Sell European gold coins: 20 Francs, 20 Marks, ducats, guilders, pesetas and more

Ask before you post, always

You never have to commit to anything to start. Message us on WhatsApp or call, tell us roughly what you have, and send a few clear photos for a rough estimate. Nothing leaves your hands until you decide it should, and there is no obligation even then.

GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal gold and silver buying service. Wherever you are, you sell European gold coins by post with a free tracked Royal Mail label. There is no shop to visit and no counter pressure.

European gold coins we buy

• French 20 Francs, Napoleon, Angel and Rooster types, plus 10 and 40 Franc pieces
• Swiss 20 Francs, the Vreneli and the earlier Helvetia head
• Belgian 20 Francs and Italian 20 Lire, struck to the same standard as the French coin
• German 20 and 10 Marks from the Empire period, Prussia, Bavaria, Hamburg and the smaller states
• Austrian ducats (1 and 4 ducat) and 10, 20 and 100 Corona coins
• Dutch 10 Guilders, Spanish 25 Pesetas and Danish, Swedish and Norwegian 20 Kroner
• Mounted coins in pendants and rings, odd singles, and whole inherited tins

You do not need to identify anything, or read the language on the coin. Send a clear photo of both sides on WhatsApp and we will tell you what it is and give you a rough estimate before anything is posted.

Fine gold content by coin type

These are the issuing mints’ published specifications. Most of the 900-fine coins were struck to standards fixed by treaty or statute, the Latin Monetary Union convention of 1865, the German Coinage Act of 1871 and the Scandinavian Monetary Union of 1873, so the figures below are fixed facts, not estimates.

A coin’s value comes mainly from its gold content, so a 20 Franc piece holds a little under a fifth of an ounce of gold, and a German 20 Mark a little under a quarter, with some dates and mints worth more to collectors. For how coins are valued, see gold coin values or how we value gold; for a rough estimate on your actual coins, a photo on WhatsApp is quicker.

Restrikes, copies and how the XRF assay settles it

A surprising share of the continental gold in circulation was struck after the date it carries. Austrian 1915-dated ducats and 100 Corona pieces are official restrikes produced by the Austrian Mint for decades, and Switzerland restruck 1935-dated Vrenelis after the war, marked with an L beside the date. Official restrikes contain exactly the gold the specification says.

Copies are a different matter. Gilded base-metal souvenirs and low-fineness copies of 20 Francs and ducats exist in quantity, and some are hard to judge by eye or even by weight. This is what the XRF assay is for: it confirms the actual fineness of your specific coin, non-destructively and at no cost to you. If a coin is not what it appears to be, we tell you plainly, and everything is returned free if you decline.

When a European gold coin is worth more than its melt value

• Scarce dates and mints. Early Napoleon issues, certain Vreneli years such as 1926, and low-mintage strikes can carry premiums well above their gold.
• The smaller German states. Prussian 20 Marks are common; issues from the minor duchies and free cities can be worth many times their metal.
• Condition. An uncirculated coin is worth more to a collector than a worn one; see gold coin grading for how grades work.

Most European gold coins are common dates in circulated condition and trade close to their gold value. A date, mint mark or grade that suggests collector value above the metal can make a specialist numismatic auction the better home for the coin, so send a photo of both sides on WhatsApp first and we will tell you how we would value them before you post anything.

How it works

1. Ask first and send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with photos of your European gold coins for a rough estimate. Ask anything; there is no charge and no obligation.
2. Request a prepaid Royal Mail label. We send a free Royal Mail Special Delivery label, tracked and signed for, usually within 30 minutes between 8am and 9pm. No printer? We send a QR code for the Post Office counter.
3. Post it when you are ready. Use any padded envelope. There is no deadline and no pressure.
4. Receive a no-obligation valuation. Every item is weighed and tested by XRF spectrometry at our Bristol office. You get a written, itemised offer, usually on the working day your parcel arrives, showing purity, weight and the figure.
5. Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer via Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned free of charge by tracked, signed-for post.

Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested before the written offer is prepared.

How we value what you send

Every coin is weighed and XRF-tested at our Bristol office, and the written offer lists each one on its own line, with the reading, the weight and the figure, before you decide anything.

Each coin is identified, weighed and XRF-assayed, so fineness is confirmed rather than assumed, which is exactly what separates a genuine 900-fine 20 Franc piece from a gilded copy. Your written breakdown lists each coin, its confirmed gold content and the figure for it.

One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Any gold or silver jewellery in it is priced on the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market, with our margin already inside the figure.

Postage and cover

Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end and signed for on delivery. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. If your items may be worth more, message us first and we can split them across more than one prepaid label, each with its own tracking number, at no charge. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.

If you decide not to sell

There is never any obligation to accept. If the offer is not for you, simply decline, and we return everything free of charge by tracked, signed-for post, with no fee and no follow-up pressure. The full return process is on what happens if I decline the offer.

The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.

Who this helps

This page is for people handling coins they did not buy: a few 20 Franc pieces brought back generations ago, a tin from a Dutch, Polish or Italian grandparent, a coin mounted in a pendant nobody can read. Nothing has to be identified before it is posted. Each coin is weighed, XRF-assayed and checked against its published fine-gold specification, so a worn design or an unfamiliar language is not a problem. If you are handling an estate, probate and inheritance explains how valuations for probate work.

The payment step

Acceptance starts payment: we aim to send a Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of your acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.

Who stands behind the offer

• Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
• Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
• Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation carries no obligation
• Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
• No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site

Common questions