1/12 ecu 1660 with a rock

That is very interesting...I'm kind of curious now...what are some of the rarest coins you have come across that have been damaged for the sake of jewelry?? A 1877 Indian perhaps...or a 16D Mercury dime??

 

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That is just disgusting but if it was all done when the coins themselves were being made and circulated than no one would have seen it as being a big deal I guess.

 

Well than that is just "numismatic irresponsibility" by a bunch of stupid and careless son of a guns...

 

I find the reaction on this site curious, and unexpected. Solid silver made in America before 1860 is often called “coin silver” as it was often made from melting coins and the standard was generally the same .900 fine. The price varies widely. I have sold a single spoon weighing less than a half an ounce for $1,200. I sold another for about $8,400 that weighed perhaps 2 ounces. It is pure speculation, but I presume most were made from scrap silver, or the Mexican coin of the day still probably not very valuable.
I wasn’t however really thinking of these items but ones that actually use coins in the construction, and still have enough of the coin left to identify it. Some 18th century French wine tasters have an intact coin let into the bottom. Curiously most are rather common Spanish coins, these tasters are worth about $1,200 on the average. I also have had ladles where the bowl is made from a single one ounce silver coin, the rim being still readable. I could post pictures of examples if you like.
Of course most of the love token jewelry I have seen, are made of coins devalued by their use, although I would guess there are even exceptions to this. The melting of coins for making silver actually affected the quality of silver produced as in 18th century France where the standard was changed to .958.
You must also remember that rare coins are often rare, because so many were destroyed for whatever reason.

 

Yes those are some good points. Why are those silver spoons you speak of worth so much??? You make a very good point in your last sentence. Hundreds of thousands of 09SVDBs were made but I was told as an example that most were melted down over time and that only a few thousand still exist. Most likely by some corporate losers...

 

The reason some pieces of "coin silver" are so expensive is that people often collect pieces from certain states or regions. The most expensive are Southern.
In Europe pieces are usually expensive because of their artistry, although certain areas sell for more than others.
The usual reason for the expense of 18th century French silver is that so much was melted down because of the orders of the Crown, wars and of course the revolution.

 

Ahhh see I thought you were talking about modern stuff but then I remembered that you deal with "antique silver".

 

Well, you have to remember that this is a gathering place for coin collectors. I don't think it's at all unexpected that most of us would frown on the conversion of nice coins into other things.

Spoon collectors, on the other hand, who expressed the same distaste for converted coins would be acting in an unexpected manner.

That's easy - they are highly valued by spoon collectors, and by collectors of other memorabilia whose areas of interest they fit.

We numismatists are far from the only obsessive-compulsives wandering loose.


I have one acquaintance who regularly buys old children's mechanical banks for 5 and 6 figure prices, and thinks I am nuts to pay 4 figures for a Japanese ¥100,000 gold commemorative. Go figure!!

 

Most early silver collectors don't use the term "spoon collector" which would more often refer to someone who collects souvenir spoons. Most early silver collectors prefer holloware when it can be found. I would get upset if I knew someone was changing around a piece, but if it was done years ago it just becomes "the history of the piece". I started as a coin collector, but I was still surprised by the reaction here. I don't mean anything critical by that.

 

Very interesting indeed.