Cool Trivia Question

I was driving and was thinking about this random ratio. Name the coin with the largest discrepancy of face value to precious metal value. For example: a 1/10oz $5 gold eagle has a face value of $5 with a precious metal content of ~$130. So $5/$130= 1/26 ratio. The 1/4oz $10 eagle would have a ratio of ~1/32. So the 1/4 gold eagle would be the coin with the more undervalued face value to precious metals content ratio.

There is a coin I found with a ridiculous ratio. I'd love to see if anyone can think of the one.

Edited my grammar and spelling, sorry I was driving.

 

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The five ounce ATB quarter?

 

The quarter ozt. AGE has a face value of $10. It's the half that is $25.


Also, don't post while driving.

 

thats right. i did the math right, but i wrote $25 for some reason. ok, ok i wont blog and drive

 

But Doug, as a ratio that coin only is worth 41 times its face value. My answer of the 5 ounce ATB quarters is about 400 times face. I guess it depends on if the OP meant total value, or highest ratio.

 

that one is very close but there is one with a much higher ratio

 

That is only a 1/41.....I found one with a ratio a few orders of magnitude higher

 

Youre right. I thought I was pretty clear it is the ratio I am discussing.

 

i was positive someone would have posted the answer...the funny thing is, its a completely original question because after searching GOOGLE, no one has mentioned it

 

Probably some cheap arse currency like the peso, yen or whatever.

 

negative. very popular coin. very popular series. very strong currency.

 

Here's a pretty good one. You didn't give any specific rules, so I'm going to assume it's fair game. 1814 Platinum Capped Bust Half Dollar Pattern, J-44a, with a weight of 22.32g and a face value of 50c, it has a melt/face value ratio of about 1:2,029 at the momemt

.

 

i am giving you an honorable mention. i got really scared for a second and rechecked the math on that coin and on the one i found. really close. but i have you by a factor of 10. but seriously, awesome awesome unique answer.

 

The website I found upon googling it suggested that date and composition of the coin was not unique, but the punching and engraving was. So, there are (in theory) other coins similar to this which were not 'marked up' which might have been slightly heavier. I know the planchets most likely had varying weights, so the idea that one may be slightly heavier and thus have a higher PM value to face value ratio seems reasonable to me. What say you?

 

I used the weight of the engraved and "countermarked" example because it was the most documented and is the Judd plate coin, therefore attaining 'poster coin' status. But like you said, it is not unique; there are currently two examples of this pattern where the whereabouts are known and another that is "missing".

The first is the coin in question, it is identified as J-44a to distinguish it as the engraved/countermarked type. The other is without the engraving or "countermarks". That example is located in the Smithsonian collection and identified by a large test cut, though it is unlikely, in my opinion, that it weighs more than the current example due to the rather large cut. There is one more rumored to exist recorded by Don Taxay and supposedly belonging to Nick Parker, but the current location of the coin is a mystery.

There is an excellent write up on the J-44a in the Logan/Steinberg catalog, where it was sold in 2002. If you don't own the catalog, I highly suggest it, as there are tons of significant coins along with excellent descriptions.

For the record the J-44a is listed as having a weight of 344.7 grains (22.336 grams), as opposed to the 22.32 gram weight provided by PCGS. I'm going to believe the catalogers at B&M and revise the ratio to 1:2,043.99. The problem is, because we are talking about precious metals, the ratios are only valid for a couple of minutes (or less) until the price changes.

By the way, if anyone happens to know the weight of the Smithsonian coin, I'd love to hear about it.

Jesse

 

A pattern is not a coin.

I can come up with 1:2,500 ratios or more using foreign gold patterns.

ATB 5 oz quarter is the winner imo even though it will never circulate as a coin.

 

Yeah, a person can come up with any ratio if using old coins in denominations now demonitized. What is the ratio of a 1921 50 peso 1.2 ounce gold coin now that old 50 pesos are effectively valueless now? Infinity?

To be fair, I think it would have to be a coin being struck in 2013 or 2014 in an existing coinage system. Anything else, and I can come up with 500 examples of "infinity" because the underlying currency is valueless.

 

Valid point, I think the confusion arises from the point that there wasn't really a set of rules. But to be fair, the Pt half dollar is technically still legal tender and from a non-demonetized currency, albeit greatly inflated. Either way, I just though it was a fun example that arose because it was struck using regular half dollar dies.

I would like to hear which coin the OP has in mind.