You are here:

Coin and Paper Money Collecting/Please help me to identify this coins

Advertisement

Expert: - 1/8/2010


Question

Coins
Dear Mr.Dmitry Livshits
I have a few coins, it belongs to my mother and she got from her great grand mother, could you help me find out whether this coins is fake or not and the average price if I want to sell it. thanks for your information

Answer
Hi Clain,
These certainly appear to be genuine coins. From the picture I cannot tell if the bracelet of Queen Victoria coins are full or half sovereigns. Because they have been polished and used in jewelry, the value would be in the gold weight rather than collector value. Half sovereigns will weigh just under 4 grams and sell for around $150 each, while full sovereigns will be just under 8 grams and sell for about $300 each. The gold links that connect these coins would also be worth $15 to $20 per gram depending on the gold purity.
The US coin also appears to have been polished, but may still have collector value. I cannot make out the exact date, and whether or not the back has a mint mark and if it is a 10 or 20 dollar piece. A common 10 dollar piece sold for bare gold value would bring $500 to $600 and  a 20 dollar piece would bring $1,000 to $1,200.
If you wish to post a follow-up question and tell me the exact date of this piece, along with the denomination on the back and if there is or is not a letter S on the back, I can give you a better estimate on it.
Thanks for the question! =)

Dmitry Livshits

Expertise

My specialty is world coins from the 18th to 20th centuries, primarily non-US foreign coins and related areas such as errors and exonumia (tokens, medals, etc.). I can answer questions relating to identification, grading, selling, preservation and evaluation of such items. In addition to catalog value, I can give you the practical market value and trends for specific types of coins. I will also take questions regarding counterfeits (both modern and antique) and on how to identify them. I am NOT knowledgeable in paper money/banknotes, ancient or "shipwreck" coins. Thank you.

Experience

Collector of world coins since early childhood. Access to a variety of auction records and reference material. You can also find me on Facebook.

Education/Credentials
A.S. in Psychology (2006), B.A. in Forensic Psychology (2008), M.A. in Forensic Psychology (2011).

©2012 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.