Not everyone can afford to shell out about 4.5 thousand zlotys at a time to buy an ounce of gold. But you can save money in precious metals in a more affordable way, and here silver comes to the rescue, in particular silver coins.
In the columns of our service, we usually promote the accumulation of money in gold. Its advantages are probably well known to our readers, so I will not mention them again. Unfortunately, gold also has one drawback – a high entry threshold. Of course, you can buy a 1 gram gold bar for less than PLN 200, but definitely the best option is 1 troy ounce (31.1 g) or even more.
A one-time payment of PLN 4.5 thousand for the purchase of an investment bar or investment coin is often too much. It is worth remembering that in Poland more than half of households do not have any savings, many of the rest have deferred resources that do not exceed PLN 1-2 thousand.
In such a situation, silver can be a good alternative, the cost of which per unit is much lower than that of gold.
Investment coins
Investment coins, or weight coins, are coins whose value depends on the amount of precious metal they contain. Each has a minted face value (for example, $10) and is legal tender in the country that issued the coin, but the value of the silver it contains far exceeds its face value.
The value of a coin is evidenced mainly by its weight, but not only. As is usually the case in numismatics, the issuer also matters. The most valuable are the issues of prestigious mints. Most silver bullion coins are the “little brothers” of their more expensive gold counterparts. Among other things.
we can find here the Maple Leaf from the Royal Canadian Mint, Kangaroo, Kookaburra and other representatives of the Australian fauna from the Australian Mint in Perth, the American Eagle from the US Mint, as well as the most popular bullion coin in Europe, i.e. Vienna Philharmonic from the Austrian Mint.
Well-known bullion coins are easy to get and just as easy to resell with a small issue. The relatively low cost of a single coin provides them with high liquidity. They are also easy to evaluate, because, although they have a certain monetary value, i.e. they are more expensive than an ounce of silver on the exchanges, yet their value fluctuates in exactly the same way as the value of the precious metal on the market.
Collectible coins
Silver is the most popular metal for the production of collectible coins. Like bullion coins, collector’s coins also have a face value and a certain weight of the precious metal – most often it is 1 ounce. However, their value, as a rule, exceeds the cost of the silver used for their production by several times. Collectible value plays an important role here, due to which collectible coins are something like “aerobatics”.
Over the past few years, silver collectible coins have had a bad reputation in Poland. This follows from the policy of the National Bank of Poland, which, by the end of the last decade, greatly shocked the country’s market. Initially, low circulation and general distribution caused a powerful speculative bubble in the market. Already on the day of purchase.
collection coins issued by the NBP reached a value several times higher than the issue value. This bubble burst as dramatically as it had inflated – after the NBP radically increased circulation and introduced new, vague and often changed distribution principles.
Many investors then turned their backs on the silver coin market. However, it should be remembered that this scandal only affected state coins, and foreign mints and distributors behave much more rationally. Even during this crisis, there was no shortage of interesting investment proposals. The Sapphires coin from the 2007 Treasures of Australia series has a value of 200-250% higher today.
Naturally, not every collectible coin can boast such incredible price increases. How to choose the right coin?
Issuer – it is important that the coin comes from a famous mint. The Polish Mint is an institution with a time-tested tradition and excellent technical performance, but the memory of the escapade slightly dampened interest in its products. Issues from the Perth Mint, the Austrian Mint, the New Zealand Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the US Mint, or the British Mint can be considered fairly safe.
Circulation – the eternal principle of supply and demand works here. The smaller the circulation, the greater the chance for an increase in value. For example, the two ounce silver “Grey Wolf” of the Cook Islands (manufactured by the US Mint) was released in a circulation of just under 500 copies worldwide. On the other hand, there are some issues of the NBP, the circulation of which greatly exceeds 100 thousand copies, despite the fact that they are distributed exclusively on the territory of our country.
Series – Coins that are part of larger mint series tend to achieve a higher value. Often people are looking for the first coins from long-term series – for example, the Polish “Animal World” series. A good example of foreign series is the already mentioned Australian Treasure series, the Kookaburra bullion coin, or the New Zealand Mint’s Feng Shuai series.
Therefore, you can find beautiful coins with pad printing (color printing on the surface of the metal), inserts from different metals, or with stones inserted into the coin. This, as a rule, increases the value of the issue.
This market is governed by its own laws and is much less stable than the precious metals market.
which represents bullion coins. However, regardless of the price level in the collector’s market, there will always be at least the precious metal from which the coin is made, and the value of which will not fall below a certain level.
For children, Disney coins from New Zealand are perfect. Beautiful multi-colored coins have a certain value, and they are much more refined than the usual envelopes with money. At the same time, such a gift can awaken a child’s interest in precious metals and the accumulation of funds.
Older ones may like Australian Star Trek coins, Children of the Forest or the spectacular Avengers Collector’s Set.
Silver coins are a good alternative to gold, although it should be remembered that this metal is more of an industrial value and therefore its prices behave a little differently than the prices of the more valuable metal.
