Venezuela 10 Bolivares 1973

Wow, what an original design this coin has! Yes Mark, the reverse is meant to be 'upside-down' from the obverse. This is in fact known as 'coin alignment', as opposed to 'medal alignment' where both sides of the coin have the same orientation. Some coins have one alignment, some coins have the other, but countries are generally pretty consistent in using the same alignment for all their coins.

This coin is made from .900 pure silver, and weighs in at a hefty 30 grams - that means it contains a nice 0.8680 troy ounces of silver. Using a website such as kitco.com, you can find the current price of silver; it fluctuates from day to day. Right now the price of silver is $23.59 US dollars per troy ounce. Multiply by the amount of silver in the coin, and you have its base silver value. Currently, the silver in the coin is worth $23.59 x 0.8680 troy oz = $20.48 US dollars. This will be the value of most coins.

However, these coins were minted only during one year in a somewhat low mintage, and thus coins that are fully uncirculated can fetch up to $30 from a collector if they have good eye appeal. Mint state coins that have been professionally graded will sell at upwards of $40, or even more if the eye appeal is exceptional.

The values cited in the previous paragraph are only approximate, and a coin with any problems such as cleanings, stains, scratches, nicks or gouges will only be worth the value of the silver in the coin.

There exist a few rare varieties of this coin, the description of which is beyond the scope of CoinQuest, but they are all very valuable. If you find that the your coin looks just slightly different from our picture, it would be wise to take the coin to a coin shop for an appraisal.
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