Junk Gold Coins

After starting to stack junk silver coins, many investors start thinking about whether or not there’s junk gold coins. Are there “junk gold” coins?

While not usually referred to as “junk gold”, there are forms of old circulated gold coins that are often sold at or just above melt value. These would be the gold equivalents to junk silver.

Pre-1933 American Gold Coins

Prior to Gold Confiscation in 1933, gold coins were in common circulation in the United States. During the gold confiscation many of the Pre-1933 gold coins were melted down. Some coins were converted to jewelry so that they could be kept and saved. Others stashed away as many gold coins as they could. Those coins remained hidden until it became legal to own gold again.

Many of the pre-1933 gold coins that circulated throughout the United States carry a numismatic premium above the intrinsic value of the gold. Sometimes they can be purchased near their melt value.

Vintage Gold Bullion Coins

There are other gold bullion coins, such as those from Mexico and Europe that are also comparable to being junk gold. Gold bullion coins were in common circulation throughout most of the world up until the early to mid 20th century.

Gold coins were in common circulation during the 1800s and early 1900s. In the United Kingdom, the gold sovereign was the standard. Many of the colonies and protected territories that were part of the United Kingdom also used the gold sovereign as the standard.

Gold Sovereign coins were minted in Australia, South Africa and other parts of the world.

Each British Sovereign Gold coin contains .2354 troy ounces of gold. There are also half sovereigns and quarter sovereigns coins. Some gold Sovereigns carry a premium due to their rarity.

Other parts of Europe, countries including France, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium formed the Latin Monetary Union.

The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) developed a standard that was based on the French Gold Franc. Many countries that were trading partners with LMU countries developed coins that followed the Gold Franc standard.

The most common coin from the LMU was the Gold 20 Francs. Each 20 Francs gold coin contains .1867 troy ounces of gold. Millions of gold 20 francs coins were produced worldwide by various countries to be used for international trade.

In Mexico, gold Peso coins were the standard. Starting in the early 1900’s millions of gold peso coins were minted. Gold peso coins can be bought today for close to melt value. Mexican Gold Pesos coins range in denominations from 2 pesos up to 50 pesos.

Millions of these gold coins were produced worldwide for circulation and trade by their respective countries.

Today, these coins are bought and sold close to their melt value as an investment. They provide a way for investors to buy and hold fractional gold in an easily recognizable form. It is easy to store fractional gold coins in much the same ways that junk silver is stored.

How to Store Junk Gold

Buying fractional, or junk gold, provides a way to store wealth in very small amount of space.

Taking a closer look at the Gold 20 Francs coins. It doesn’t matter which country minted the coin, each follows the same specifications and guidelines. They all are the same dimensions and are minted from the same alloy that contain .900 gold fineness.

Each 20 Francs Gold coin has the same specifications regardless of where it was minted.

With a diameter of 21mm each of the 20 Francs coin is comparable in size of a Jefferson Nickel from the United States. However, the coins are slightly thinner. A standard bank roll of 40 Jefferson nickel coins has a face value of $2 USD and is a little over 3 inches in length.

By comparison, you could fit 60 gold 20 Francs coins in the same amount of space. The price of gold trading in early 2020 just under $1,600 per troy ounce. At that price the value of sixty 20 Francs gold coins would be roughly $17,700 USD.

Fractional junk gold coins are an excellent store of wealth. A roll of junk gold coin can easily be stored or hidden virtually anywhere.