# Gold Coin Mark Up **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520 "2010-04-01T01:51:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/1 "2010-04-01T01:51:25Z")
If the price of gold is $1000 an ounce, what would a one ounce American Eagle typically cost at your neighborhood coin shop? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/2 "2010-04-01T02:09:03Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > If the price of gold is $1000 an ounce, what would a one ounce American Eagle typically cost at your neighborhood coin shop? We sell them for the price of gold plus $85. We’re a pretty big outfit, a smaller place might charge a bit more. Some of the behemoths might charge as little as the gold price plus $75. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/3 "2010-04-01T02:10:04Z")
I’m not sure what gold is going for now - I just paid 1212.58 dollars for a gold coin. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/4 "2010-04-01T02:11:38Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’m not sure what gold is going for now - I just paid 1212.58 dollars for a gold coin. Gold was about $1114. US/oz today. What gold coin did you buy? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/5 "2010-04-01T02:14:22Z")
Dang. If I sold my Canadian coin I could triple my money! But then I’d only have $1,200 (eleven, anyway), and I wouldn’t have the coin. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/6 "2010-04-01T02:25:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Dang. If I sold my Canadian coin I could triple my money! > > But then I’d only have $1,200 (eleven, anyway), and I wouldn’t have the coin. We buy Canadian Maple Leafs at spot. Today, $1114 U.S. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/7 "2010-04-01T04:10:21Z")
I’ve got a Canadian Olympic gold coin from the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. I wonder how much that is worth. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/8 "2010-04-01T05:04:42Z")
Never mind, you already answered my question. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/9 "2010-04-01T11:20:23Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’ve got a Canadian Olympic gold coin from the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games. I wonder how much that is worth. They came in two versions–the uncirculated kind which is 0.25 oz. of gold. It was packaged in a see-through cardboard thing. The proof version originally came in a wooden box. It has a mirror-like surface. I think it contained 0.50 oz. of gold. You could probably get about 90% or more of the gold value. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/10 "2010-04-01T11:39:32Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > You could probably get about 90% or more of the gold value. Of course the rarity of the medal should increase the price, perhaps making it worth more than if it was melted down, no? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/11 "2010-04-01T11:39:55Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Gold was about $1114. US/oz today. > > What gold coin did you buy? Each year I buy a once ounce gold coin, usually an American Eagle. (One year I think it was a Chinese Panda.) I also buy 25 Silver Eagles each year. I know that the days of a coin going rare and making a man wealthy are over - but I like keeping them. (The 1996 silver eagles did go way up in price though, and I’m not sure why.) I must have close to 1000 ounces of silver and 8 or 10 ounces of gold. I often give a silver eagle as a present to commemorate an important event - I’ll give one as a wedding present along with a check for instance. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/12 "2010-04-01T15:39:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Of course the rarity of the medal should increase the price, perhaps making it worth more than if it was melted down, no? It’s not an Olympic medal – it’s a gold coin, sold to anyone who wanted one, as part of a way to pay for the cost of the games. I think I paid $100 for it in 1976. It’s in my safe deposit box, so offhand I don’t know which version it is. ---
**Author:** ![Lips\_Obsession](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbce88/32.png) [@Lips\_Obsession](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lips_Obsession)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/13 "2010-04-01T16:31:01Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > They came in two versions–the uncirculated kind which is 0.25 oz. of gold. It was packaged in a see-through cardboard thing. The proof version originally came in a wooden box. It has a mirror-like surface. I think it contained 0.50 oz. of gold. > > You could probably get about 90% or more of the gold value. Why would it be worth less than it’s melt value??? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/14 "2010-04-01T16:37:32Z")
> [@Lips\_Obsession](#): > > Why would it be worth less than it’s melt value??? Because smelters don’t work for free and even if a shop is keeping it “as is” they need a little room in case the price drops. The folks I work for buy 10% under and usually sell 5% over but if you track our actual inventory and profit over the year it works out to about 4% profit by the time its all said and done. It’s one of the major reasons we do bullion but we prefer numismatic pieces. (more and more reliable profit) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-coin-mark-up/534520/15 "2010-04-01T16:53:47Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > It’s not an Olympic medal – it’s a gold coin Sorry, bad joke, the Canadians didn’t win any gold medals at that Olympics. Carry on.