Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 10/13/2009

Question
i have a u.s gold dollar that has no stamp on the top or bottom and nothing on the edge. is it worth anything or is it fake.

Answer
Hi Brian,
If the item is completely blank, you likely have an unstamped or pre-struck planchet. Occasionally you might come across such items for small denominations such as cents, nickels and dimes. This is the first gold piece like this I've heard of.
You may want to weigh the item, or have a jeweler perform a gold purity test to make sure it is indeed gold.
As far as collectible value... for a raw, un-certified item you can expect just gold bullion value (over $1,000 per ounce on the current market). If you sent the piece in to one of the three recognized grading companies (NGC, PCGS, ANACS), and it is slabbed as a genuine planchet the value will be significantly higher... as much as double the gold bullion value.
If it's not gold, then you have what's called a metal "slug", which are sometimes used in coin-operated machines, but typically are not gold colored.
Thanks for the question! =)