Circulation of Gold Coins?

It seems like most gold coins fall in the range of XF or higher, with very few being lower grade than that.
Did gold coins circulate often? Where there certain years they circulated more so than others? (i.e. more often in the early 1800's than the early 1900's)
and which denominations circulated the most?


Thanks :thumb:

 

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My Grandparents operated a tavern and a small corner store in the late 1890s till the depression , they kept a lot of the gold coins they came across they didn't have any larger than an eagle and that was rare in all them years they averaged 1 a year some years none , but got the most during the depression when people were desperate and gave up there reserves or hidden money , even California fractionals , sad .
rzage

 

I don't imagine people would carry around eagles all that often. That was a lot of money in 1890.

 

That is some story. I respect your age and the bridge you are to the past.

During the depression how did they maintain themselves?

Ruben

 

My Mom was born in 1927 and lived in the Bridgeport, CT area. I asked her once if she remembers any gold coins in her youth or if my grandfather ever had any gold coinage.
No to both questions. But as we all know and have seen; numerous gold coins are scratched, nicked up, marked up and worn. So they obviously were traded and circulated.

 

Relatively few gold coins have seen heavy circulation in history. There are numerous notable exceptions like the British gold from the 17th and 18th centuries. It's just as well since the weight loss of coins would be substantial over the 17 centuries they've been in use. It depends on design but coins have to be withdrawn and recoined when they lose 3 to 5% of their weight because they start losing so much detail that they are too easily counterfeited. Not a lot of silver coins have had to be withdrawn and recoined either but most silver gets widespread circulation.

 

I'm very interested in understanding this, but I don't. Which gold coins would circulate for 17 centuries? Why does it matter is a gold coin is counterfeited unless the coins face is substantially more valuable than the coin? What is the point your making about silver?

I think the major use and advantage of gold coins was for large transactions and wealth storage.

Ruben

 

I hope there is not another depression coming. Survival was very tough back then. It changed people. Having to break up a coin set/s is hard but there were more important priorities. Thank GOD some people had them to do that back then. So hang on to what you have cause I believe we're in for a very bad time. Home town, New Britski. zg

 

What I mean is that if the gold coins were being worn out they would have to be recalled and recoined many times. Each time they came back there would be some loss not only from the lost and destroyed coins but also 4% loss from wear. Just 4% loss of metal from wear repeated over and over for 17 centuries would be substantial.

Of course in real life most government entities don't last long enough for their coins to wear so much but they are eventually gathered up by some means and reissued by a new authority. Most of the gold mined from the beginning of time still exists. Almost all the old silver is gone because of loss in coinage and, of course, industrial consumption. Coin wear isn't a major factor in loss of silver in the last hundred years but it is with old silver.

 

So then, when gold did circulate, it was typically $1 and 2.5$ - with 5$ being less common, and anything higher than an eagle fairly rare.

But the other question is, when was this? They stopped minting gold in '33 - would people have seen much gold in the teens and 20's?

would it have been considerably more common in the late 1800's? (1870-1890's)

 

The other day in my friend's coin store I saw a $20 St Gaudens that was graded F by PCGS. Never seen one that worn before.
Guy~

 

If for survival purposes you have to sell a coin what would you take for it? Worthless dollars, credit, all the tangible necessities? I don't know. Gold, silver, etc. coins can't be broken into pieces and used as money, can it?
I guess that's where being in between a rock and a hard place came from.

 

Probably not. you have to consider what the average person earned back then. Incomes of around $600 a year, sometimes less, would not be unusual. If a person did see gold it might be a half eagle or two (and that's all) in his weekly pay envelope. Very few people could hang on to one of them and would almost immediately have to break them for smaller coins to operate with. Think about it, what would you do if you were paid with a single coin?

 

Would he be paid with that? Or paper money?

 

I don't want to feed anyones paranoia here, but YEAH, they used to break up Spanish Silver Dollars into bits or 2 bits.

When the Apocalypse comes, I don't know how much your gold and silver will be worth...

 

I always thought that most gold coins functioned as bank reserves and didn't often leave the vault. Silver coins circulated. Many years ago I asked my grandfather if he turned in any gold coins when Roosevelt confiscated them. He said he never owned one in his life.

 

That is very interesting. This is a great thread. I've often wondered myself.

 

Like I said they had a tavern and a corner food store , I was told my grandfather whom I never met paid cash for a new car during the depression , so they were doing pretty well till he died , my mother told me that they were giving out credit and when he died people started to avoid my grandmother so they didn't have to pay her , I talked to my mom who's still alive at 91 and she said my grandparents on her side who owned the stores didn't get here to the late 1890s , and she thinks most of the gold coins came in around the depression , and that she herself doesn't remember taking in any gold during the time she worked there , I've heard my one uncle got all the gold coins kinda stole them when my grandma died , I just remember showing him some of my coin and he said he liked his better , and that he had an eagle and California fractionals , so who knows how many he had or when he got them even if they were from the store , I guess I could of let my imagination run away with me when I was younger , as I always thought they should of been spread out among all the brothers and sisters , and then eventually to me and my cousins , all wishfull thinking , I do have pictures of the tavern and store that I'll post if I get a scanner . I look at those pictures and just imagined the different coins they must have took in .:hail:
rzage

rzage