Silver coins

This short article is devoted to silver coins. Newly issued silver coins can be divided essentially into two categories: silver investment coins and commemorative coins. While silver investment coins usually do not have a collector’s value, commemorative coins, in addition to the value of the material (silver) from which they are made, bring added value to their owner in the form of a price that the collector is ready to pay for the coin precisely because of its uniqueness. In many cases this added value is many times higher than the price of the material from which the coin was made.

Fig. 1: Silver investment coin of Canada weighing 2 Oz.

At the same time the price of a commemorative coin does not always depend on the number of coins minted. Its price is often determined by market demand, which can be influenced by the motive or occasion on which the coin was issued. My personal experience is that it pays to invest money in commemorative coins of the highest quality of execution, i.e., PROOF or PROOF-LIKE. Although the initial investment in PROOF coins is higher, their appreciation over a longer time period is higher than that of conventional quality e.g., BU (Brilliant Uncirculated).

Fig. 2: Commemorative silver coin in PROOF quality, denomination 10 EUR, marking the centenary of the Slovak National Theatre.

Photos used in this article – private collection of the author.