I know that it is not unusual to find bullion products with a denomination, my question is... "Why the denomination"??? Of course a bill (or such) needs to be passed in order to produce any coins/medals, at least in the U.S. but, but why the need to monetize??? Please feel free to offer facts, or opinions on this subject. And of course, post some pics.
Not entirely sure, but my thoughts are that without a denomination they wouldn't be coins, they'd be bullion rounds.
The US Mints needed to put denominations on their product, as they are not authorized to mint bullion . . . only coinage (requiring denominations) and medals.
didn't we just have a thread about this ? ==> https://www.cointalk.com/threads/assigning-dollar-amounts-to-bullion-coins.298912/
Doesn't answer the question posed, but as you supplied a link, I believe you answered your own question. Let's try this... would a ASE be any less desirable without the $1 designation? The U.S. mint has started a silver "Liberty" medal series that has no denomination. IMO the design is the attraction, not whether or not it has a denomination.
Because some people are dumber than doughnut holes. I can't count how many times I've found SAE's that were used by someone to pay for a pack of cigarettes at a convenience store. Chris
As an answer to the question - works for me. But to put it another way, it's an excuse to call them coins. And they, the mints, need to do that or they wouldn't sell enough of them to even cover their costs for making them. It works like this, most coin collectors see silver and gold rounds as being beneath them, items that are not even worth their consideration. But put a denomination on them, have the mint and country of origin declare them to be "official" coins, and they can sell them tons of them - literally ! The countries that make these bullion coins do so to make profit on them - period end of story. And they know that if they do not call them coins they can't sell enough of them to even cover the manufacturing the dies, let alone all their other labor costs. The only way to make a profit is to designate them as being coins. If they do that, collectors will buy them. If they don't they won't.
That's the only plausible explanation I can think of, but as they aren't used for circulation, it hardly seems necessary.
NCLT sells better than silver rounds (more markup). What (typically) makes it LT? Why a denomination.
For me they would be less desirable without the denomination. I'm a coin collector, not a bullion collector. It may only be a technicality, but it's important to me that what I buy is a coin, even if it doesn't circulate.
@Hiddendragon your collection, your rules. Bleep 'em if they don't like it. Besides, NCLT is some of the most innovative work done today. And some of the worst schlock, but still...
I wonder if it's for accounting purposes. Imagine if they were struck with no denomination. Until they are sold, these medals / tokens can only be accounted as "stock" with no money value (yes I know they are worth at least melt). On the other hand with denomination, the coins are worth at least face value. At the same time, I am under the impression that it's only the official government mints or private mints with permission that are authorized to strike "coins" with denomination.
When a government creates a coin, there is seigniorage involved (that's the difference between cost and monetary value shown on the books of the government). But since the precious metal content exceeds the nominal value, there isn't any seigniorage. From a strict accounting sense, it's irrelevant if it's a coin or medal. In inventory it's valued at the lower of cost or market value. If you buy $10 worth of silver and spend 25 cents between the die and minting costs, it's valued at $10.25 (until silver goes to $8 at which point you should really revalue the inventory to $8.25). Regardless, when you sell it for $100, the profit is price - COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) or 89.75...
Based upon gold bullion and the gold art rounds put out in the 80s, yes. They're FAR less desirable without the monetary value.
