Foreign coins in yer change.

Hello everyone. I was wondering how often you have found a foreign coin in circulation. I got a Canadian cent in my change the other day, so I thought I would check out the foreign coins I have found in the past few years or so -- if I catch one, I usually toss it aside.

Here's what I've got:

1961 Singapore 20 cent piece (same size as a nickel)
1992 British Ten Pence (same size as a quarter)
1989 British Penny
1961 Confoederatio Helvetica (Switzerland) 10 Rappen/Centimes

I've also got a bunch of Canadian coins..but I can't find them right now.

Anyways..what do you have??

 

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Not sure how often I find one, but I do toss them(mostly canadian coins) into another can. I have a bunch of 'em and keep 'em all.

 

On average for 4 rolls of cents I find one Canadian. Occasionally I will get them in change from a purchase as well. Most all are from the mid-1970s to the mid 1980s. Very rare to get any non-cent Canadians.

Earlier this year my mom got a 2008 Panama Breast Cancer Awareness "quarter" in change (which she gave to me). It was the first time in years...more then a decade...that we got something that was not from the US or Canada in change.

 

Oddly enough this year, I got a 2009 Canadian quarter this far south BEFORE I got my first 2009 quarter here.

 

I usually find a few Canadian coins in change, but this year I haven’t had any luck. I did manage to retrieve a Mexican Peso from a vending machine the other day though.

 

That is quite odd.

 

I have friends in retail and they're always finding Canadian coins (mostly pennies or quarters).

 

I live a lot closer to the Canadian border than many here do, and I get Canadian in change all the time. It is so prevalent that I almost don't care for getting the 10 and 25 cent coins because I cannot use them in vending machines or turn them in at the bank. I collect Canadian cent and 5 cent coins, and have even gotten some of the young head QEII coins in change very recently - lots of older Canadian coins still circulate - I even get George VI cents from time to time.

And yes, I often get current dated coins from Canada quicker than I see current dated USA coins. A lot of it has to do with the fact that we have an outlet mall near here, and mostly Canadians shop there. Most of the stores there will take even Canadian paper money when selling, accounting for the difference in exchange.

 

Depends on how one defines "foreign". On one hand I use euro coins from other countries every day, as they are regular circulation pieces. On the other hand, I rarely come across anything non-euro. One time I got a 10 baht coin from Thailand which are "famous" for being close to our €2 coins (bimetallic look, about the same size, worth much less); cannot recall any others ...

Christian

 

In Michigan I see a lot of Canadian coins in circulation, always have. I still have a pristine 1959 Canadian half from my paper route back then. Cents through quarters are quite common.

 

I found a Mexican 2 peso coin on the street early this year.



It was about the size of a US nickel 5¢ coin.

 

I'm a cashier about 10 miles from the San Francisco airport - I get a LOT of foreign coinage. Here's a list of what I've gotten from circ in the last year or so:

Ireland 5 Eurocent
China 1 Yuan
Greece 10 & 20(whatever the unit is, pre-Euro)
France 10 Centimes from 1910, silver!
Mexico 1 new dollar and 2 new dollar
Italy 1 Eurocent
France 1 Franc 1960
Brazil 50 Centavos
Ecuador 5 centavos
Viet Nam 1000 Dong
East Caribbean states 10 cents and 25 cents
Norway 25 Ore
Singapore 50 cents
Netherlands 10 cents
Barbados 10 cents
Korea 100 Won and 500 Won, also found a 1000 Won paper note while sweeping outside in the rain!
Phillippines 10 Sentimos, 25 Sentimos, 1 Piso
Germany 2 Eurocent
Finland 20 Eurocent
South Africa 5 cent
Greece 2 Eurocent
Spain 1 Eurocent
Spain 5 Pesetas 1998 and 1975, different designs
Great Britain 1 Penny, 2 New Pence, 5 Pence, 10 Pence, 20 Pence, 50 Pence, 1 Pound
Great Britain 6 Pence 1921, Silver
Croatia 2 Kune
Bermuda 1 Dollar
Bolivia 10 Centavos
Canada - MANY, including every different cent design (not every date) since 1941, 5 and 10 cent, several different 25 cent designs, a beautiful 1938 5 Cent
Austria 50 Groschen
Panama 1 cent
Thailand 5 Baht
Bermuda 1 cent

Whew!

Joe

 

I usually get a lot of Canadian coins from about October through March, as the snowbirds move in for the winter. The rest of the year not much, but occasionally a few coins from Mexico as the border is somewhat close and we get a lot of migratory farm workers coming through. I just throw all this into a jar because I know next to nothing about foreign coins.
Guy~

 

I got a loonie in the return slot from a coin counting machine.

I see a couple of canadian cents every year. most of the time I will just include them with everything else & spend or roll.

 

I hardly ever get foreign coins in change. But searching through rolls is a different story. Probably one foreign in every five rolls and mostly all Canadian.

 

Got a 1973 Barbados cent in change this morning, funny looking because it has a trident on the reverse.

 

Kind of gets me mad that I seldom find them in my change any more. Long time ago I used to find all sorts of foreign coins in change but nothing for a long, long time now. I think part of the problem I use credit and debit cards so much, I seldom see change of any kind. As to those cards, my Son doesn't even carry cash of any kind. He uses those type of cards every where.

 

Living 10 miles or so from Mexico, one might suspect more of those in change than Canadian. But there are so many Canadian "snow birds" here, I get more Canadian in my change ( in the winter time). Odd world!

Jim

 

That's quite a collection you got there!

 

I have only ever gotten one Mexican coin in change, as a quarter, and it was one of the older Peso coins. Most of the time their coins are just not the right size or composition to masquerade as American coins.

I have even gotten 4-5 Panamanian coins in change over the past few years, but they are the same composition - even the sandwiched coins in 10, 25, etc. that the USA coins are.