Introduction to World Gold Coins

Just got my first world gold coin a few weeks ago and now I want more! I got a Swiss 20 Franc Gold and now I want to get some French ones. Which ones do you recommend? Also, what are restrikes in regards to world gold coins?

 

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Congrats and welcome to the dark side haha
I for one would like to see a picture.
Right now, the only world gold I have are 12 British Sovereigns ranging from 1876 to 1957 and a France 20 Franc. The 20 Franc is dated 1907 but is a restrike.
I plan on picking up maybe a Mexican 20 Peso and a Swiss 20 Franc at the next Baltimore show in March, depending on spot prices.

EDIT: I forgot to mention I have 3 Canadian 1oz Maples though I don't really consider them as world gold and more of bullion.

 

Let your imagination be your limit. Well, that and your budget. Just don't take any recommendations from Panzerman if you wish to remain solvent.

Everyone should have a sovereign and if you have to have only one then get a Victorian one. French come in Angels and Rooster in addition to earlier ones. Then there are Italian 20 lire and Swiss 20 franc, which are the same weight, so maybe only one of those in total to start off with. Dutch 20 Gulden are similar. Lots of German States ones, with Prussia being the cheapest. They come on 5 mark (not cheap), 10 mark and 20 mark. There are a lot of Austrian restrikes. There are also others from Europe but that is a start. Elsewhere look for Mexican gold in several denominations. Many of them are restrikes (all 1945 are) but they hold the same value because they are gold. South American has some nice ones also.

And that is without considering bullion coins and coins from the rest of the world. You can collect just late-19th and early 20th century without any duplicates before you run out of money.

 

Welcome to the club! I love AV coinage, started collecting them at 8 yrs of age. Now have 800+ and counting. I have at least one example from 26 centuries. 90 percent of mine are mint state quality. Here is one I recently got.... AV 1781 Ruspone/ Tuscany/ Florence Mint/ Pietro Leopoldo of Habsburg.....future Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II.

 

Oh, I did get a Mexican 2.5 peso a while back. So what is a restrike?

 

What's yours dated? I found this:
Official restrikes dated 1945 were later produced from 1951 to 1972, in 1996, and from 2000 to 2009.

About 5,025,087 official restrikes bearing the date "1945" were minted from 1951 to 1972. Additional matte restrikes bearing the same date were coined in 1996, and a further 517,000 pieces with the year "1945" were manufactured from 2000 to 2009.

 

Thanks for the data on the restrike. I am not sure on the date, too lazy to get it out of the safe. Will get it and report on it soon. Question on care for gold coins. Do fingerprints stick around on them? I ask because my Gold Buffaloes are common date but the dealer I bought them from didn't keep them protected and let people touch them. I can't really tell. I want to know now because if I am buying numismatic gold then I don't want crappy ones that have been handled and therefore carrying less premium.

 

Restrike just mean it was minted later than the date on the coin. The gold content is the same so its bullion value is basically a small amount over spot. But because the 2 peso and 2.5 peso are affordable they command a premium. I have quite a few of each. Austria coins of 1915 (or 1916, I forget which) are also restrikes. A restrike is identical to the original except that it is not original. Another example is that almost all Maria Theresa thalers are silver restrikes, but they still demand a premium over spot so I acquire them whenever I can.

 

The French 20 Francs with the Angel are very nice - just don't pay a big premium because they can be had for not much above melt for nice AU-Uncs. The piece with Marianne are probably my favorite. The dates from 1907 to 1914 were restruck, but are some of the nicest for condition. I was able to pick up a 1901 dated piece for the same price as a restrike date, but it has a few bag marks. As was stated, another great historical coin that is probably the best known gold coin around the world is the British Sovereign. About a 1/4 ounce of gold, and struck at 7 different mints: London; Pretoria South Africa; Melbourne, Sydney & Perth in Australia; Ottawa, Canada and Bombay (Mumbai), India. Fun and inexpensive gold. Best game in town for the money.

 

That's what I am shooting for with world gold. Satisfies my interests in collecting and of course having gold. What kind of Napoleon gold is there ? (not Napoleon III, the Napoleon).

 

LOTS! There is an endless amount of AV 40/ 20 Francs from Napoleon Bonaparte/ 15/20 diff. mint cities. Best bet buy Friedberg's Gold Coinage of the World 2017 edition.

 

You can pick up Napoleon 20 Francs in XF condition in the 1810's for around $300. Look at what pieces have sold for on ebay for an indication of what to spend. Don't look at what people are selling them for, but what the pieces have actually sold for.

 

Looks like for a little more I can get a Napoleon vs. a Rooster or Angel. Nice! I have a lot of research to do!

 

I am putting together a set of 20-unit gold coins from the Latin Monetary Union of 1865-WWI. All of the coins issued by participating countries have an AGW (Actual Gold Weight) of 0.1867 troy ounces of gold. They are 6.45 grams of 0.900 gold. So a French or Swiss 20 Fr = Italian 20 Lire = Greek 20 Drachma = Venezuela 20 Bolivares = Colombia 20 Pesos = Spain 20 Pesetas, etc. Look up the LMU for the silver and gold coins. Fun, inexpensive and historic. The first Euros!

 

Sounds like a great set to put together. Gold is King! I really like the .1867 weight. You may have inspired me to put a set like that together. I have a lot of reading to do!

 

Don't count out a nice Rooster (not that mine is a great example...lol)

 

Thanks Panzer, I'll get that book.

 

It you want ideas for gold coin go looking through "post the next coin" threads. I have posted a lot of them (no idea how many) as have many other people. You will see them from all over the world.

 

Don't forget the Krause one. Maybe that is the one John is referring to, I forget the author. It is a Krause catalog of all gold coins from 1800 on. I gave one away here last year because I had two of them.

 

Right now there is a Krause 2009 edition (prices outdated) it covers 1600-2009. Friedberg covers 650BC to 2017 gold coinage. However some are left out like Merovingian/ Visgothic/ Saxon/ Sasanian.....
John