Color of gold coins

Longacre

Does anyone know where I can find a side by side comparison showing the different colors of gold coins? For example, I would like to see what is described as light green gold, medium green gold, dark green gold, light yellow, coppery color, orange gold, etc. I can visualize these, but it would be nice to see actual pictures. Thanks.

topstuf

Longacre, you can see coppery gold at any coinshop that has a Krugerrand. MOST of em are coppery gold.
Light yellow gold will be on the Maple Leaf.

Green? Mostly on Classic Head 2.5 and 5 dollar gold coins. Not many coinshops stock these as for ...some.. reason, they have never been popular. A lot of them are yellow gold but many are the greens also.

You almost can't do it with pictures. My icon coin is a REDDISH gold and is even quite toned in a red hue.
But it doesn't look like the picture.

Light and dark greens will show at a coin show. Just about the only place to do a side-by-side.

BillJones

Here are two 1854 Three Dollar Gold Pieces. The brighter one on the left could be called "bright yellow gold." It is an NGC MS-64. The duller one on the right has some coppery toning. In this case the coppery toning has probably lowered the grade since this one is a PCGS MS-63. The coins are similar with respect to marks and the like.




Not all coppery toning lowers the value or grade. Here's an 1849 Gold dollar which has coppery toning that makes the coin look "richer" in my opinion. This coin is a PCGS MS-63, and it's very pretty for the grade. If you look at it with a 10X it is rubbed very slightly, but the eye appeal is outstanding.

RYK

The natural color of gold will vary considerably with the amount of copper alloy and the amount of silver contamination in addition to any impurity of parting acids, etc. If you want to learn more about coining gold in the first half of the 19th century, "The Neighborhood Mint: Dahlonega in the Age of Jackson" is an excellent read. (Not surprisingly, I have an extra copy of this book that I would gladly lend out to anyone interested.)

The best way to have the experience of looking at the variety of colors of gold coins is to go to a big auction, like a Heritage signature auction, and sift through the auction lots. The problem with this is that many of the coins will have been dipped and cleaned and beginning and intermediate collectors (like myself) often have difficulty determining what is original and what is not.

The other best thing to do is to sit with "Dahlonega" at the Gold Rush Gallery table at a show and let him show you the range of colors, what's cleaned, dipped, and original, and if you are not careful, you might take a liking to one of Al's wide range of southern gold offerings.

BillJones

To be honest, I have never really understood the "green gold" thing. Here's an 1943-D quarter eagle that has a greenish look to it a certain angles. It was lightly cleaned a one point, but it still made it into a PCGS AU-58 holder. This piece is better and in many cases more conservatively graded that a lot of the Dahlonega gold that you will see at the shows.

BillJones

Here's an 1836 Classic Head Quarter Eagle. This coin has never been cleaned. It's currently in a PCGS MS-62 holder, but it's really an AU-58. Ifit looks greenish to you, perhaps here is an example.

Longacre

Thanks to everyone who responded! If you have more pictures, please continue. I am learning a lot.

relayer

Here is a different category

saintguru

I do not want to sound like I'm tooting my own horn (I wish I could!! ) but if you look at my Registry set you will see just about every tone gold coins can have...from bright orange, greenish, pale/salmon, brilliant yellow....they are pretty accurate color-wise...JB

KentuckyJ

JB, you have terrific photos there... and wonderful coins What a nice collection!

KJ

saintguru

Thanks KJ!

michael

the rarest color for a gold coin and i do not have a photo of it is when later 19 century gold coins and also saints in the 20 century have an improper alloy mixture and these coins

you usually see like a couple a year if you got to many shows and look at many coins

it is like a copper orangey color with heavy lilac highlights due again from an improper alloy mixture

i have seen more later dated saints with this toning then any other series

followed by the late 1870's for three dollar and one dollar gold ALL IN pcgs holders

beautiful coins undervalued and with a special look and really scarce too

and not seen or known of because of their scarcity and so misunderstood and feared by most collectors as usually most fear wat they do not understand


michael

poorguy

I was digging through Pinnacle's image archive and came across a gamut of colors regarding gold coins. I would range them from very light sandalwood golden color to a very deep blazing orange. In between those colors are medium-orange, golden-gold , greenish gold, and a reddish auburn gold.

I'll let you decide what adjectives you would use to define these but they pretty much cover what I've seen in the archive.


Does anyone know where I can find a side by side comparison showing the different colors of gold coins?




P.S. These coins were in the image archive and not currently owned by Pinnacle.