I recently purchased some coins from a local gentlemen and he threw in for free 12 banknotes that were gold or silver in color of different denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. They are very holographic-like and are labeled with a 24K Gold on the bottom of the reverse. I have tried to do some research about them but came up emptyhanded. Here are some similar items for sale on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/24K-999-FIN...964?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cdb876f7c Do these actually have any gold value or is it so minimal that they are just novelty pieces? I'm just trying to get some more knowledge regarding what these are before I sell them (I'm not a currency collector). Thank you for any insight.
It's gold leaf over cardboard, if I remember correctly. It has *some* gold value, but it is essentially negligible.
That is both the huge benefit and a downfall of gold, its ability to be rolled out into unimaginably thin sheets. Even with gold above $1000 an ounce, you can cover a fairly large surface in gold leaf for almost nothing.
