How do you collect world coins?

thanks for the reply.

 

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If any seller uses Priority Mail - 5-10 pounds is cheap. I would be charged $12 or $13 s/h if a medium box is used. Of course this is assuming you're buying from domestic sellers, not from Europe or Canada. (That would be spendy and add up very quickly)

 

Compared to me, your collecting habits are quite normal I'd say. Lately I've been flat out hoarding (x10!). I think I've reached the 250,000 - 300,000 coins mark so far
Just about all of my purchases are raw (no 2x2 coins, slabbed, paged), all loose in huge bags lol

I still have my silver morgan dollars all tubed up, no worries here. But last couple years I've had some sort of an ebay fever on buying any pre-euro Dutch/French/Aruba etc, and some Mexican Pesos mixed in (currency type stuff).

>60,000 Netherlands coins (mostly .999 nickel types)
>40,000 France coins (mostly .999 nickel types)
>3,000 Aruba coins (difficult to find in coin shops, I only find these on ebay)
>1,000 Antilles coins (also hard to find locally)
>3,000 Austria coins (apparently these are all still exchangeable?)
>25,000 Mexico coins (modern, from Nuevo > current day Pesos, did I mention I love bi-metal coins??)

And lots of other untold coins that make up my quarter million count... Some Italy/Belgium/Germany/Spain, etc. And i still have lots of Canadian Dollars.

At first I never really planned on "investing" in .999 nickel coins, but as the nickel prices keep dropping, I have been increasingly considering it to be investment rather than a simple collection. Isn't nickel $3.80 / lb right now? That's cheap. I remember it being multiple times that price just a couple years ago. I look forward to what it will do next.

Just yesterday I found someone from the UK on ebay listing a giant Netherlands bulk lot (1100 x 1 Gulden, 1800 x 25 Cent, 1900 x 10 Cent) all for dirt cheap prices. Of course I messaged the seller about different shipping options so I won't lose my shirt on having it delivered to my door. I snapped these lots up as soon as I noticed them. I very rarely ever see a person listing this many Dutch coins all at once. Happens maybe once or twice a year?

 

Most of the Austrian schilling coins issued after 1947 can still be redeemed, yes. There are a few exceptions, notably the silver versions of the 5 and 10 ATS pieces, see here.

Christian

 

Yes, I am aware of the partially silver versions of 5 and 10 Schillings (I used to own a few...). These sell for premiums on ebay so it's pretty easy to spot these. Most sellers also search their lots for silver and exclude them from bulk lots. All my 5's date after 1968 and my 10's after 1973 I think. Occasionally when I buy Guilders some accidental silvers from the 1960's slip in, but I haven't gotten this lucky with Austria lots.

 

Wow. Amazing! I think that's awesome that you collect nickel coins in such large quantities. I got a nickel stash my self. That bulk lot you might get sounds very nice. I was going through some of the Netherlands 25 cent nickels I have and found some interesting die varieties I think. I found a really dramatic doubled die on a Belgium franc from the 1960s. Do you go through the bulk lots you acquire? Or do you just box/bag them up? I bet you could create some series sets easily.

 

I got started on German commemoratives because I worked in a bank and we could always pick up a couple for face value when they came out. I also inherited some Morgan dollars from my Dad. After retirement I got interested in world coins in general. I collect some bullion coins just as an investment, but mostly world coins with eye appeal. I particularly like silver thalers / crowns, dollars, piastres de commerce, etc. Things 35 to 40 mm in diameter and around 27 grams. The older the better. I wish I could afford more old thalers; I particularly like hammered coins, they have a special antique appeal. And also history. As xlrcable said, Mexican coins are a treasure trove of historical interest. Last year I did a lecture on Mexican coinage for our local coin club; little did I know what I was letting myself in for! Mexican history is tortured! 100 years of pretty much constant revolution, each new strongman killing his predecessor. When you go through all that, it becomes less surprising that the PRI was able to maintain its grip on the country for almost a century--the Mexicans were just exhausted with revolution. Here are a couple of samples of my varied interests:
Czech 100 Korun piece from 1949 struck to celebrate the 70th birthday of the liberator and benefactor of Czechoslovakia: Joseph Stalin.

 

And here is an old thaler from Archduke Ferdinand that I think illustrates the appeal of hammered coins.

 

When I find the time, I do go through all my lots I purchase. Since these purchases have been spread out through a period of a few years, I am able to count everything when I receive packages. I think my largest deal I've ever gone through was about 18,000 Dutch coins from a dealer in Netherlands late last year (this took me a couple days to sort out..), but most of my lots are a portion of that at best.

I just bag up by denomination. Any 10/25 Cent piece dating between 1948-2001 I just bag up together. Eventually I may try to separate Juliana and Beatrix versions in different bags but that could take a while to do. Since they all have the same weight and sizes, I figured if I were to resell them to another collector it wouldn't matter if they were in the same bags.

 

Thanks for sharing, very interesting. Yeah, Mexico seems hard to tackle. That's why I stay mainly on the 1900s, plus coins tend to be cheaper here. I've seen that Stalin coin before. Is he on any other coins?

 

I see. There's nothing better than going through a hoard! I haven't done it many times. One time I bought 18 pounds or so of world coins from this lady for 120. It wasn't searched by a collector, only by someone looking probably for silver. I actually found 3 or 4 silver coins in that bunch. It was fun! If I were you, I'd look through all those coins you got for doubled die errors. People say and think they are common but if you look on ebay they sell for good money and there aren't a lot, especially ones easier to see

 

Yes, he is also depicted on the 50 korun coin - same year, same design. Apart from that, nah. Except that you can find his portrait on a Russian 1 kilo silver coin from 2005. Takes a close look though ...

Christian

 

Beautiful. I see what you mean now

 

I like to go to coin shows and coin shops and go through the big box there where it's like a whole thing of foreign coins you can get like 4 or 5 for a dollar

 

Ya, me too! My coin shop never has anymore. They only ever have what others bring in, and it goes away fast. I can never understand how shops deal only in US coins, or why collectors love only American coins. I love it all!

 

I tend to like world coins often more than our own. Especially silver crowns from multiple countries which in my opinion have superior designs. One of my personal favorites is the Germany Prussia 5 Mark minted during the Morgan era.

 

I haven't seen that one. I think it would be neater to have an unc Belgium, French, or English crown from the Morgan era rather than a US one too. There's countless unc US coins graded from that time but little world ones. It's totally overlooked over here

 

Most 5 Marks bid well over silver value, when I bid on mine (an AU 1908 5 Mark) it bid up to $45 and that was almost 2 years ago. I made sure it wasn't a cleaned coin. For a coin I'm never planning on reselling I think I did good. Next time I'd like look for a decent 2 Thaler (Prussia) from the 1850's. Collectors seem to be all over these on ebay so I can never afford them in good grades.

 

I never learned about Thalers or much else before the 1800s. I guess I'm stuck absorbing all the great coins in the 1900s. One day..