I was checking out the charlton coin guide today, and i was looking through silver dollars. i have a ton of these so i wanted to go through the guide pretty carefully. i got to the time of 1965 - 67, then i saw it for 1982, and there was two coins listed for each year, coinage and medal. i didn't notice an explanation though of the difference. i have a couple from these years, and i also noticed the huge price difference between medal and coinage can someone give me a quick summary of the difference? i also apologize if this is a really dumb question - i am quite new to this and am just learning on the fly right now while i catalog thank you !
I can only comment on the difference as it pertains to the United States in regard to coins/medals. I suspect that Canada does the same thing. If I'm wrong, I'm sure one of my Canadian brethren will chime in. A coin is a piece of metal (usually consisting of a standardized weight) that is used to facilitate trade or commerce and usually bears the mark of the authority that produces it, as well as a monetary value . A medal, on the other hand, is used to commemorate significant historical events of a nation or extraordinary deeds achieved by a person or people. It possesses no monetary value although it's value may be intrinsic....
I don't have a Charleton handy but another possibility might be that it's a reference to the rotation of the dies, one being coin rotation and one being medal rotation.
without dredging up the ghost of Aiden past, some coins have a medal rotation, while medals are NEVER coins. I think the key is what green and opus mentioned about an issuing authority and a value for commerce.
I think the key is exactly what is he looking at in the Charleton. Is it listing dollars and medals together, or is it listing dollar coins with coin and medal rotation. I don't have a copy of Charleton handy so I can't tell.
