WHICH METAL MAKES THE BEST COIN?

[Templar]

   OF ALL THE COINS YOU HAVE COME ACROSS OR COLLECTED WHICH METAL DO YOU THINK MAKES THE BEST COINS?
                    YOUR SERVANT--THE TEMPLAR

[scottishmoney]

[Paint Your Wagon]

This is a Latin Union standard 6.45 g
I agree and The bigger the better too

[Sap]

I'm choosing to define "best" as "looks good while still fulfilling the original purpose of coins - to be spent as money".

For circulation coins, gold's too soft, and copper and silver discolour. Aluminium "feels cheap and plasticky" and corrodes easily, while platinum is way too expensive.

Conclusion: you can't beat pure nickel. Hardwearing and corrosion-resistant, yet not so tough that it's impossible to make a coin with high relief.

[scottishmoney]

But nickel has one property that none of the other metals listed have, some people are allergic to it.

[Paint Your Wagon]

But nickel has one property that none of the other metals listed have, some people are allergic to it.

Yes and once you are "activated" that is above a threshold level it will never leave you as a problem
I knew somebody who got a lifelong disability working with nickel

[scottishmoney]

At least silver has some anti-biotic property, and gold is inert and completely harmless. 

[scottishmoney]

Back on topic here, I have read that the Maja Desnuda was the perfect painting that one would wish to climb in and enjoy a perfect afternoon with.  A painting that Goya did that caused an enormous stir when it was painted for it's depiction of hmmm, well you get the picture.  And now to think, one of Spain's absolutely most famous paintings ever - and probably the subject of more coins, stamps etc than anything save the Mona Lisa.

[ElleKitty]

Silver makes the best coins!  I love silver coins.

However, for circulation purposes, my choice isn't even listed.  Stainless Steel. 

[scottishmoney]

Silver makes the best coins!  I love silver coins.

However, for circulation purposes, my choice isn't even listed.  Stainless Steel. 

They have a funny ring to them though, but they are durable over the long term.  In Ukraine all the smallest coins, the 1, 2, and 5 Kopeks are in stainless steel, and the 5 kopeks are mostly dated 1992 even now.  They don't corrode, even when I have found them buried they hold up well.

[Triggersmob]

gold is inert and completely harmless. 

Except to your wallet. LOL

[scottishmoney]

Except to your wallet. LOL

Gold has been vedy vedy good to my portfolio.

[longnine009]

I like German Silver--copper/nickel/zinc. I think it looks pretty good and I guess it's  durable with the nickel alloy. 

Stainless steel coins sound like they'd be fun to collect too if they had a lot of die failure on them--cuds and die cracks. Seems like they ought to compared to other metals.