What's your favorite coinage metal?

Donovan

And why?

satootoko

No votes for brass or aluminum-bronze allowed?

shirohniichan

Silver because:

1) it is affordable
2) it once widely circulated but does not any more
3) the Chinese loved it
4) it's a big part of US mining history (e.g. Comstock Lode)
5) my favorite coins were minted in it

Donovan

What are your favorite coins?

shirohniichan

US trade dollars and double dimes, US and Canadian silver dollars, world crowns (esp. George V crowns), and lots, lots more.

Donovan

Cool. I voted silver too.

MacCrimmon

I voted copper/bronze although they are two different beasts......


Here's why?



Methinks copper provides a prettier natural canvas....

sumnom

I can't get enough of those chocolate brown coppers.

Bear

Sumnon, you sound like you gonna eat em instead of collect em.

Lloyd

it's easy to reengrave and plug gold and easy to dip and clean silver.

I like copper and one of the reasons is that it's hard for dealers to screw around with, without being found out.

I also think that the idea of a low denomination coin (eg farthing) coming up with orginal lustre, say from 1730, is fantastic.

L

Jody526

I didn't see cupro-nickel in the poll, so I voted for nickel.
My favorite coins are nickels.

sumnom

Sometimes coppers look so good I want to eat them, mmmmm.

trozau

Gold followed by platinum because both are inert and give coins a nice hefty weight.

laurentyvan

In the past I've voted copper with silver as a close second-this time I've reversed them. There are simply too many interesting world coins in silver by comparison to copper. Certain series in copper I would favor over silver though-nice coin Mac!

Conder101

Copper. It is soft enough to take a really good impression, has nice color, and as it mellows out copper has a wonderful warm look to it that just isn't found on any other metal.

mrearlygold

Gold .

Because!

Rgrds
TP

oldshep

Silver for me...also most copper coins are actually alloyed because of the softness of pure copper.
Bronze can be thought of as copper many times:

Bronze
Alloy
An alloy of copper and tin, usually 80% to 95% copper. Most modern 'copper' coins are actually bronze, as pure copper is too soft and rapidly shows extensive wear. While bronze is usually copper coloured, a high tin content will give a silver colour, as in speculum.

Bell Metal and Bath Metal are other types of bronze.

Shep

XpipedreamR

Gold is great, of course, and has such a feeling of "substance" to it when you hold it in your hand.


I think silver has a beautiful look, and produces such a variety of beautifully toned coins. I don't see this for other metals.



I voted for silver, by the way.

JRocco

I voted copper because aside from silver (a close second) the look of an untouched old copper is the essence of beauty.

spoon

I like all the cheapo metals. Copper/bronze are cool, especially in big, worn penny-size chunks Brass and other alloys Steel is pretty cool too but I don't like pure iron. Zinc is just annoying.

Newmismatist

Gold because when its pristine, you understand why its the coin of kings

cladking

This from the liteside thread:



Silver makes a great coinage material but most have been hoarded for centuries because
they are percieved to have intrinsic value. This results in more being saved in higher grade
than would otherwise be the case and in the coins never being called in or redeemed be-
cause people are rarely interested in turning in good silver for the newer debased currency.

While silver is obviously a good coinage metal simply because of this percieved value and
because it strikes and wears well, it is the coinage metal of choice for most collectors also.
This causes it to have a significant demand which prices me out of many of these coins.

Copper/nickel has only one real world advantage on silver and that is that it wears far better.
While its hardness is not so very much higher than most silver alloys, its lower weight results
in much less wear since there is less momentum in collisions and less force usually when metal
is sloughed off of the coin. Cu/ni doesn't take a strike well so well made examples are usually
much more difficult to find. One of its greatest advantages from a collectors standpoint is that
these are often ignored by collectors. This results in the coins not being saved and then the
circulated issues being destroyed when they lose their legal tender status. All these factors tend
to make them ideal for collectors' purposes. Cu/ni is less reactive than silver so there is also a lit-
tle less problem with tarnishing or unattractive toning.

Gold coins are interesting but most haven't seen very extensive circulation and high grade exam-
ples tend to be even more likely due to even more extensive hoarding than silver.

Aluminum is an attractive coinage metal in some applications but tends not to wear well. Zinc, steel
and iron corrode too readily and usually looks bad even while it's still circulating. All these last metals
are good from a hoarders standpoint but are not attractive metal in which to make coins generally.

Pure nickel is OK since it has the advantage of intrinsic value plus wearability but it's magnetic. This
should generally be avoided in coinage because of unintended consequences.

MacCrimmon

<< <i>. . . the look of an untouched old copper is the essence of beauty. - JRocco >>



Perfect description!

docday2003

Gold-because it won't corrode

cosmicdebris

docday2003

<< <i>
>>



My point exactly!

Donovan

Good answers in this thread. I'll give you my opinion about why I picked silver after the poll has run for awhile. I'm always interested in what makes collectors "tick", thanks for posting.

MacCrimmon

<< <i>.... No votes for brass .... allowed? >>

The swirling lustre on a pristine brass piece is also a wonder to behold.

Here's one I used to own.

BigAlan

Look here for some more choices.

Metals used in coinage

canadiancoinguy

Silver- Reasonable costwise, and usually used for higher-denomination workhorse coin(s) used in the marketplace. (ie. US 1800's quarter).

wybrit

Cu/ni is less reactive than silver so there is also a little less problem with tarnishing or unattractive toning.

Wow, I disagree with this, at least from the standpoint of British coinage. The Cu-Ni coinage hazes terribly in the home country and in humid climates. The haze usually is a not at all attractive brownish hue. Check out decimal proof sets 1971-1983 and note that few do not get that ugly haze on the Cu-Ni pieces. I do agree that much Cu-Ni material has been ignored and will at some point be sought after - this is already the case in pre-1961 British.

What's your favorite coinage metal?

Copper/Bronze. I like the color, both natural and toned. I'm quite partial to silver as well, though.

goldrush00013

Gold

Because of it's rarity and my favorites were minted in it.
Which are any of the gold indian coins

elverno

Silver for coins. I love the heft and weight of crown sized coins; old US dollars, French 5 francs, etc.

Copper/Bronze for medals, for many of the same reasons that Lloyd mentioned in his earlier post.

But the truth is I love the history behind a coin or medal far more than the metal of the example I happen to have. Because of that I'm less concerned about perfect examples than others. Don't get me wrong, I upgrade when the opportunity presents itself. But perfection in a coin means that it never fulfilled its function; that's not as strictly true with medals, particularly the early ones I collect. Nice thread Donovan.