Many major mints currently produce coins of a precious metal that have a token denomination. The real value of such coins is their metal content. But through desirable design, these coins have gained acceptance in the numismatic community. This acceptance can be enhanced by a small but significant addition.
If the numismatic value were to involve more than a slight surcharge over the bullion value, the mint producing the issue would reap a profit. While this seems to be an easily solved problem, it is not. The value of a coin depends on several factors, and beauty of design is minor compared with the coin’s availability. Reducing production would reduce availability, but such an action would not be in the mint’s best interest, and a multitude of low mintage coin designs is costly to implement. Yet there is a solution that both the Perth Mint and the Royal Canadian Mint have utilized for many years. The simple solution is to include a small, yet noticeable, mark on the coin called a privy mark.
A privy is a small mark that provides a tribute of recognition to something that often is otherwise totally unrelated to the coin. Perth uses these honor marks, as they are otherwise known, on its popular silver kookaburras, and the Royal Canadian Mint uses them on the silver Maple Leaf. These are much larger than a mint mark making them visible, yet small enough not to detract from the image on the obverse of a coin, where privy marks are typically placed.
Some typical privy marks that have been used by the Royal Canadian Mint include Chinese lunar symbols, the Titanic, and fireworks. Some privy marks that have been used by Perth include the state quarters of the United States and various foreign coin images. These are a few examples. These marks take a myriad of designs, and several different privy marks may appear for the same host coin in the same year. In fact, the Perth Mint has issued two Troy ounce silver kookaburras with all five United States state quarters issued in a given year honored by individual privy marks spread through the blank portion of the field on the obverse. These coins with multiple marks are rarely seen, but do occasionally come available.
Privy marks give a mint an opportunity to take a high mintage coin and offer several low mintage varieties, all issued in a single year. This also allows these special versions of coins to be packaged on mint cards, adding to their desirability. While mint cards are not always used for these issues, they have been used in some cases in the past.
In numismatics, anything that sets a coin aside as different, or as a rare variety, adds value, provided it is officially added by the issuing mint. A privy mark not only alter the value of a coin in a positive manner, but provides numismatists ample varieties of common issues to keep them happily collecting.
To find direct links to the mints mentioned here please go through the http://blackspanielgallery.com website. Black Spaniel Gallery happily provides numismatic information to the coin collecting community.
Henry M. Smith provides information and sells coins through Black Spaniel Gallery. The website is http://blackspanielgallery.com for both coins and information.