Hello! I didn't see anything like an introduction forum so I just wanted to say HI! I am excited to have found this forum and catalog! I was spending hours "googling" and I do not know anyone personally into coins except a shop too far away to travel to often.
I'm 29 from Alabama, USA! Never traveled abroad unfortunately and only visited a hand full of states in the north and south east. I'd really love to live in another country one day for awhile but what a dream on my salary =) Past hobbies included collecting asian ball jointed dolls, creating web pages, pop culture and politics. Current hobbies are coin collecting, metal detecting, antique shopping and anything I can do in nature. I enjoy Japanese culture and anything I can get from over there. I will probably expand that branch of my coin collection in the future after my first project.
I am semi-new to collecting. I had a tiny cheap collection of foreign coins as a little girl that I admired. With no resources at that age it never grew over a few coins of course, but I took care of it for years till our house was burglarized and they went through all the drawers and took all of our literally worthless world coins but dropped the silver Morgan dollar behind the TV stand and left it (as they were trying to jack the TV) I hope they enjoyed their coins that they probably got less than a buck for at a pawn shop =P
It was over 20 years before I thought about it again. I went to a coin shop with my sweetheart (Who enjoys picking up a bit of silver for his collection anytime he can) I was expecting to be bored and uninterested as I waited but as he was debating some bars , a tray of world coins caught my eye. They were pretty cheap at 5 for a dollar in my opinion. The gentleman was a retired military guy who has amassed much of the collection through his travels and they had a whole crate in the back. I was fascinated at how he named every single coin he poured out at a glance even if it had no distinguishing writing on it. He even told me stories about them. A true numismatist I suppose.
I was impressed he spent so much time helping someone just spending a couple of bucks and treated me like a customer who was buying a thousand dollar silver bar. He even went to the back to find me a Japanese one when I didn't see one in the tray. I took the prettiest ones at the time (I am a shallow collector ) and laughed as my invoice line item said "junk coins". They were anything but junk to me. We would later return and I would add a few more. I then joked I would begin my collection again and collect a coin from every modern country. He printed me out a list of most of the modern countries and went to the back and brought out an extra coin as a gift to "get me started".
I now owe that place a third trip to thank them for probably almost 200 dollars in coins and coin accessories. =D (Thanks ebay....)
I was never interested in US coins (Homeland) New, old, rare..BOOOORRRRING...I'd just sell them for foreign coins! I am still not interested in domestic coinage (the exception being something really old and antique). I can't wrap my head around why. I guess because it is "familiar" I see dead presidents every day and the other designs just don't intrigue me. I want to be an explorer at heart I guess. I tried a silver collection once but anything remotely valuable I always end up selling! I am a terrible precious metal collector! I also am more of a quantity over quality person. I'd sell a plain valuable coin just so I could go buy a ton of pretty cheaper ones! My collection stands as incredibly eclectic with a tinge of organization.
I began with just a pile in a treasure chest until it became too difficult to weed out duplicates. I am now carding them and creating a binder of a featured one from every county and sorted the extras from the same countries into little tubes. My goal is a coin from every modern country with no date criteria. It is a mix of mostly 20th century coins with a few 19th. I have a few "silver" content ones that made it into the collection but nothing earth shattering or super "rare". I'd guess my single most valuable coin might not even get me 20 dollars on ebay. Then again I am a newbie so I might be sitting on a gold mine and not even know it but I try to research each one's value carefully. The older the better in some cases but there are some really beautiful 21st century coins that won the coveted feature spot over the older ones just because I fancied the design.
As I said, very fickle and shallow collector. I admire art work, history, and the stories they tell over the price tag. I enjoy buying coins in huge mystery lots and sorting them and looking them up. Treasure hunting is the best but at this stage in my collection, the pre-packaged lots are getting to be the same dang thing over and over now(Hope you like Trinidad and Tobago cuz here's 14 of them!) I am now to the individual collecting point unless I see someone clueless about coins selling some dead guys collection on ebay (Score!) I once scored an amazing lot that way. (p.s. May he rest in peace....)
The hard part is picking the favorite "one coin" to be featured in the binder and there are a few cases where I just had to put two in there for one place because I couldn't pick. Will make it way harder to count but I am working on an indexing system to help keep up so I can just glance at the last number to know my "Official individual country" This website will help me chronicle them too and I cant wait to start creating my online check list. My only problem is finalizing a list of all my goal countries.
I started small with a goal of about 240 unique places. I wrote every country out on a huge sheet of paper that covers my entire kitchen table. What stinks is I keep discovering "new" countries. I need to start ignoring every piece of land that said "Ohhh, we a country, fam...Let's make a coin!" or I will NEVER finish this project. I just obsess a bit and want an accurate list. Funny how I am ok with the coin dates and grades being ALL over the place but I am strict about getting the number of countries right.
I am shooting for toning it down and doing what would be considered "modern" countries still in existence with a few exceptions for coins that pop up from dissolved countries or renamed ones. That is a challenge enough! I thought I had my final list but then I discovered the list here and want to revisit it before I add any more that I will have to shift around in the binder. Though I do realize the list here probably includes some countries that no longer exist or maybe ancient. Back to the drawing board =P
I am finding that I really love French, Irish, British, and Italian coins. When I downsize occasionally so I don't reach "hoard" status , I can never let go of my European coins. I love old shillings and farthings because they remind me of pirate treasure They have such intricate designs and are "noble" and "dignified" in a sense. Something I just can't find in many coins in my own country. I was really thinking I'd love the Asian coins the most since I love their language lettering and anything Japanese but the UK won me over and that is what make up most of my collection right now.
I love coins in general because I love the sound they make as I sort through them, I love the art and am fascinated by the pictures and sayings that different places put on them. You can tell what is important to each country by what they put on there...Their religion, their leader, an environmental message.... I day dream about what each coin has been through and where it has been. Did one of the Beatles carry this coin at one point!? Did a historic figure leader use this coin? Did a soldier carry it for luck? Did someone die for this...did someone live for this....? It is a humbling feeling sometimes really.
You have probably been asked a million times but I'd like to know where you are from or a story on why you love coins! Thank you for your time!!
You will probably find Numista a great way to catalog your coins. Many of us have abandoned our long running Excel attempts. I use the Numista catalog exclusively now although I export the latest version to Excel every time I make a major change so that I always have a copy to access if the site ever dies.
It sounds like you are at the perfect stage to indulge in a few swaps and you are at the perfect place to do so. It's probably my favorite feature of the site. Quite apart from being able to find a new home for my surplus coins, and get some I really want in exchange, it's put me in contact with collectors from all over the world. Many of those fellow collectors I've come to regard as friends. It sounds like you're quite isolated up there in Alabama, at least in coin collecting terms.
There's also a fairly active forum where you can get to know folks from near and far. It's pretty informal and friendly unlike many of the larger numismatic sites which seem to be little more than a battleground for various cliques. It's FAR better than the Facebook coin groups which seem to attract the very worst of us.
I look forward to hearing more from you, hope you will feel at home, and that maybe one day we might even make a swap or two.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
Hello, It's always refreshing to see someone who is newly bitten with the coin bug and is full of enthusiasm for collecting. The packrat phase is usually the first that any new collector starts out with. Collect absolutely anything and everything you can get your hands on. After a while you will find your niche, the areas that you enjoy the best and you can start to focus your collection.
I'm from New Zealand and I first became interested in coins when I was about 10. I was walking through the site where an old building had just been demolished and I discovered an old English penny from 1899. I collected for a short time, but then I found postage stamps and I collected them for quite a few years. But when I got engaged to my wife, I sold off my stamp collection to pay for her engagement ring, luckily this was before the price of postage stamps began to drop.
I began to collect coins again about 6 or 7 years ago and I've been really enjoying it. I've narrowed the focus of my collection to pre-1945 coins and I have 10 countries that I actively work on. Fiji (Where my wife is from), New Zealand, New Zealand trade tokens, Australia, Canada, USA, UK and dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, etc) Precursors to modern Malaysia (Malaya, North Borneo, Malaya and British Borneo, Sarawak, Straits Settlements, Malay Peninsula), Panama, and Vatican City (if you like Italian coins then you would like a lot of the early Vatican City coins).
If you need any coins from Pacific Islands then let me know because I usually come across many of them over here.
Welcome to Numista! Like the others stated before, this is a very down-to-earth coin collector's site with useful functionality and a treasure of information.
Much like yourself, about 2 years ago, I started with a hand-me-down collection of Canadian coinage and was bitten by the bug. I have since collected every Canadian Cent by date and I am working my way backwards in history with Colonial Tokens.
Also like yourself, I am working towards at least one coin from 300 different countries (see 300 Country Club on Numista). I am a design and history freak with a particular interest in copper/bronze coinage. Some of the silver pieces are nice enough but I am quite suspicious of all the fakes out there.
Once you get your country list sorted, I would be happy to help you towards your goal (if I can).
Cheers!!
It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so. Mark Twain
Thank you all! It is very nice here. I had the hardest time finding a facebook group (never really found one) and other major forums seemed awful "stiff". ;) I wish I had known about trading sooner! I have probably sold 100s of coins on ebay in cheap lots and barely break even on what it cost to ship them! A lot of times shipping was more than what my auction won! I am noticing it is getting pricey to pick them up as individuals...sometimes 2-3 bucks a piece and multiply that by "I need 150 more for the collection!) It is going to be adding up! I complete those goofy online surveys for "coin addiction" money sometimes =P. When I find a stopping point on my country list and get what I have into the binder, it will be much easier to start the catalog here.
I am hurting when it comes to Africa coinage. Those are the most blank pages but everyone else is coming together pretty easy. I wish I had picked something a bit easier like "coins with flowers" or "coins with animals" =P I can't be lazy and got to keep trying though. I have a history of giving up on hobbies when it gets too hard and I want to break that cycle! I can help anyone with American coins due to easy access hehe But that is about all my access talent.
I just wish I could find a stopping point on my country list. I can't decide when "enough is enough" Do I really want to stress over former countries (i.e. Tibet) or territories WITHIN territories or stay vague and go by UN or Olympic rules...? Decisions Decisions...! Though I certainly like the sound of 300! I am certain my check list is just 240ish as of now. I will have to do more digging. I need a strict criteria that keeps me from side tracking so much. I am afraid the 400+ list here is hurting my poor head and seems daunting. ^_^ I am strongly considering for now, knocking back my goal to the 197ish officially recognized countries where I am only looking for a coin from somewhere you can get on a plane and visit right now. That might make it far less stressful and a very obtainable goal! If anyone has a PDF of the list they chose to go with, I'd love to see it and compare it to mine! Unfortunately, my lists are still all hand written so I can't upload them yet.
It's not to late to collect flowers, who can resist newfoundlands pitcherplant? The important thing is don't let it become stressful, if it does, then just put them away for a week, month, or even longer. When you come back your zeal will be restored. https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1021.html
Taking a break from swapping for a while, but still interested in pre 1799 Spanish coins, I will make time for that!
I'm having a blast doing the catalog. Just found another silver coin I didn't know I had! .800! Glad I didn't toss that one in a lot and sell it! I can't remember where it came from. a 1935 swedish coin! Wondering how much other hiding silver I might find now!
Bienvenue, and it's certainly nice to have more people here!
It's strange how much your story about the junk coins getting your collection started parallels mine... only when I started a few years ago I was too busy between doing my GCSEs and taking care of a cat for a boyfriend
But I suppose I have you beat in the field where my 'collection' as a little girl involved such things as gold 100 francs from a deceased relative- shame I went and sold them a few years back when I was 14 and stupid and learned gold prices had risen.
It's heartwarming to see introductions in the Forum, people here barely do that anymore, so Welcome again!
Цитата: "Cricket"I'm having a blast doing the catalog. Just found another silver coin I didn't know I had! .800! Glad I didn't toss that one in a lot and sell it! I can't remember where it came from. a 1935 swedish coin! Wondering how much other hiding silver I might find now!
That's what happened to me when I came here, I was so surprised at some of my old coins being silver.
Taking a break from swapping for a while, but still interested in pre 1799 Spanish coins, I will make time for that!
What an excellent introduction. I started out pretty young myself, I started by squirrelling away coins I thought looked neat, especially damaged ones. I kept them, similar to you, in a little treasure chest, which I still use today.
If you think that collecting a coin for its look and story is shallow and fickle then I'm happy to tell you that you're in good company here. Many of us love coins for the untold stories they tell. In fact, I would disagree with you. The history of an item adds depth, perhaps it doesn't make it more valuable but it gives the coin layers that we'll never even know about.
In fact when I was a kid collecting the battered old bits of metal my logic was that there are many flawless coins out there, stowed away in capsules or safes, but this is the only coin in the entire world with this story and this damage.
Now that I'm older I have a few flawless gems in my collection. Kept in capsules, in little boxes. I love them, they're attractive and I admire the work and what they stand for, and they do have their own story to tell. But while the price tag might be bigger than some of the "scrap" I fill my binders with, their value is no higher.
That's the great thing about coin collecting. There's something for all of us. We all have such amazing collections. The collection containing only one of every day of US pennies, the "dead" coins", the country club, or the coins with flowers on them. They're all awesome, they're all unique, and they all have our personal touch on them.
Also never rule out a potential collection avenue. If you want flowers go for it! The world is your oyster.
Цитата: "redsmithstudios"What are the chances that I would mention the Newfoundland cent and today I got a chance to buy some! Every date in the series! And many to spare....
No way! That's a lucky find. Mind if I ask for the story?
I just won a Niue Snoopy Dollar hehe. I can't even remember where Niue is at in my binder! I think it is commemorative but I do love peanuts so will enjoy it!
Here are a few pages! Not sure if I want to put letters on my section dividers or leave them plain and let the art speak for itself and put an index on the opposite side. Decisions....Decisions...
A lot of pages like the title are various layers of scrap book paper and borders. I think I had more fun making the binder that finding the coins for it hehe. Maybe I can make people "coin binders" for a living if I keep practicing lol.
Found three more silver pieces ! Kicking myself for not finding this catalog sooner. Pondering all the silver I might have "tossed" into 3 dollar lots on ebay hehe Hiding there in plain site. Living and learning!
Here are a few pages! Not sure if I want to put letters on my section dividers or leave them plain and let the art speak for itself and put an index on the opposite side. Decisions....Decisions...
A lot of pages like the title are various layers of scrap book paper and borders. I think I had more fun making the binder that finding the coins for it hehe. Maybe I can make people "coin binders" for a living if I keep practicing lol.
really creative. It's great to have as much fun as possible with the hobby. I would suggest that in addition to just writing the country on your flip to also add:
denomination
year
km#
Welcome, Cricket! What a fantastic way to introduce yourself!
I'm 44 and I live in Cape Town, South Africa. I grew up in a family of stamp collectors and, by the time I was 12, I had amassed a large collection but grew tired of competing with my family for the new stamps that came into our home. As a result, I started collecting coins instead.
By the time I left home to attend university I had accumulated a rather nice collection and then, for 20 years, I didn't touch them. They moved, in a box, from one home to another without being taken out, examined, and enjoyed. Then, one day, my house was burgled and my first thought was, "OMG! I hope they didn't get the coins!"
They had actually got some of them, but I was left with one album of about 600 coins - probably a quarter of what I had collected but, as luck would have it, by far the best quarter. And so, I was awakened, found Numista.com (by far, the biggest game-changer for coin collectors on the Internet) and started collecting far more seriously than I ever had before.
I will never discard a coin that I don't have if it comes to me. However, I specialise in African circulation coins and my objective is to assemble the most complete set I can manage in the rest of my life. In my will, my collection is bequeathed to the Iziko museum in Cape Town. My hope is that, in the future, the children of immigrants to South Africa from the rest of the continent will be able to go the the museum and see, in my collection, part of their family history and sense of identity.
What I really enjoy is seeing the progression from the colonial designs of Britain, Portugal, Germany, France, etc., to the independent symbols of the mid-20th century, to the more corporate designs of contemporary coins. There is a richness and diversity in African coins that is hard to find elsewhere and the history of each nation is depicted so openly that it is hard not to be absorbed.
So, PM me a list of what you are looking for from Africa, and I'll go through my spares and see if we can fill in some of those blank pages a bit.
I was having trouble with a lot of dates but since I uploaded 100 plus here I now have my dates I need! except for one Chinese coin that is giving me fits. I will have to upload to the question forums because it is so worn and the china catalog is so vast! When I am not so lazy I will date them all and I wasn't sure what KM meant. Googling it right now!
Цитата: "andrewdotcoza"Welcome, Cricket! What a fantastic way to introduce yourself!
I'm 44 and I live in Cape Town, South Africa. I grew up in a family of stamp collectors and, by the time I was 12, I had amassed a large collection but grew tired of competing with my family for the new stamps that came into our home. As a result, I started collecting coins instead.
By the time I left home to attend university I had accumulated a rather nice collection and then, for 20 years, I didn't touch them. They moved, in a box, from one home to another without being taken out, examined, and enjoyed. Then, one day, my house was burgled and my first thought was, "OMG! I hope they didn't get the coins!"
They had actually got some of them, but I was left with one album of about 600 coins - probably a quarter of what I had collected but, as luck would have it, by far the best quarter. And so, I was awakened, found Numista.com (by far, the biggest game-changer for coin collectors on the Internet) and started collecting far more seriously than I ever had before.
I will never discard a coin that I don't have if it comes to me. However, I specialise in African circulation coins and my objective is to assemble the most complete set I can manage in the rest of my life. In my will, my collection is bequeathed to the Iziko museum in Cape Town. My hope is that, in the future, the children of immigrants to South Africa from the rest of the continent will be able to go the the museum and see, in my collection, part of their family history and sense of identity.
What I really enjoy is seeing the progression from the colonial designs of Britain, Portugal, Germany, France, etc., to the independent symbols of the mid-20th century, to the more corporate designs of contemporary coins. There is a richness and diversity in African coins that is hard to find elsewhere and the history of each nation is depicted so openly that it is hard not to be absorbed.
So, PM me a list of what you are looking for from Africa, and I'll go through my spares and see if we can fill in some of those blank pages a bit.
What an awesome story! That is so thoughtful to donate your collection for others to enjoy and learn. I haven't thought about what would happen to mine . I don't think my mish=mash no rhyme or reason collection would be presentation worthy But now I am wondering what I would do with it if I amassed a pretty sizable collection. As it stands I probably have only 115 unique country coins and then over 100 more coins so 200ish which I am finding out is "chump change" in the real hard core collectors world where I see some masters have thousands! hehe. Though not bad considering I only started a month or so ago. I think my goal is one from every modern country and territory then try for what I think you call the 300 club! I will have over 200 if I can complete my first goal so that is just 100 more! Hehe!
I haven't started collecting African coins yet so the list is actually how it is on the web site here. I think I only have 3 or 4 I. It wasn't on purpose I am so short on them. I am finding when you buy big lots on ebay they tend to be very Europe and South America Heavy. I only had to search for and buy ONE unique south American coin on its own to complete all of modern south america . The rest all came to me in lots . Central America came pretty easy to, The Americas in general are the easiest to come by but no one seems to put a lot of African coins in their lots. I hope that wont mean they cost a lot more =P I will eventually get around to putting my "tradables" up but since I've been back to work after a long vacation I haven't had as much coin fun. ^_^
I think if I was starting over sub-Saharan Africa is where I'd be focusing my collection. Not that there's anything wrong with North Africa, I have many happy memories of traveling the entire region in my younger days. It's just they have more in common with the middle east than Africa proper.
I do actively collect coins from the various incarnations of Rhodesia mainly because of family ties but also I very much like them. The standard images of English rulers are common to many former colonies but the exciting part is the reverse designs featuring African wildlife. It's all good Sanders of the River and Rudyard Kipling stuff.
Two great reasons for choosing Africa are the fact that the high point of the colonial period coincides exactly with the high point of the coin maker's art and the relative lack of extremely rare coins. While there are no cheap Boer Republic coins, is there any other continent which has quite so many easy to complete series?
Quite apart from the colonial period and the warm nostalgia it evokes, I'm really fond of the earlier post colonial issues. I can imagine the pride of some African kid who had spent his whole life looking at images of dead Europeans seeing those first coins with people on them who looked a lot like he did.
I would though, set a cut off date some time around 1980. From that point forward everything seems to have gone downhill, not just politically and culturally but also in terms of the quality of the coinage. Early Liberian coins are very high quality with two distinct themes, the elephant for the minor denominations and a striking looking African female for the silver. After that though it's a complete farce. Liberia is the most egregious offender but across the continent the wholesome and engaging designs of those early years have been, with few exceptions, replaced by commemoratives struck for white American collectors or by bland eurocentric designs and cheap materials.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
Цитата: "pnightingale"
I would though, set a cut off date some time around 1980. From that point forward everything seems to have gone downhill, not just politically and culturally but also in terms of the quality of the coinage. Early Liberian coins are very high quality with two distinct themes, the elephant for the minor denominations and a striking looking African female for the silver. After that though it's a complete farce. Liberia is the most egregious offender but across the continent the wholesome and engaging designs of those early years have been, with few exceptions, replaced by commemoratives struck for white American collectors or by bland eurocentric designs and cheap materials.
That is great advice! I understand what you are saying on Liberia! The coin I have currently featured is definitely one of those euro commemoratives (It is the 96 man in the moon face coin) Doesn't exactly scream African culture or provoke the senses does it? It kinda came in a lot and I was just happy to get a country I did not have but I will look into pre 1980 coins for sure. Once I meet my initial goal and fill up my binder for the most part with every modern country (100 more to go!) then I will go back and revise the feature coins. Right now it is whatever I have or got on accident which has a few rather boring coins. I will probably re order or start trading to get more interesting or older coins to replace some of my 21st century ones.
Pnightingale, I had to laugh about your description of "farce" for modern Liberian coins. I agree to a degree. But have you ever taken a second to look at the issues to commemorate the US Civil War? Some of them are quite artistic and tell a great story.
Library Media Specialist, columnist, collector, and gardener...
Цитата: "redsmithstudios"What are the chances that I would mention the Newfoundland cent and today I got a chance to buy some! Every date in the series! And many to spare....
Ohh Ohh, any chance of some spare for a poor collector from New Zealand
) and laughed as my invoice line item said "junk coins". They were anything but junk to me. We would later return and I would add a few more. I then joked I would begin my collection again and collect a coin from every modern country. He printed me out a list of most of the modern countries and went to the back and brought out an extra coin as a gift to "get me started".
Hiding there in plain site. Living and learning! 
But now I am wondering what I would do with it if I amassed a pretty sizable collection. As it stands I probably have only 115 unique country coins and then over 100 more coins so 200ish which I am finding out is "chump change" in the real hard core collectors world where I see some masters have thousands! hehe. Though not bad considering I only started a month or so ago. I think my goal is one from every modern country and territory then try for what I think you call the 300 club! I will have over 200 if I can complete my first goal so that is just 100 more! Hehe!
Thank you! Half way done uploading all the coins to the catalog. Maybe 100 more to go!