This is a really difficult set to assemble. A few coins were from ex-mint sets and took a lot of patience to gather this set. I don't think I'll upgrade a couple of the coins as the asking price for some of them are just absurd. The last coin that I needed was the 1975 50 kopek. Key dates of this are as follows: 1970 - 1972, 1975 is a surprise. All these four coins look like they were from ex-mint sets. 1979 and 1980 both look like they were from mint sets as well. Another big surprise is the 1991 50 kopek struck in Moscow mint - this was quite difficult to find despite low catalog value. Enjoy the picture that I've put together. http://www.gxseries.com/numis/rus_new_type/russia_50k_61_pg1_small.jpg Maybe you would like to attempt a simliar set like this? Please feel free to show your 50 kopek collection.
Won't try this myself (I'm rather a type collector) but I am sure this has been an interesting "hunt". Have you come across any of those pieces where the date on the reverse differs from that on the edge? Those would be tough to find, but I am surprised that the 1991M piece was difficult too ... Christian
I am generally not impressed with collecting by date and mint, but when someone attempts it on a series that most others neglect entirely, I do take notice. Kudos!
Hi Christian, yes, it's a difficult set to accomplish. I was really surprised over the difficulty of obtaining the 1991 M 50 kopek. All these coins literally came all over from Europe and US. I think the 1991 M 50 kopek came from France (!). 1967 50 kopek is also another example as most of 1967 50 kopek in the market is the commemorative Lenin coin, not the standard 50 kopek. I was really lucky hunting down the key date 1970 early in the game a couple of years ago before Soviet coin prices have gone to the moon... I've missed the opportunity of obtaining a wrongly dated edged coin but this was many years ago when I was a student. Back then it was around 100 dollars but that was still a lot of money. Most of the coins found were in mint sets. Thanks for your kind words Ardatirion.
Very impressive. I suspect as relative valuations come to more accurately reflect scarcirty that these will gain. The ruble coins seem a little undervalued as well.
Definitely not missing that particular 50 kopek in my collection. Probably still have around 10 of them sitting around in circulated condition. Haven't really gone through these coins yet as I had been busy and probably have too many coins to go through. As of how I'm envisioning this Soviet coin album to look like, it would be a collection of all denominations starting from 1921 - 1957 1 kopek onwards and a seperate page for 50 kopek and 1 ruble silver coinage as well as special coins, i.e. 1925 1 kopek and half kopek. Will have another section for coins issued from 1961 - 1991 and then a seperate page for 1991 provisional government coinage as well as some other coins such as 1990 M 5 and 10 kopek, 1991 10 kopek no mintmark. There will be another section seperated by circulated commemorative coins.
Cladking - I think the prices of normal rubles have been going up rather fast. Most coins from 1965 - 1975 are now in the range of 30 - 50 dollars in particular early 1970 coins. These coins however rarely did circulate and can be found in decent condition. Completing a ruble set is now getting expensive very quickly. I was lucky and bought them couple of years ago.
It's really hard for me to keep up since I rely so much on Krause and they're usually far out of date. Krause did finally raise the ruble prices a couple years back but these new prices don't seem to very well reflect the relative scarcity in my opinion either. I usually just figure the guides are speculative until the scarce coins have higher prices than the more common ones.
Got it home. Yes, there does seem to be some discoloration on some of the coins. Hard to get good pics through the plastic case. The case itself has some spotting and scratches. Some of the coins are toning nicely. Trying to decide if I want to keep it or not. It looked a lot nicer when I first purchased it.
I, too, collect series that most others neglect entirely (South Korea). And when someone completes a very difficult 50 Kopek collection, I for sure take notice. I still think that CT should have a forum titled "Less Commonly Collected Coins". gx would dominate it, for sure!
Another GX started thread where he almost convinces me to go back and look at all my Soviet era pocket change from my time in the gulag archipelago of the Soviet Far East. I might have some rares in there and not even know it. By then most 1960s era coins had largely dropped out of circulation though.
