Coin per nation set.

I am putting together a coin per nation set, but I am asking for experienced advice on how many nations had coins made for them or make their own coins. For example, should Danzig, Somaliland, Nagorno Karabakh etc. be included?

 

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There is no law saying either one can't be in your collection. If there is a coin, I will try to get it.

 

If I were in your position, I'd collect coins only from current nations. For example, I believe Danzig hasn't issued coins since before the Second World War.

 

I had a similar goal, but it got dauntingly complex very quickly, especially as I like
to collect coppers from the German States, 1600s to 1800s. Perhaps one could
pick a date and collect coins from nations which existed at that date, or even in
that century. I decided to focus on large copper coins from every country I could
find from the 1800s.

 

This also leads to some very thorny political questions! For example, is Transnistria a state? What about Kosovo? Somaliland?

 

I had a set like this mostly completed before I decided to change directions. What countries you want to include is really your choice. There are a number of ways to look at it.

 

Thank you everyone for you advice. Based on your answers, it is apparent that some to many places out there are optional for us coin per nation collectors. I did a lot of research going into this project, and concluded there are 225 nations/territories/provinces that either made their own coins or had coins made for them (excluding obsolete borders/countries), either to circulate, or as collectibles. Also beware of tokens being passed off as coins, since many tokens are for sale at many coin sites without being accurately described as tokens.

 

My take on this, as someone who focuses on circulating coins, is that if an entity (plausibly) had coins issued for circulation, then that entity is a 'country' for collecting purposes regardless of its actual geopolitical standing.

 

For Danzig look on the British eBay they can be bought relatively inexpensive

 

The canonical list:

https://groups.io/g/Everycountry

 

What you're talking about is commonly referred to as an OFEC (One From Every Country) collection.

The variations and permutations for such a collection are nearly endless, so ultimately it's up to you to define what's in and what's out.

Good luck. These can really be fun. I started one with my son when he was about 8 (25 now). We never finished but enjoyed working on it. I still have the unfinished collection and may return to it some day.

 

Thank you for your information. Yes, putting this set together has been fun, but also more difficult than I thought going into it. I bought a 200 coin per nation starter set for $86 at eBay in July thinking it would be fairly comprehensive, but I was wrong. Many of the coins were tiny, and many of them were not exactly what I consider distinct nations/countries. Since July, I already spent more than $1,000 upgrading and adding to this set. I still have a little way to go.

 

Try also a Date set for your birthyear. Several members here are
working on these. A lot tougher than you might expect, lots of fun.

 

You got a South Korea yet?

 

Try a One For Each Year set. 1501A.D. forward is doable over time.
Pre 1501 A.D. is challenging. Pre 1464 A.D. will take some time and
many of the coins will come from Islamic nations. A very hard language
to read, at least for me.

 

Two reasons I gave up on the OFEC. Trying to decide what counted (what defined a country, states, changes in government, how far back to go, ETC). Though that is also part of the fun.

Also, it turns out, it was hard to pick just one coin from a given country. Which explains why I have such an extensive Zog/Albania collection (and yes, an Illyrian coin or two, some from the Italian Occupation, the Socialist era...).

That said, starting in on OFEC is a great way to find something that tickles your fancy and go more in depth with. I still have a binder I plan to keep.

 

Yes, currently, I have coins representing 225 nations, territories, and provinces combined. My South Korea coin is a 10 WON 2001, a really pretty, shiny coin.

 

That looks really interesting! I don't know if I will pursue that route, but I did complete a coin per century set recently, 27 centuries in all, and the most difficult century to find a decent looking coin from (at least for me) was the 10th century, but I finally found a really nice looking AU solidus of Constantine VII along side Romanos I circa 935 A.D.

 

Yes, some of those places are difficult for me, but what I did is describe my coins from nations like Serbia, Macedon, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia Herzegovina etc. as coins of former Yugoslavia so as to avoid including obsolete nations in my set, but I decided to include the 4 provinces of Canada that had coins made for them, because they look interesting.

 

@Daniel Jones How about showing us your 27 century coin set. I'm ready for
some eye candy!!