Question about $20 Gold Swiss Francs

Neptune

Can anyone tell me if there is a place on the 'net that can tell me how to grade $20 Swiss Francs? or maybe someone can tell me what to look for for AU vs. BU? ie. worn spots would be 'where'?

thanks!
Pam

coinrookie

The cheek is a good place to start.


Steve

MacCrimmon

Pam, an AU 20 Fr. will not show much in the way of "worn" spots. However, you should look for three things as telltale signs;

1. An abundance of fine hairlines over the entire surface of the coin.
2. The "worn" areas or lustre breaks can either be a darker yellow on the high points or just have a lot of fine crosshatched lines covering those areas.
3. Where are the high spots? I usually only guage the obverse first. Look carefully at the lustre on Vreneli's cheek. Does it look a little dull compared to the fields around 'HELVETIA'? If it does, it's probably wear. Next, compare the lustre of the piece on those big ol' braids. Is it even and mostly unbroken, or do you see the fine crosshatching in the central parts of each braid?

The reverses of these coins are much like the 'shield' reverses of British coins in that they tend to look "better" that the obverse side of the coin.

My advice, for the cost differential between an avg. bag unc/AU and a certified Swiss 20F, buy the 20F in a slab (maybe $20 more) and you'll have something to use as a benchmark for future comparisons.

Neptune

THANKS Mac! That was VERY helpful! The reason I am asking is that a friend of mine is needing my help (what good I am, being inexperienced in darkside gold) to help him sell some of his coins, and I didn't know anything about these coins.

I am not sure if I am going to buy any of them from him - or not, but helping someone with this via email - sight unseen - is most difficult.
I will, of course, look at them before buying or selling. I am not sure how many he has, but I guess I will need to individually grade them.
I know I can't buy them all - if anyone may be interested ..... after I determine what grade they are, of course! He doesn't have a digital either, so I will be doing that too.

Thanks again for your great help!

Pam