World coin rookie here. Have a couple of questions about buying.

"Liberte Egalite Fraternitie" Liberty, Equality, Fraternity(Brotherhood) La Belle France

Nederlanden is the Netherlands

Shillings and the Queen, Great Britian, of course. Coins of Great Britian do not have a country name on them (I think - and would like to be corrected if wrong). If you ever noticed, the British Chemical Society is "The Chemical Society" while the US has the American Chemical Society.

 

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Thank you!

 

I've learned if I can read the words on a world coin I don't get them. I try to get the ones I can sorta say.

 

The British 2 shilling is not silver. British coins after 1946 are not silver, while those before generally are unless they're obviously copper/bronze. The Dutch 1 cents are fairly common but I always buy them when I see them too. The French centimes coins from 1918 are super common. That has to be one of the most common dates, but yours is in good shape. You bought all the things I'd buy too. I like British coins and they are one of the most popular with collectors, so you can't go wrong there.

 

Doesn't that apply more to proofs and other new coins? I'd think a coin from 93 years ago that has been in a value bin is probably immune from fingerprint damage.

 

Ah, thanks for the info on the 2 shilling and other information. It's also nice to know I am buying similar coins that you would also buy as an experienced world coin collector. Tells me I have my eye in the right direction.

 

Also wanted to add, if you like the world coins and want to add silver to your collection. You can try visiting thrift shops, sometimes they have a mixture of silver world coins. The only problem is you really have to know what to look for as sometimes the silver tones so heavily it turns almost black.

 

You are definitely not wrong here. Until 1953, British coins had a somewhat different title of the king (BRITT: OMN: REX) or queen - Elizabeth II was BRITT: OMN: REGINA in her first two years. And "BRITT." could be a pretty good hint, except ... it was dropped because its use did not refer to the UK alone. It was an abbreviation of BRITTANIARUM OMNIS REX/REGINA which meant something like King/Queen of all British Territories. And that was, in the 1950s, no longer appropriate as many Commonwealth countries got a different political status or became independent.

Rule of thumb: If you see Elizabeth on a coin but cannot find a country name, the piece is from the UK. There are a couple of other countries that do not have their names on the coins either (Austrian-Hungarian Empire until WW1, and the early issues of several euro countries) but by and large coins do indicate their origin ...

Christian

 

Hi there!

Awesome stuff! Yes, despite being a new member I collect World silver coins heavily and I'm looking to sell some as soon as I receive enough posts, lol.

I agree with everything that has already been said- a lot of the easy World silver has been picked out, but it's still not too late if you familiarize yourself with what is out there and keep searching. You mentioned that you have ben going to this dealer and have built up a rapport with him- crucial!! But, have you ever considered going to some coin shows in your area? Often you can find random coin buckets or tubs there as well. Also, If you're looking to score some cheap world silver don't discount the power of buying in bulk. Most dealers can do better if you buy several coins instead of one or two even if they are out in the open. Just today I was at a coin show and a dealer had common Canadian silver dollars at $19 each, but I bought a roll and talked him down to $17.50 each (under melt).

I do agree with a previous post about rare does not necessarily equal $$$, ESPECIALLY with world coins. It's actually quite frustrating, since I've come across several extremely rare Swiss and German coins that I couldn't really sell for more than spot despite their rarity. The only world country whose rare coins seem to have at least SOME general appreciation in the US is Canada, at least in my experience. Other than that it's all niche collectors...

But don't let that stop you. Silver under spot is more silver for your money!!

wags