Quality index of silver is hallmark. The higher the hallmark the higher and better the silver quality and the more costly the coin made of this silver. The higher hallmarks are 945, 925, 903, 900, 810, 720, and 640. The coins with hallmarks under 500 are billons. They made of alloy consisting of silver and a base metal.

The reasons for using an alloy in coinage are: first - the hardness of alloy (remind that the silver is soft metal), second - the alloy make the coinage cheaper. It is possible …

Does the silver coin look right?
Any coin authenticator (highly experienced) will tell you that they often can’t tell you why a given specimen is fake. All they can say is that it doesn’t “look right.” Learn what the genuine silver coin looks like, and when you get that little red flag waving in your head that something looks wrong, trust your senses and don’t buy the coin!
How much does the silver coin weigh?
Most fake silver coins are made from alloys that weigh less than genuine silver. If the weight is …

The term “dollar” cropped up from German “taler“, an old coin that has been circumstanced there. At colonial times it was transformed into “daler” until the Coinage Act of 1792 approved the “dollar” as generally adopted coinage unit.

The most important role in dollar formation took Maria Theresia Taler 1780. The bust of the Austrian Empress Maria Theresia is showed on the taler since 1741. The sideview of this woman with a widow’s veil on perform an ascetic features which could have concealed a wise person of decision. After her …

Do You happen to know how much in American dollars was paid for a small silver coin collection of the Roman Empire at Sotheby’s?
More than four thousand years ago people did not have the slightest idea about money. Their exchange of handicraft things for cattle, grain, fells was known as a barter. Later precious metals, mostly gold and silver, were accepted as the way of payment. They were expensive and therefore wholesales demanded just a small quantity of precious metals. It gave way to appearance of weight money - bullions …

The rarest Russian coin is Constantine silver ruble. Russia has never had Emperor Constantine but it has his coin. The fact that this coin exists prove the dynastic crisis in Russia after death of Alexander 1st. He had no son and the throne was inherited by his brother. As he had three of them the elder was crown prince. The Constantine was.

As soon as Alexander 1st joined to majority the minister of finance Kankrin ordered to mint the coin with the portrait of new Emperor expecting Constantine would be. After …