DO YOU COLLECT WORLD COINS?

[uthminsta]

Okay, everyone. I have a question for you all. Do you collect world coins? Also known as foreign coins... coins of the world... or "a geography lesson in your pocket"
If so, tell us what country you "specialize" in, or which one you go after the most, however you want to phrase it. Interested in more than one country? Go ahead and list them, but I'm gonna challenge you to come up with a "top five" list of countries.
Then tell us all about it. How long? Favorite coin? Latest acquisition? Why (if there is a reason at all)?

[AGgressive Metal]

My main numismatic interests are:

Switzerland and its Cantons
Coins associated with the colonial period in North America (Spanish Reales, old British, old French, old Dutch, etc)
Former European colonies, especially obscure ones
Countries/Empires that no longer exist

[hobo finds]

My 12 year son collects them! Started off with Coinstar finds. We have bought a few from members here! He likes any and all he can get He has quite a bit of Mexican coins, but seems to like Canada more!

[wheatie_fan]

I have lots of common world coins from 1950s-present. So I take an extra look at any from before then.

I personally like France and Japan. Both have interesting histories which are reflected in their coinage. With France you can trace history from the Euro - WWII - WWI - Napoleon and before. With Japan you can go from present to WWII to Meiji restoration and beyond.

I also like big bronze coins like the half pennies and pennies from the UK and its colonies, or the Chinese coins with dragons on them.

I've learned to read the Arabic numbers and can decipher most common Chinese cash coins, so I can at least peruse those while most collectors don't even glance at them.

-wheatiefan

[uthminsta]

I guess it's my turn, although I talk about these all the time, so it's probably pretty obvious to many of you. I would say my top five are:
1. GREAT BRITAIN. I've been collecting them for 14 years now. I just like the fact that there are so many denominations, and you can easily find stuff from over 300 years back. And like WHEATIE FAN said, the big bronze is fun. In fact, that's what got me started in the summer of 1998 I found a coin shop that had a box of them - British pennies from Victoria to Elizabeth II for a quarter apiece, or 5 for a dollar. It's funny that I can still clearly remember the exact moment I started with these. By the next summer I was WAY further down the line. But at that time, you could still buy a silver shilling for a buck most places. Now they're a deal at $5 each.
2. VATICAN CITY. Man, some of their coins are absolutely astounding! Beautiful, spiritually themed stuff! And the mintages on most of them are under a million. For some, it's under 100,000! They are very undervalued, in my opinion. Or under-appreciated.
3. MEXICO. My grandpa has been a collector of Mexican (and Canadian sometimes) coins for quite a few years. He got me interested in them, and I especially like the stuff from the late 19th century - the Second Republic. A lot of it can be had for a buck or two, and they aren't just everywhere, so it's nice to come across one, every once in a while. There's just something appealing about coins you don't see very often, and that is part of the appeal for these and the Vatican coins.
4. CANADA. It's been fun accumulating these since I was 6 or 7; every day my dad would come home from work and I would look through his change! And every once in a while there was a wheatie, but it was just as fun when I spotted one of those oh-so-familiar maple leaves. I finally got organized a couple years back, mostly because it became possible to trade with friends on RealCent... and now I'm almost done with a large cent collection, have almost all the nickels, halfdimes, dimes, and quite a few of the quarters. Unfortunately, I got going a little too late to have amassed much of the bigger silver, and the halves and dollars were already up there in price. But these have a lot of the same appeal as British coins, to me. Especially the Victorian-era stuff.
5. there are a lot that could slide into the #5 slot. Bahamas, because my wife likes the starfish cents. Costa Rica, because I have been on a mission trip there. And it's a smaller group of coins. Seemingly easier to finish a collection. Israel, just because they have so many interesting designs. Ireland, because they are similar to - yet quite distinct from - their British counterparts. Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic / Slovakia because my wife knows someone from Czech and I know someone from Slovakia. And they look cool!

Wow, the thing said "quick reply." This was anything but quick! Hope you enjoyed a little peek into my WHY.

[uthminsta]

bump to an old thread i was thinking about. wonder if we have any more answers to this question now?

[Rosco]

Have a few coins for a lot of places from our travels an #2 sons travel. Will post coins an countries when we go back to the frozen North

[johnbrickner]

Since we've started stacking we seem to have accumulated a bunch from several countries. Also, my wife belongs to a online "swap" club and we found a few members from around the world looking for specific "States Quarters" so we traded for some of theirs.

My favorites? Hummmm, older ones from obsure or from I don't know where. I've got two coins one from middle east possibly (muslim markings and crescent moon) and one from asia possibly with chinese type lettering. Unable to I.D. either, but I can't help but feel like I'm holding a piece of antiquity when I look at them.

Coins from Tonga, Tuva, pacific islands, and Carribean often have sea creatures on them. I've had a bit of life experience both on and under the sea so they have a special place in my psyche.

Recently, I picked up an almost complete set of Canadian pennys and have yet to go thru all my CA rolls to see if I can fill some of the gaps. It came with a couple of coins that had value enough in their worst condition to equal my winning bid for them on e-bay so this is my first "set" of coins in a folder that has the "feel of value" to me.

Otherwise, any and all silver coins from any date and place catch my fancy. Even those made by unofficial regions looking for recognition possibly called local currencys. I would have to include those coins minted as "art" though I don't have any yet.

[Silver Runner]

Okay, everyone. I have a question for you all. Do you collect world coins? Also known as foreign coins... coins of the world... or "a geography lesson in your pocket"
If so, tell us what country you "specialize" in, or which one you go after the most, however you want to phrase it. Interested in more than one country? Go ahead and list them, but I'm gonna challenge you to come up with a "top five" list of countries.
Then tell us all about it. How long? Favorite coin? Latest acquisition? Why (if there is a reason at all)?

1) Empirical German coins- My father immigrated here from Germany in the 1950s. My grandfather bought his home at the height of the depression with gold marks. There were also lots of cool designs (German East Africa 15 Rupee with the elephant and the German New Guinea 10 and 5 Mark coins with the bird Of paradise).
2) Canadian coins- my daughter lover the Queen Elizabeth "young queen" design. We have started a collection focused on those years.
3) Australian coins- I went to Australia in 2000. I looked through some pawn shops and bought some silver halves with the coat of arms on the back, very cool. I also love the kangaroo design on the penny and half penny. I like the large size of the early British empire pennies.
4) Bahamas- I went to Nassau and Freeport on my honeymoon. There are some cool designs with nautical / island nature themes. I really like the $2 Flamingo silver coin design.
5) Panama- I am sentimental and these coins got me into PMs. In the silver/gold drop of the late 90s early 2000s I was buying (on eBay) the huge $20 Balboa in .925 silver for less than face. I was doing the same for the $100 Balboa gold coins that were just south of 1/4 ounce. I figured this was a no brainer. The Balboa is set to parity on the dollar. If I buy these for less than face I am always making money and they are real money not fiat. If I would have had more money in my college years I would be typing this from a beach somewhere, not an Army Base.

[Slaphot]

Im working on a set of one coin from every country. Been at it for a while, I add a coin here and there. I think I am at around 30% complete.

[uthminsta]

Im working on a set of one coin from every country. Been at it for a while, I add a coin here and there. I think I am at around 30% complete.

I could probably help with that. Do you have a want-list - or a have-list - in a form you could get it on here or send it to me?

[Slaphot]

Thanks, I will get a list together, but won't be until the weekend.

[uthminsta]

bump to an old thread. anyone else?

[pcm2007]

I am specialized in Spanish coins.
My main interests are, apart from Spain, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and USA. However, I keep whatever comes to my hands, like, for example commemorative 2€ coins I receive in cash, or those unc euro coins that you see coming out from a roll when checking out at the supermarket. I have lots of Spanish pesetas I kept just before we moved to the euro. Last year I started a US penny collection, and would like to start a nickel collection right now.

[Recyclersteve]

I know you were talking about collecting, but I am going to use the term accumulating in modest quantity (not hoarding, because my collection is too small for that). Here are my top six countries: Canada, France, Netherlands, South Africa, and, tied for 5th, Ecuador and Venezuela. What do they all have in common? Coins made of pure nickel. So I'm not looking for complete sets of anything. I was just trying to get some pure nickel, which you can't do with U.S. Coins. Take that Kyle Bass! (I'm sure he'd just laugh at me)

[rsk1963]

Russian 19th early 20th century rouble & 50 kopecks, Canada, Japanese 1 yen early 20th late 19th century.

[cooyon]

Off and on, trying to complete a Swiss 1 rappen set (1850-2006), and a Panama 1 centesimo set (1935-to-date). Haven't been able to work on them recently due to cataract procedures which took away my ability to read details on coins, somewhat helped by drugstore reading glasses. Wrong hobby to not be able to see details!!

[coindood]

World coins are great fun. I love the tough-to-ID ones, it reminds me of stamp collecting.

For me Canada's #1 with Britain coming in 2nd.

A cool challenge is trying to compile a birth year set from as many countries/entities as possible. I've gotten very close to completion on mine (76 coins from 1965, Angola to Zambia), apart from the ones where the only option is gold (Isle of Man, Liberia and Somalia), countries where the only examples are not officially recongized as coinage (Andorra, Cuba, Malta) and examples from questionable entities (Esperanto, Lundy, Gardiner's Island, Sark Island).

It creates an interesting cross section of what the world was spending the year you were born. And the omissions are curious. Why exactly did large nations like Australia, Egypt and the Philippines not issue coins that year?

[pcm2007]

That leads me to another question: why do most countries issue new coins every year when the coins from the previous years are still in circulation?

Pedro

[henrysmedford]

That leads me to another question: why do most countries issue new coins every year when the coins from the previous years are still in circulation?

Pedro

Most mint are self funded by seignorage see-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage.

Today

The "50 State" series of quarters (25-cent coins) was launched in the U.S. in 1999. The U.S. government planned on a large number of people collecting each new quarter as it rolled out of the U.S. Mint, thus taking the pieces out of circulation.[6] Each set of quarters is worth $14.00 (a complete set includes quarters for all fifty states, the five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia). Since it costs the Mint about five cents for each 25-cent piece it produces, the government made a profit whenever someone "bought" a coin.[7] The U.S. Treasury estimates that it has earned about US$6.3 billion in seigniorage from the quarters over the course of the entire program.[8]

In some cases, national mints report the amount of seigniorage provided to their respective governments; for example, the Royal Canadian Mint reported that in 2006 it generated $C93 million in seigniorage for the Government of Canada.[9] The U.S. government, the largest beneficiary of seignorage, earned approximately $25 billion annually as of 2000.[10] For coinage only, seigniorage accruing to the U.S. Treasury per dollar issued for the fiscal year 2011 was 45 cents.[11]

For US coin see https://www.usmint.gov/downloads/about/annual_report/2012AnnualReport.pdf and the look for the term seignorage the US one and five cent coins have a negative seignorage.

[pcm2007]

That leads me to another question: why do most countries issue new coins every year when the coins from the previous years are still in circulation?

Pedro

Most mint are self funded by seignorage see-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage.

Today

The "50 State" series of quarters (25-cent coins) was launched in the U.S. in 1999. The U.S. government planned on a large number of people collecting each new quarter as it rolled out of the U.S. Mint, thus taking the pieces out of circulation.[6] Each set of quarters is worth $14.00 (a complete set includes quarters for all fifty states, the five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia). Since it costs the Mint about five cents for each 25-cent piece it produces, the government made a profit whenever someone "bought" a coin.[7] The U.S. Treasury estimates that it has earned about US$6.3 billion in seigniorage from the quarters over the course of the entire program.[8]

In some cases, national mints report the amount of seigniorage provided to their respective governments; for example, the Royal Canadian Mint reported that in 2006 it generated $C93 million in seigniorage for the Government of Canada.[9] The U.S. government, the largest beneficiary of seignorage, earned approximately $25 billion annually as of 2000.[10] For coinage only, seigniorage accruing to the U.S. Treasury per dollar issued for the fiscal year 2011 was 45 cents.[11]

Yes, but, ordinary coins being issued every year will be kept by collectors in a minimum quantity, therefore, the total amount of currency in circulation increases every year, and minimum seigniorage is received by the mint. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Recyclersteve]

Why exactly did large nations like Australia, Egypt and the Philippines not issue coins that year?

Think about what happened in our country in 1965. We had just cut silver out of our dimes and quarters and reduced halves from 90% silver to 40%. Also there was a coin shortage at the time as people were hoarding coins and even rolls. This could have leaked out to other countries (like Australia) when they heard what was going on here. So I can see where some would have wanted to curtail production for a while.

[coindood]

Think about what happened in our country in 1965. We had just cut silver out of our dimes and quarters and reduced halves from 90% silver to 40%. Also there was a coin shortage at the time as people were hoarding coins and even rolls. This could have leaked out to other countries (like Australia) when they heard what was going on here. So I can see where some would have wanted to curtail production for a while.

Hmm, interesting perspective. Shows the influence our monetary system has on the rest of the world.

[68Camaro]

Hmmm, I think you're making the tail wag the dog. The reason the US cut out silver, and why other countries slowed or stopped minting silver coin while waiting to see the trend, was the rising price of silver making the coins start to be worth intrinsically more than their face. They couldn't stand for that to happen when it' happened to the bulk of coinage value.

Coinage today has become so relatively valueless that anyone under 50 doesn't appreciate what normal was for thousands of years, but most small transactions 50 years ago and before were in coin, not bills. Small gas purchases, lunch, breakfast, cleaning, small hardware purchases, whatever - it was mostly done with coin because you could actually buy most common things back then for <$1. I almost forget myself - but even as late as the early 70s McDonalds had an ad on TV boasting that at McDonalds you could get an entire meal of burger, fry, and drink and still get change back from your dollar. Ice cream cones were a nickel, as were candy bars. Burgers were a quarter. Small cokes were a nickel, large cokes a dime. (Those are prices that stick in my head because as a kid that's all the money I had and I didn't buy much more than that.)

[Recyclersteve]

Speaking about inflation, I remember more than a few times when we'd buy gasoline and pay for it with pocket change. Not enough to buy a full tank. But 8 quarters would pay for about 5 gallons of gas, enough to get you to where you needed to go for perhaps several days. Sometimes we'd even turn in pop bottles to get the change for the gas.