Are Silver Bullion Coins Just Bullion or a Collectible?

There has been many arguments made by friends, forums, and Mints on this topic. Just like every mystery in life the answer is yes and no. Yay! No definite answer. Everyone loves mysterious objects. I was saving these coins up to display in a different post but my 2013 coins came today so this is more like jam all the remaining coins in at the same time. At the rate I'm going on making posts this probably is just the best way.

Let's be nerdy about this and post the definition of bullion. From dictionary.com

"1. gold or silver considered in mass rather than in value."

There are a few coins that come to mind when you think that. American Eagles. You've seen them here and they look the same every year, As I'm typing this, it seems most of the coins that don't have anything different than the year stamped on it would be bullion only. Don't get me wrong. These coins do appreciate based on the year but for the most part they track back to spot price normally.

Next we got Austrian Philharmonics. Same stuff every year. This is bullion no doubt that follows spot. I do like the detail on these coins. I haven't gotten any but have heard white spots do appear on these coins but who cares its just bullion right? (I do.) By the way, I hate the fact that the denominations of these coins are so low. I get the fact that the price can drop but seriously there is no way it'll ever be 1.5 euros. I bet JP Morgan would like that price. 

On to our friends up north, the Canadian Maple Leaf is next. I like these coins a lot. The leaf has some very nice detail. I do not like however white spots. On an earlier post, I talked about how the Canadian Mint does not feel that this is an issue as this is just bullion. Why make bullion with animals in a 6 coin series? Why don't you fix the problem and admit the failure. No one takes ownership anymore for mistakes. 

The Moose was the 4th coin in the series. I like it a lot more vs the cougar. In this case I would have to say the Maple Leaf coin is bullion only but the Canadian Moose is actually a collectible as the Moose will increase in price due to numismatic value rather than track spot. Oh ya the Queen is on the coin. Use your imagination of what she looks like on a coin.

Next let's go to the Aussies and check out Kookaburras again. This series changes every year. Due to this, these are collectible. Perth Mint has realized this and reminted past coins that did not sell out of their max limit. I recently picked up a 1992. The only noticeable difference between original minted and remade is the holder. The old one had a rectangle holder and the newly minted version is in a circle holder. People were complaining about this and rightfully so however this gives me a chance to get some "old" coins.

So as we can see bullion is not just bullion. It can be worth it to pick some of the ever changing designs for numismatic value. Other coins worth picking up are Britannias and Chinese Pandas. I'll highlight them in a future post.