How much do u pay?

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Now a days the silver rupees of British India has become very costly. Two years before I used to pay about 600 BDT while today I bought a 1920 rupee @ 2000 BDT. Is it the same scenario in India or we are paying higher here? Please share.

Islam

[Vivek]

Hello
It seems same case here. I had bought 4 coins @Rs400 3 years back...Currently they are sold btw Rs1500-2000.
This may be due to higher prices in silver... (Reason Given by dealer).
If coin is rare then price quoted is more than Rs2000.
Regards
Vivek

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Sad for us. My theme is silver coin and the price of silver is rocketing. More sad news is analysts forecast the silver price to become multiples of its recent pick soon. Assuming this as true I am trying to accumulate as many as possible. But the price is already very high.

Another reason of the hike of the price of the british rupee is that the jewllers melt them for gold ornament. They are good for sholdering gold ornaments (I heard). That will create more crisis to these coins in future.

[Prosit]

I am willing to buy any coin that I can afford if I want it.  There are less silver coins now that I can afford.
So mostly for me the price of Silver is a non issue.  There are so many other non silver coins I want that
the price of silver hasn't been a hinderence to me.  Eventually, it will have more of an impact.

Dale

[Figleaf]

Don't ever believe analysts. If anything, believe the opposite of what they say. The most common mistake analysts make (and they never learn) is extrapolation: find a trend and let it run into the future to infinity. You find that people live longer? Predict that they will live to 1000 years in the far-away future and to 120 in one generation. You find that China is doing better? Predict that it will rule the world in the long term and that it will continue to grow for decades. You find that silver and gold prices rise? Predict they will rise more.

In reality, silver and gold prices have done very badly in the past, compared to other investments. For long periods, gold could not even keep up with inflation, so it destroyed your capital. Silver has known speculative price rises and falls. Get into silver in the wrong moment and it wipes out a large part of your investment.

It is easy to find out why silver has gone up. Read the newspapers. Many (especially conservative) Americans believe they are on the verge of a period of hyperinflation. This is silly. Most economists think there is a danger of deflation. However, these people do not understand monetary policy and there are plenty of commentators who will play on their fears because they support their political notions. You would be surprised to know to what length they will go to deceive. Only yesterday, I saw a whole spate of articles claiming that people in the euro zone refuse the euro and insist on being paid in gold and silver because of Greece. This is just a lie.

The craze drives up gold prices until untold levels of silliness. At that point, people will look for something cheaper to satisfy their hysteria. This is already happening: people are turning to silver, rather than gold. At some point, someone will start selling gold and the tend will turn around. Investors call this kind of cycle a bubble. Another one just deflated in the housing sector of the US, Ireland and Spain: housing prices had been pumped up to artificial levels and are now below normal, because of fear and scarcity of mortgages. The problem is you cannot predict when a bubble starts deflating. You can make nice paper profits with gold and silver for some time to come and wake up one day to find you suffered a horrible loss. If you like betting and you don't need the money, fine. Otherwise, you should settle for less risky investments.

On to coins. They are not affected by gold and silver prices with two exceptions: 1) they are so cheap that their silver value exceeds their numismatic value and 2) they are bullion. Clearly, a Jehangir rupee is not touched by the silver price. It does not become scarcer or less scarce with the silver price and melting it for silver bullion is a folly. Just as clearly, a low grade Morgan dollar will be affected, because there is not enough demand for them. In that sense, most silver and gold coin prices are unaffected. The stuff called coins in hype/scare ads are usually not coins but bullion pieces, ranging from Kruger rands to fantasies without any numismatic value. At best, you will see very common gold pieces offered like US double eagles, UK pounds and Austrian restrikes.

I can't predict when prices of silver of gold will come down, but I think they will one day. I think it will not affect coin prices much on the way down, just as it didn't affect coin prices on the way up. So why have your British India rupees become more expensive? Inflation and more people with money and spare time. If your dealer would say that, you would suspect he is trying to fleece you, so they blame gold and silver prices instead. These are easy to check and easy to blame.

Peter

[akona20]

The hyperinflation bogey in America is interesting. Perhaps the con of the value of the US dollar will be found out and its value will drop dramactically and inflation will set in.

But the spectre of indeflation is real and that should frighten most folks.

[villa66]

Hello
It seems same case here. I had bought 4 coins @Rs400 3 years back...Currently they are sold btw Rs1500-2000.
This may be due to higher prices in silver... (Reason Given by dealer).
If coin is rare then price quoted is more than Rs2000.
Regards
Vivek

Late in 2008, silver fell to about $9/ounce. Recently it hit $48/ounce. Then it fell back to about $36/ounce (still about 400% of its price three years ago).

On this question concerning his pricing, your coin dealer is telling you the truth.

v.

[asm]

Prices of Indian coins (as I believe most world coins) of the era gone by depend on 3 factors:

a) Availability or scarcity
b) Metal value
c) Collector or buyer interests.

In case of British India coins, most rupees - which were produced in bulk, are available at Silver value+ basic. I used to buy them below Rs 100 8 to 10 years back. 5 years or so back the prices were around Rs 125. With many more collectors getting hooked onto coins and coins being touted as a good investment, prices reached 250 - 325 levels before the upsurge in silver prices in the last year or two. When Silver touched Rs 73,000 per Kg recently, prices went up to Rs 850 or so. Now when it is back to 53,000 the prices are still 800+ as a lot of traders are stuck with high cost purchases and market rumors of steep hikes ensure there are no low price sellers.

At the same time, low mintage coins of a few years have seen sky high prices. I was told that the last genuine 1939 rupee sold @ Rs. 150,000 (almost US $ 350).

The same goes for Mughal rupees: sold at par in cost with the BI Rupees till recently are a little higher due to scarcity.

In reality, silver and gold prices have done very badly in the past, compared to other investments. For long periods, gold could not even keep up with inflation, so it destroyed your capital.

A thing that needs to be considered in the Indian case is that, there is a tax on wealth. So if one owns Bullion or Jewellery (the value of which is in excess of Rs 3,000,000.00) tax @1% per year on the current market value needs to be paid - this figure was much higher on % of tax payable and lower on the free holding value 10 years back. However, coins are and have been exempt. So most gold coins are with private individuals who know nothing about coins but have purchased them to avoid paying taxes.

Amit

[Coinsforever]

In the end, don't mix up the hobby with investment opportunities.

Certainly ................. it is case to case but hobby should  remain hobby............

On to coins. They are not affected by gold and silver prices with two exceptions: 1) they are so cheap that their silver value exceeds their numismatic value and 2) they are bullion.
Peter

I agree after reading lot of articles and news every day .........................

Concluded that  this hype will go to certain level from where again down trend will start towards saturation like other areas.

Numismatics value matters more and key rather than silver/gold contents and key point is supply /demand ratio........

Cheers

[Abhay]

With British India Rupee Coins, the price also depends on many other factors - Year of minting, Type of Bust in case of Queen Victoria, Dots on the Reverse in case of 1862 coins, The initial of the engraver on the truncation, Number of Berries in case of 1840 coins, etc. etc.

Two almost same looking coins could vary greatly in price, depending on these features. For example, the 1897 year coin is being sold for about Rs. 35000. The coin with RS incused on truncation on William IIII coin will cost you about Rs. 6000 as compared to other William IIII coins which are sold for Rs. 2700 each.

There are lots and lots of varieties in British India Rupee coins, and the prices can vary from Rs. 800 to Rs. 2,00,000.

Abhay

[Bimat]

I follow two very simple rules:

1. Collect whatever you like;

2. Collect whatever you can afford.

Rule 2 comes first.

Aditya

[Prosit]

That is my system too!
Dale

I follow two very simple rules:

1. Collect whatever you like;

2. Collect whatever you can afford.

Rule 2 comes first.

Aditya

[Md. Shariful Islam]

Is it true that the jewellers use BI Rupees in gold ornaments especially for joining two pieces? I heard from several jewellers.

Islam

[Abhay]

Is it true that the jewellers use BI Rupees in gold ornaments especially for joining two pieces? I heard from several jewellers.

Islam

The British Indian Rupee are made of pure silver. I doubt if silver can be used as a soldering material for joining two pieces of Gold. As far as I know, Cadmium has been used in India for joining the two pieces of jewellery. Although, just now I found out that use of Cadmium in jewellery can cause serious health problems.

Another Link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-18/surat/29555535_1_hallmarked-jewellery-articles-cadmium

Abhay

[Md. Shariful Islam]

I doubt if silver can be used as a soldering material for joining two pieces of Gold.

Another Link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-18/surat/29555535_1_hallmarked-jewellery-articles-cadmium

Abhay

The article mentions that the Jewellers used to use silver for gold jewellery.

Islam