← Back to articles · Hobby & visiting shops ·
Colorized, plated, and privy-mark coins: pretty is not a bid
Paint, gold wash, and special marks can be fun. Most of them sell once, to the first buyer. The shop bid is usually the underlying coin.
Someone paid extra for a painted flag on a Silver Eagle. The shop is looking at an Eagle that has been painted.
Those are different products.
What we usually do
Bid the underlying bullion, maybe a little less if the color or plating makes it harder to resell as a normal eagle. We are not going to recapture the TV-offer premium. That premium belonged to the original marketing.
Same family as gold IRA extras and tiny novelty gold.
Privy marks
Some privy issues have a real collector following. Most do not have enough of one to change a melt conversation. If it is a known collected privy, we will say so. If it is not, enjoy the design.
Do not strip the paint at home
You will make it worse. Bring it as it is.
Part of the coin shop counter wiki · visitors & collectors · NumisQ Learn
If it never had a denomination, start at medal vs coin.
Older US fair medals that size are usually so-called dollars, not modern colorized novelties.
Extra pad history for colorized and privy novelties
Someone paid extra for a painted flag on a Silver Eagle. The shop is looking at an Eagle that has been painted. Those are different products. TV offers, shopping-channel gold, tiny “commemorative” pieces with no denomination — same family. The premium belonged to the original marketing. We are not going to recapture it.
Some privy issues have a real collector following. Most do not have enough of one to change a melt conversation. If it is a known collected privy, we will say so. If it is not, enjoy the design. If it never had a denomination, start at medal vs coin. Older US fair medals that size are usually so-called dollars, not modern colorized novelties.
What the shop usually does
Bid the underlying bullion, maybe a little less if the color or plating makes it harder to resell as a normal Eagle. Do not strip the paint at home. You will make it worse. Bring it as it is. Don’t clean applies to solvents and razors too.
Government vs generic. Proof vs bullion. US Mint vs shop if the box is official. A plated generic round is still a generic round after you scratch it, except now it looks worse. Junk silver is a different pile: 90% through 1964, not a painted story.
People also ask
Did the paint ruin the Eagle? For bullion, usually it is still an ounce, a little harder to sell.
Are privy Eagles always extra money? No. A few are collected. Most are not.
Should I peel the color off? No.
Is a gold-plated silver coin “gold”? No. It is silver with a costume.