Back to my 2023 Silver Purchases - 2023 Malta Golden Eagle Silver Rounds

The final silver purchase of the year

While digging back into the silver I purchased from 2022 until today, I went back to find the order of purchase and discovered that my final purchase in 2023 was from an online auction where I had the final bid for two 1 oz silver coins from Malta: the golden eagle. I think it's a bit confusing to say golden eagle for a silver round but it is what it is.

Auction fun

At that time I was actually looking at many auctions on that platform and found many interesting coins to bid on. The thing that I didn't fancy was the extra costs if you'd have the final bid so you'd have to do the math if this was still a good price or not. Recently I saw people bidding on coins that are still available through the official mint and all overbid on that platform, which I find odd considering the mint name is in the pictures.

Back to the Maltese coins

I shared it before but here again, the coins hold a special memory as some years earlier we booked a city trip from Budapest to Malta and it was such a great trip to be there in December. We never went to Malta before and we already had an 'uh oh' moment right after landing at Malta airport, namely the steering wheel being on the "wrong" side for us. All our lives we thought that this was only a UK thing, we both learned that day that it was not, haha.

I won't drive!

From the moment we saw the cars having the steering wheel on the other side, I immediately put my foot down and said, well, I won't be driving so good luck with that! I'm a sucker for driving new routes I really hate not knowing what to expect and especially when I know that one wrong turn or exit means a big detour, I just rather navigate and make sure we go the right way.

Night blindness

As we arrived in the evening, it was already dark once we dropped the suitcases in the car and were heading to our hotel on the other side of the island. It's a good thing that I had a chauffeur with me because I swear I'd have an accident myself being night blind as can be. I realised this issue right there and then on the beautiful island of Malta. Evening drives have never been the same since.

Great short trip

We so needed this trip at the time and I hold fond memories from that trip, even though it was just 3 days. We didn't bring any souvenir with us sadly so when I found these two amazing silver coins and won the bidding, I was thrilled because these two were now going to hold our memories from the family trip to Malta a few years earlier.

High in favourites list

This coin is extremely beautiful if you see it up close. The details on both sides are stunning and I can't take one picture that comes close to showing the real beauty of the coin. When we reviewed the coins we own currently, we both agreed that this one is high on the list of our favourites in terms of design. The best thing about is that we have two, which is also the first and only coin so far which we have a double from.

Value today

At the time (December 2023) I paid 48 euros for two coins in auction. Upon a google search today, I found prices mostly around 35 euros per coin so I guess I really had a great deal at the time. Even with the extra costs on top, I'm still in the profits with this one. That's how I love it, haha.

That's all for today, see you in a few days with another coin out of my collection..

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Previous parts

• My First Silver Purchases - 2023 Hive Silver Round
• My First Silver Purchases - 2022 Australia's Perth Mint - Myths & Legends Phoenix Silver Round
• My First Silver Purchases - Australia's Perth Mint - Myths & Legends Dragon Round 2021
  
• Looking back at my very first silver purchase