Coins, gold, and money
Coins, gold, and money
The library of coins, paper money, gold, silver, and the shop counter — from the first coins to what came in yesterday.
This is the library of coins, paper money, gold, silver, and the shop counter. From the first stamped lumps of metal to the Eagle that was struck this year. Some pages are written dry on purpose. Some sound like a person who writes the check. None of them are a price list, and none of them are legal advice.
If you have metal in a bag, start with the four links below. If you want the whole subject, use the lists.
What the words mean
- What money is
- What a dollar is
- What legal tender means
- What face value means
- What a bid and an ask are
- What fineness means (.999, .925, .900)
- What a troy ounce is
- What seigniorage is
- What a hallmark is
- What inflation does to pocket change
How money and coins started
- Where coins began (Lydia)
- What a mint is and how coins are made
- What a planchet is
- Why coins have ridges
- What a banknote is
- What the Federal Reserve is
- COMEX, LBMA, and the shop wall
- Money before the US Mint
- Early US federal coinage
- How the US left the gold standard
The coins and bars people actually bring in
- What a Gold Eagle is made of
- What a double eagle is
- What a Krugerrand is
- What a sovereign is
- What a Maple Leaf is
- What a China Panda is
- What a Libertad is
- What a kilo bar is
- What Good Delivery means
- What “.999 fine” guarantees
- What a Mint authorized purchaser is
- 2026 Eagles are out
The visit
- First visit: what to expect
- What to bring (and what to leave home)
- Sort it before you arrive
- Walking away from a bid
- Second opinion, same week
- Call ahead on a large sale
- What to leave with after you sell
- Bank box day
- How to tell if a shop is real
- Why the offer felt low
- How to read shop reviews
Who you are standing in front of
- Pawn shop vs coin shop
- Traveling “we buy gold” tables
- Mail-in vs walking in
- Facebook Marketplace gold
- “Highest prices in town” signs
- US Mint vs a local shop
- Costco gold, then a shop
- Buying back what you just sold
- Why shops limit cards on bullion
- Cash, check, or wire
Money, paper, and the awkward questions
- ID, cash, Form 8300
- Appraisal vs cash bid
- Insurance paper vs a check
- Receipts and cost basis
- Who is allowed to sell
- Stolen metal and holds
- Inherited metal
How the number is built
- Why buy and sell prices differ
- Premiums and spreads
- Pricing at a shop
- Spot price for normal people
- Weekend and after-hours spot
- When spreads blow out
- Should you sell when TV numbers are huge
- Greysheet for regular people
- Red Book is not a buy list
- Why apps and Google “worth” searches lie
Gold and jewelry
- Weigh and test in front of you
- 10k / 14k / 18k / 22k
- Filled vs plated vs solid
- Troy ounces, grams, pennyweight
- XRF, acid, Sigma
- Tungsten-filled bars
- How to avoid counterfeit gold and silver
- Diamonds at a coin shop
- Dental gold
- Tiny gold and use-gold novelties
- Pre-33 gold vs modern Eagles
- White gold vs platinum
- Broken chains and class rings
Silver
- Junk vs Eagles vs bars
- 90% vs 40% vs war nickels
- Sterling vs silver plate
- “Constitutional silver” myths
- Milk spots
- Monster boxes and tubes
- Government coins vs generic rounds
- European and Mexican silver fineness
- Silver certificates are still a dollar
Coins, holders, and hype
- Don’t clean the coins
- When to slab
- PCGS vs NGC
- Fake slabs
- Details / cleaned / scratched
- Error-coin hype
- World coins at a US shop
- Old is not rare
- Proof vs uncirculated vs bullion
- Colorized and privy novelties
- A jar of pennies
- Where is the mint mark?
- Detector finds
- Kids and coffee cans
Owning it, not just selling it
- What physical ownership covers
- Collectible vs bullion
- How to store metal
- Gold IRA commercials
- Panic buying after headlines
- Knowing what you have
Dealer software and storefronts live in the SpotPro and ExtraCoins libraries. This page is the public library of the trade.