Certificate of Authencity
Certificate of authenticity aka “COA” shows that the coin is genuine and are legal tenders issued by the government. In this article, we will discuss the details of the COA, how they are issued and their relative importance.
The COA shows important information such as the purity and the stamp of approval by the issuing authority. The COA above shows that the American Eagle Silver Coin is made of 999 pure silver and are important information to investors as the value of the silver coin correspond with its metal content. The certificate was signed off by the United States Mint that is responsible for producing coinage for the United States Government to conduct its trade and commerce. This means that the coin that is certified is a legal tender in United States and is recognised as currency.
The COA also shows other information such a the design of the coin and product specifications shown in the pictures above. Two important information are the mintage and the coin number/serial number. The mintage represents the maximum number of coin that are produced and is important to a collector that values rarity. The serial number is unique to each coin that is produced and certain numbers might bring sentimental value to a buyer as it might be their birth date or lucky numbers such as Asian obsession with the number “8”.
The COA takes various form. They could be found in the outer packaging of the silver foil, inner packaging that house the coin together and is not always a small piece of paper that is included with the coin. An important thing to note is that the COA will show the mintage but not necessarily the serial number of the coin as illustrated in the last picture.
Some comment that COA is not necessary as it does not proves that the bullion coin is real. Assays and equipments are used to verify the purity of the metal rather than a piece of paper.
However, collectible coins comes with COA not just as proof of authencity but for commemorative purposes as well. Certificates are made to commemorate an occasion. COA are important for collectors and resellers for collection purposes and it is part of the whole package when buying or selling a product.
