Good evening, everyone! Was just messing around with bins of miscellaneous world coins, and came across my New Zealand Dollar coins (all in single coin plastic cases.) Thought it would be fun to look them up to see if any were decently valuable - turns out none of them book for even $10. Oh well - I also thought it would be fun to image them and share here with you tonight. 1970 "Cook Islands" (Numista) Mintage: 25,070 (plastic case) Book Value: $6.00 1970 "Mount Cook" (Numista) Mintage: 285,000 (plastic case) 30,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $5.00 1974 "New Zealand Day" (Numista) Mintage: 50,000 Book Value: $6.00 1978 "Coronation Jubilee / New Zealand Parliament" (Numista) Mintage: 100,000 (plastic case) 23,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $5.00 1981 "Royal Visit" (Numista) Mintage: 75,000 (plastic case) 25,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $6.00 1983 "Coinage Anniversary" (Numista) Mintage: 40,000 (plastic case) 25,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $5.00 1983 "Royal Visit" (Numista) Mintage: 40,000 (plastic case) Book Value: $6.00 1984 "Chatham Island Black Robin" (Numista) Mintage: 40,000 (plastic case) 25,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $3.00 1985 "Black Stilt" (Numista) Mintage: 40,000 (plastic case) 20,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $7.00 1986 "Kakapo" (Numista) Mintage: 35,000 (plastic case) 18,000 (BU sets) Book Value: $7.00
Nice toning, low mintages, cool designs! Undervalued, for sure. But that's often how it goes with some World coins, right? Poor little Black Robin, so underappreciated like that. It's actually quite a lovely coin.
Thank you! Like I said, they've been in a bin inside a tote for quite a while now - waiting for a day much like today when I have time to actually decide whether to keep or sell them. (The good news being that I'm finally getting to the point where I have gotten rid of a LOT of stuff I don't care about, and I can start getting into stuff like this.) The Mount Cook was a close call, but due to the scratches on the obverse (probably the previous owner sliding the case over it) I decided against keeping it longer term. I've decided I will remain the owner of the following: 1974 New Zealand Day (love that flying egret, reminds me of another FM silver coin I have...somewhere...I know I've posted it here so I'll look it up) 1981 Royal Visit (definitely proof like in hand) 1983 Coinage (also proof like, plus it has more coins on it!) 1983 Royal Visit (just really gorgeous condition) 1984 Black Robin (another proof like, plus an interesting animal) 1986 Kakapo (have a feeling it would be proof like if I were to conserve it.) These all remind me of my trip to New Zealand a few years back. Those Kea parrots were no joke - we parked by the entrance to a tunnel coming out of Fjordland and they immediately started trying to dismantle my friends' fathers' car. Had to shoo them away!
Also, thank you very much @lordmarcovan - just noticing that the post has been "Featured" - not sure that's ever happened to me before here. Guess I should image and share more of my collection, haha...
I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I'm not familiar with this series. Are they circulation coins, or NCLT?
Well, since they were all issued either in a plastic case or in a BU set, I'm thinking they didn't circulate at all - although I have found some circulated examples of the Mount Cook dollar coins in bulk world bins, probably broken out of sets or cases. Someone more expert than I can feel free to add their experience, if they like.
I love big coins and I have a huge New Zealand collection so naturally I have a complete set of these large dollar coins. Here's some interesting ones you didn't post. Unfortunately I took these scans years ago inside the 2x2s but you get the idea still.
I just bought the 1967 specimen (aka proof) set of New Zealand coins for the whopping sum of $10, and it still appears I overpaid for the set. I can never go wrong with a large crown-sized coin, no matter the "book value" they are hefty, pretty and fun to hold. Book value on the 1967 (numista) is $5.
They thought that that bird, the kakapo (last coin in the OP), was extinct in New Zealand. Then in the 1970s they found a group of them. They took them to a deserted island in the south of New Zealand and are now trying to increase their numbers. They are flightless, smell like honey(!), and are nocturnal. They almost went the way of the dodo...
I think they're beautiful. I wonder why such low value. Population? Demand? I would appreciate having such nice examples.
always demand in cases like this. I have a Franklin Mint Cook Island dollar coin with a mintage of 200, I believe. They sell for like $20 or less.
Yes, low demand keeps prices much more modest than one might expect, with these as with a number of other nice World coin issues. Which is one big reason I became a World coin collector thirty-plus years ago. There’s so much more “bang for the buck” there.
