Gold coins have always been about more than just a means to a transaction. Gold is a precious metal, whose value by weight often eclipses a coin’s numismatic worth. Thus, in uncertain economic times, some people rest a little bit easier knowing that at least a part of their nest egg is feathered with a few gold coins.

Just about every country has issued a gold coin at one time or another, whether they are minted for investment purposes, as with bullion coins like British sovereigns or Chinese gold pandas, or for use as currency, as was the case with 19th-century Spanish reales and American double eagles.