I just found in a drawer four silver “rounds”, 1 troy ounce each, from 1974, marked “World Trade Unit”. On one side is a balance scale, on the other side the two hemispheres of the globe.
As I understand it, these are generally worth only the price of the silver itself, which is currently US $13.48/oz.
What is the easiest way to sell these? Coin dealer? Bank? eBay?
Not a bank. Coin dealer or eBay. On eBay they go for $12.50 - $16.00.
Damn you, now I’m curious: Where do these things come from and why are they called ‘rounds’ instead of ‘coins’ or ‘tokens’?
They are called units…http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-1330.html They were actually made by any number of mints, and were sort of a funky concept … sort of trying to get investors to buy those instead of the cute little ingots as investment pieces. People have always liked buying bullion as a way to keep money around that wont devalue in a war zone =)
Though I always though that an official government ingot would be better as they are recognizable =)
We buy them from the public(currently) at .25 under the spot price of silver.
Silver this AM is $13.60/ounce US.
Expect to get between $12.00 and 13.50 from a coin dealer, depending on the competition in your area. Make a few calls.
Slightly off topic. Last week I saw an ad for a company selling old US gold coins supposedly found in a European bank vault. Seems bogus but you never know.
Any idea if this is true or just another scam?
The one coin dealer I have called so far kept asking me, “Only four?” He grudgingly offered me $8 each.
It could certainly be true, as long as the only thing they’re claiming is that these are old US gold coins that were stored in a European bank vault. Doesn’t that seem plausible to you? (Now, I would be skeptical of any claims that the coins were worth more than their bullion value.)
Well, any old real US Gold Coins (in decent shape) are worth at least a little more than their bullion value. But often they are priced at a very large mark up.
Sometimes a lot more, but they just might be more trouble than they’re worth: http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20090731_ap_usmintmustseekcourtoktokeeprare1933coins.html