Right from the days of yore, gold and silver coins have been of great importance because of the two metals’ high intrinsic value and also because of the coins’ fungibility. While the ancient Egyptians gave gold coins only as gifts, Greek kingdoms of the Iron Age minted such coins primarily for circulation. Silver coins were popularly used as money for circulation because of their fungibility, liquidity, and durability. In the recent times, gold and silver bullion coins, such as the gold eagle and silver eagle coins are being used by investors to hedge against risks arising from price changes and also for capital appreciation.
The American gold eagle and silver eagle are the United States’ official bullion coins. Buying these coins is an easy way to diversify investment portfolios. Their widespread acceptability by collectors and investors from all over the globe and guarantee of their metal content and purity by the United States government itself, makes them safe investing options. Gold and silver eagle coins are also of immense value to the numismatists. The rarer the coin, the greater will be its value. These have remained premium collector items and have always found a large number of interested buyers; to the extent that many rare coins have been auctioned to the tune of millions of dollars. They have also been sold as uncirculated proof coins to coin collectors.
Counterfeit gold and silver eagle coins are an inseparable and unfortunate aspect of coin collecting. Counterfeit gold eagle coins are rarer than silver eagle coins because of difficulty involved in making fake ones owing to the fact that gold is one of the heaviest metals. However, there are a number of ways to establish whether a coin is fake or not. Since gold is a soft metal, the simple bite test is an easy way to establish its originality. In case of silver eagle coin, one can keep in mind certain points like the weight of the coin (if underweight, then it is fake), relying on your gut feeling about the looks of the coin (if the looks of a coin don’t seem right, don’t go for it) , the surface of the silver coin (in case the coin is missing the typical silver sheen, do not consider it), and checking it under magnification can go a long way in avoiding buying a fake eagle coin.
Numismatists treasure them and the investors value them simply because they know that an investment in silver and gold eagle coins would assure them safety of their investments and security even if the world’s financial systems collapse.