Old coins

Old coins hold a fascination for many of us. As something used by the common man for thousands of years, coins offer a chance to peer back into history, with an item that has exchanged many hands. An old coin could have been handled by a King or Queen, or was used to pay for the most basic of goods in the historic towns of Britain.

As the UK’s No. 1 Bullion dealer, BullionByPost has an expansive range of investment gold and silver coins, including a growing number of rare, numismatic and semi-numismatic coins. These highly collectable old coins are extremely valuable for both the metal content and their historical worth.

Below you can see product examples of antique coins suitable for collecting, but for a wider catalogue of rare coins please click one of the two links:

View Numismatic Gold Coins | View Numismatic Silver Coins

A Victoria Gothic Silver Crown, a George III Gold Guinea, and a George V Proof Silver Crown

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Antique Coins

Old antique coins or ancient coins were traditionally manufactured by the hammering process. Hammered coins have been used since the first millennium BC, and remained in use until around the 15th century. Hammered coins can be incredibly valuable thanks to their rarity. Due to gold’s malleability, imperfections in the production process, and damage by clipping (deliberately shaving the edge of the coin), antique gold coins are scarce. Old coins were often damaged, and coins were occasionally recalled by The Royal Mint, melted down, and reissued as newer coins.

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Milled coins were the replacement to hammered coins, and still cover some exciting, and very valuable, old coins. British milled coins feature some of the most famous British Monarchs such as Queen Anne and Queen Victoria, with coins from this time fetching high prices when sold, while providing collectors with the opportunity to own incredible pieces of British history.

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As well as old English coins, we also stock antique world coins from countries across the globe. Whether you are an international customer, looking for a gift for someone in another country, or building a world coin collection, BullionByPost could have the ideal coin for you.

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Old Silver Coins

Although gold commands the higher price, silver coins were the most common throughout the past centuries. Most antique coins are made of silver and smaller denominations such as the Shilling were exclusively produced in this manner. Crowns, Pennies, Florins and Groats are all very rare old silver British coins that can all bring in prices far higher than the silver value.

Please note: The silver Crown and the gold Sovereign are similar in both size and design, and can sometimes the Crown can be confused for a silver Sovereign.

An 1892 Gold Sovereign flanked by a 1902 Silver Crown and an 1891 Silver Crown.

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Related Pages:

Collectable Coins | British Monarch Coins | British Coin Specifications | British Coin Mints