Token Panama Charm with V N VN Balboa

A reader sent us his picture of this nice looking piece (see below, to the right). This is not a coin, but a piece of jewelry. It turns out there is no lack of Panamanian coins, tokens, and charms that sport the VN (UN, or ONE) BALBOA inscription around the striking conquistador likeness on the front. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to lay eyes on the Pacific Ocean, and his conquistador profile appears on many coins of Panama.

It is important to establish precisely what you've got with one of these pieces. There are many variations, and the one in gold is quite valuable. Other variations come in base metal.

The image above shows a few of the variations, as follows:

(A) This is a legal tender coin in Panama. It is made of 90 percent silver. Our CoinQuest page for this coin appears at this CoinQuest link.
(B) A token or charm in brass
(C) A token or charm in silver-plated pewter
(D) This is the good one. As best we can tell, it is made of 0.2 troy ounces of gold and is therefore worth quite a bit (see below). If you have one like this, you must get it tested for gold content. Some base metals can be highly polished and made to look like gold. Don't go by the looks!
(E) Another brass token, this one with a different reverse (VN BALBOA appears on the front)

To give a rough idea of value:

TOKENS IN BASE METAL
worn: less than $1 US dollar approximate catalog value
average circulated: $1
well preserved: $4
fully uncirculated: $10

If you have a gold example, the first step is to determine base value, or bullion value, BV. This is found by multiplying the current price of gold (check kitco.com) by 0.2. For example, if gold is trading at $1200 US dollars per troy ounce, BV = 1200 x 0.2 = $240. There is a small premium over BV for nice looking pieces with little or no wear:

TOKENS IN GOLD
worn: BV
average circulated: BV + $5
well preserved: BV + $10
fully uncirculated: BV + $25
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