What do you make of colorized Ag coins?

Discussion in 'Silver Coins' started by Gatito Bandito, Dec 11, 2014.

  1. Gatito Bandito

    Gatito Bandito Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2014
    Messages:
    2,357
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    US
    I don't typically care for them, as I prefer either "nude" or naturally toned.


    But along the way I've run into a few colorized where I think they work well & look pretty cool. Enough so that I've been thinking of picking up a couple.

    Never seen any in person -- only in photos & YouTube videos. How do they look in real life?


    And I'm not sure of the exact production process, but how will the color hold up over the years & decades? And what about toning, if any?


    Are they worth it? Glad you got them? Any favorites?
     
  2. spannermonkey

    spannermonkey Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2010
    Messages:
    15,801
    Likes Received:
    2,587
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    here there everywhere
    Mostly done after market
    Don't like them
    Hard to sell
    = pig with lipstick :eek:
    I'm sure somebody will come along with some good points :p
     
    SlyGuy likes this.
  3. thatguy

    thatguy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2011
    Messages:
    5,805
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Brisbane
    SIlver + anything = yuk
     
    Chris_ likes this.
  4. phrenzy

    phrenzy In Memoriam - July 2017 Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2014
    Messages:
    2,493
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    R.I.P
    It's completely dependant on the coin. I think the perth mint has done a good job where only a part of the coin is coloured and you have plenty of frosted and high polish silver to look at.

    That said I like the look of a good bit of honest silver. I wish someone would make a super low premium 1oz blank. I saw somewhere that Maloney's company makes a low premium plain silver coin (unicorns? ) but I'm not sure it's THAT cheap.
     
  5. silverreef

    silverreef Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2014
    Messages:
    1,243
    Likes Received:
    159
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    sydney
    i collect gilded silver. gold plated. very nice! never the colour version though
     
  6. CFP

    CFP New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2014
    Messages:
    810
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    EU
    I got one for the novelty, its nice.
     
  7. Holdfast

    Holdfast Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    1,124
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia

    I like the coloured Dragon coins and...I think some of them could be worth a few bucks in the future.

    Special inks are required for optimal quality. As only very small quantities of ink are transferred during the pad-printing process, the pigmentation must be highly concentrated. The Perth Mint mixes its ink with hardener, which cures to leave an exceptionally durable finish, resistant to fading, as well as solvent and chemical attack. - See more at: http://blog.perthmint.com.au/2011/06/24/how-does-the-perth-mint-colour-coins/#sthash.OiCN6oDe.dpuf
    http://blog.perthmint.com.au/2011/06/24/how-does-the-perth-mint-colour-coins/

    This video shows how they are made.

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUyFUumqLPc[/youtube]
     
  8. Holdfast

    Holdfast Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    1,124
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    And...when the bullion coins are initially designed, they are designed as coloured coins.

    The bullion coins (Standard unc) look a bit weird but that's only because they aren't coloured.

    Sometimes a designer will be lucky enough to design a coin that looks great as a bullion or coloured. (Example the Tiger or Dragon)

    A really good example is the 1oz series 2 Lunar Tiger; when the bullion coin was released, everyone disliked it but... when the coin was issued as coloured it looked very nice and it is now quite collectable.

    I agree with BB, I don't think there's a huge market in Australia atm so perhaps buying a handful for a collection is the way to go.

    Having said that, what is disliked one year maybe in fashion several years down the track.

    Coloured coins are generally aimed at the Asian market and as we know, there is huge Asian interest in Australia.

    I own a few coloured coins so DYODD.
     
  9. Caput Lupinum

    Caput Lupinum Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2012
    Messages:
    4,656
    Likes Received:
    72
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Location:
    NSW
    I don't wish to alienate the colour blind buyer so stick with regular....
     
  10. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Messages:
    6,009
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Everywhere...simultaneously
    There's nothing wrong with colored coins in general.

    Some look better (are better suited to color application) than others.

    Here's a small sampling of some that look fine to me:

    [​IMG]
    2008 Pitcairn Islands Lunar Year of the Rat .999 silver - 15,000 mintage produced by the New Zealand mint



    [​IMG]
    Tuvalu 2013 Lunar Year of the Snake Wealth and Wisdom .999 silver 2-coin set - 1,500 sets produced by the Perth Mint



    [​IMG]
    Tokelau 2014 Creatures of Myth and Legend Unicorn Coulored .999 silver proof - mintage 2,500 produced by the Perth Mint?




    [​IMG]
    Perth Mint Lunar Series One and Two 5 oz .999 silver coins



    As for guilded or gilt coins, here's an amazing set
    [​IMG]
    Rwanda 2013 3D Sculpted Year of the Snake .999 silver 3-coin set - mintage uncertain

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8-9J4o4vVg[/youtube]





    .
     
  11. Fat Freddy

    Fat Freddy New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2012
    Messages:
    600
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Zeta Reticuli
    Many stackers consider "colorized" and gilded coins to be (and refer to them as) "coins with crap on them". It's all a matter of personal taste---some think they're simply adorable, while others hate them. If you're going to buy into any, you'd probably do best to avoid aftermarket gilding/paint jobs. I doubt they'd resell as easily or quickly as original mint-gilded/painted coins. In addition to that, the cost of mint-gilded coins tends to be close to if not stratospheric. I think reselling popular proofs (Libertads, Pandas, Perth Lunars, etc) would be easier to do and more lucrative than trying to resell a lot of the paint jobs. All that being said, I recently bought a "colorized" 5oz Perth Lunar Series 1 dog. It was in pristine condition and for $120 USD, I couldn't pass it by. That's my first, last and only "keeper" painted coin.
     
  12. Holdfast

    Holdfast Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2009
    Messages:
    4,625
    Likes Received:
    1,124
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Australia
    1/2oz Red Dragon - Issued by AP.

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Gatito Bandito

    Gatito Bandito Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2014
    Messages:
    2,357
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    US
    True, but I hear the green tigers are fetching a nice premium these days.. ;)
     
  14. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Messages:
    6,009
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Everywhere...simultaneously
    Actually, colored Tigers are awesome...here the Perth Mint's 2010 silver kilo proof colored Tiger with golden topaz gemstone


    [​IMG]




    .
     
  15. Snoopy

    Snoopy Member

    Joined:
    Feb 1, 2015
    Messages:
    132
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    Canada
    Well, colored coins look ok, but I consider the color as contamination, such as Milk spots ect.

    Gold gilded silver coins are nicer in my opinion.
     
  16. SpacePete

    SpacePete Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2014
    Messages:
    12,433
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    48
    I think of the colour as a way to hide milk spots. Same with artificial antiquing.
     
  17. SpacePete

    SpacePete Well-Known Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Mar 1, 2014
    Messages:
    12,433
    Likes Received:
    40
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Here's a closeup of a 1/2 ounce coloured goat I used to have. The colourisation looks cheap and poorly aligned.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  18. Aureus

    Aureus Active Member Silver Stacker

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2011
    Messages:
    2,949
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Milky Way Galaxy
    I think the printing method is too dated, very poor quality when compared to every other aspect of the Perth mint.

    I also think the fact the coins can't have definition under the ink is an issue that needs to be addressed.
    Having said that, it probably costs a fortune to rectify these issues - if they can be rectified in the first place that is.

    So not a fan, mainly due to the print quality.
     
  19. mmissinglink

    mmissinglink Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2012
    Messages:
    6,009
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Everywhere...simultaneously


    While you may not like the application of color into a coin's design, what you are claiming would be no different than suggesting that any part of a coin's design is a form of contamination like milk spots, which is rather an absurd suggestion. A contaminate, by definition, must be something foreign (usually unclean) and therefore contamination is one object coming into contact with another (unclean) separate thing or substance which adulterates that aforementioned object.

    Design features such as devices, a portrait, a rim, the date, a legend, the denomination, any mint mark, gilt or guilding on a coin, any bi-metallic addition in a coin, dentils, whether a coin's edge is reeded or not, gems or minerals embedded into the design of a coin, or color added to a coin as part of the intended design are anything but contamination.





    .
     
  20. thatguy

    thatguy Active Member

    Joined:
    Jan 18, 2011
    Messages:
    5,805
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Location:
    Brisbane
    Paint on a coin is right up there with a greasy finger print
     

Share This Page