-metal coins. My opinion is that there is room for both, but surely the future of coin collecting hinges on the type of coins available to the collector? As mentioned in a previous blog, our future numismatists have a great deal of potential to keep the hobby alive. To get new collectors interested, these types of coins have a lot of attraction and make a great and affordable way to interest our new generation.They are fun and perhaps a little flippant, but they are attractive certainly and make interesting collectors pieces.

So, they do have a place…

All this week, we have been running an online egg hunt. There’s a golden egg hidden somewhere on our 2012 product pages 24carat.co.uk/2012easteregghunt.html

Why not have a go?

Wishing Tree

In Britain we have many customs, and lots of them involve money. The tradition of Maundy Money is richly steeped in Christian and monarchical history, and today Her Majesty is attending the Maundy ceremony in the beautiful York Minster. Much of our traditional history is based on folklore, traditions of oral, ritual and cultural history.

British folklore has many traditions too, and many of these have coins involved. In Scotland, to “hansell” a new born baby was to place a silver coin in it’s hand. It was considered to be lucky, and if the child gripped the coin it would be miserly, and if it dropped it, the child would be a spendthrift! A British sixpence worn inside a bride’s left shoe on her wedding day is thought to be very good luck, and the coin is kept in the family and passed down to subsequent generations. There is the well known tradition of placing a silver coin into the Christmas pudding mixture to be baked in the cake. One of the most fantastic and unusual coin tradition we have come across is the mysterious coin trees. There are many of these trees, discovered in various forests and woods across the UK. The associated folklore mentions that a coin hammered into a “wishing” tree would take away an illness from the person.Such trees can be found at Ingleton Falls in North Yorkshire and Portmerion in North Wales.

British folklore tradition is wonderful, and gives us such an insight into our ancestors beliefs. It’s amazing how many traditions involve coinage…our monetary pieces really are history in our hands.

There are many hobbies one could have. Collecting stamps, or cars, or dinky toys. In our wonderful world of numismatics, we love those collectors who have a penchant for coins.

Throughout history, both coins and silver have been very important in terms of politics, finance, trade and social significance. Looking back through time, it’s easy to see the use of silver coins being paramount to social and political traditions. Indeed, you just have to look at the various hoards unearthed to understand our Roman counterparts’ desire to collect this beautiful Queen of Metals in coin form, and that’s to name just one group of collectors.

This has continued with today’s investors. The demand for silver coins and bullion has not decreased over time, but if anything has increased. Silver is proving to be a canny way to invest. Absorbing the VAT at the stage of initial purchase is a perhaps a wise decision, but bullion coins are also very attractive.

This weekend was very busy for us here at Chards. Taking delivery of some beautiful silver Lunar Dragons for dispatch to our customers proved to make our working day very intense. Getting these beautiful bullion coins sent out to our collectors was a feat, but one we carried out with our usual stoicism and enthusiasm.  At times, we perspired. At times, we cried! But at the end of the day, we were able to do what we do best. And of that, we are proud.

Here at Chards, we’d love to have many people sat round our dinner table, but more interestingly for us, we’d like to see some famous coin collectors.  Actors Jonathan Rhys-Davies, Nicole Kidman and John Laroquette  are all reportedly famous for their coin collecting.  King Farouk of Egypt, King Louis XIV of France and former Prime Minister Tony Blair are also known coin collectors. What a very thought provoking dinner party that would be…

Just to add some spice to the dinner mix, add a dash of Buddy Ebsen (Beverley Hillbillies’ Jed Clampett) and a sprinkle of Italian scholar and poet Petrarch…great dinner guests.

But what would we talk about? The price of gold, perhaps? Or maybe the availability of this years’ silver Dragons…

A subject well worth a chat about is the future of coin collecting.  With young people today being interested in the internet and gaming, is there room for future coin collectors? Many people consider the hobby to be “geeky” and possibly a source of derision.  We think this is a little unfair. Coin collecting in recent years may have become all about gold and high end coins, leaving the new collectors out in the cold. But surely, there are many areas of collecting…? Of course, the collection of higher priced coins will always be popular, and happily,  a major part of our business is to provide collectors with such coins. But we also take great pride in helping collectors with smaller, less expensive coins. This morning, I helped a gentleman with an enquiry about  farthings, and I took particular delight in the fact that his young grandson was interested in beginning a collection.

Surely, the hobby is all about the fun of collecting, as much as the value of what you collect? Whether one collects sovereigns or pennies, we think it’s the thrill of the chase, and finding that elusive coin that makes coin collecting exciting.

So, who is coming to dinner? We’d also like to see a group of 14 year olds sat round eating pizza, with their vitality and excitement. Coin collecting isn’t geeky, but a fun way of starting something which some day can (and does) become a lifelong passion, often resulting in some fabulous finds, which can sometimes prove quite lucrative.

Glass of wine with that…?

It has recently come to light that more than 30,000 Roman coins have been unearthed in Bath, UK during an excavation on a hotel site. The coins were discovered in a small pit under the floor of a Roman building. The coins are fused together and archaeologists think they may have been stored in a cloth bag or a wooden box.  They also think the hoard is the fifth largest found in the UK. The coins have been sent to the British Museum, where conservators will take at least 12 months to separate them.

They date from 270AD and come from a time of huge political and social unrest, which begs the question….how did they fuse? From the earliest reports, it seems the coins may very well be debased Antoninianii, in which case they’re base metal with very small silver content, meaning that to fuse, they will have to had contact with some serious heat. During these times of unrest, people were known to hoard their silver denarii, but as time progressed the silver content of these coins reduced greatly. Each issue contained less silver and in turn contributed to inflation and this further unrest.

In this time of upheaval and threats of invasion from the Barbarian hoards, one wonders what the owner of these coins was thinking when he buried them….? Was his house set alight during a Barbarian ransacking? If so, the hoard was missed by the hoard….leaving us a tantalising view of Roman Bath over 1700 years ago. Perhaps this hoarding Roman citizen should have paid more attention to his money…