I have been confused by listings for israeli coins in the 2011 Standard Catalogue of World Coins (by Krause). A majoriey to the coins are listed with small letters in parenthesis, but I have been unable to find an explanation of these letters. The listings for mint marks of Israeli coins do not list these letters, so I am at a loss to identify many of these coins. Some examples are (i), (ht), (b), (t), (j), and (o). These letters are after the dates in most cases, and in other countries usually have something to do with the minting of the coin. Unfortunately, for Israel, Krause did not put an explanation for these notes. If anyone has information as to where I can look to determine what these letters signify, or if you know, please let me know...Thanks so much....Bill
Cointalk has a "World & Ancient Coins" forum. You might try it - best of luck. See here: http://www.cointalk.com/f11/
They are indeed mintmarks, of the ones used, (o) = Ottawa, (j) = Jerusalem, (so) = Santiago, (f) = Stuttgart, (s) = San Fransisco. Not sure about the other letters, but (ht) may be Heaton.
Israeli coin Thanks for the replies. I'm still a little confused since the Kraus's catalog lists these letters next to the coins date, but on inspection of the coin, I am unable to find any mintmark at all.
Unlike US coins, they do not have mintmarks. There are some exceptions, for example the 250 pruta from 1949 with H mintmark, but in general Israeli coins don't have them at all.
When Krause has the mint mark in parenthesis, it means that it's not actually stamped on the coin. This is not just for Israeli coins.
I fail to see Kraus' reasoning for putting this various letters in parenthesis in their catalog if there is no way to determine the difference, why not just combine the total coins minted instead of confusing everyone. Anyway, thanks for the reply. Regards, Bill
Well, there are noticeable differences in coins made at different mints. The problem is that with modern coins you often need high magnification and a lot of patience to find them. In cases where dies are hubbed from one master die and then sent out to different mints, you may have to look for minor differences in how the coin is struck rather than in the details themselves.
The link provided does not help at all. There are hundreds if not thousands of threads about various coins. If it directed me to a particular topic, it would be helpful. The coin I asked a question about is definitely not an Ancient coin, but is a world coin...Israel, and I mentioned in my thread starter. I find a chalice below the leave of the lilly with an o below that. If that's not a mint mark, what is it, and if it is, its not listed in my copy of Krause's catalog for 1994 1 new sheqel coins.
Here is the list of all mints ever used by Israel for their coins. I`ll be glad to assist if you need help with any particular mint marks or denominations. Not all of them use mint marks, some coins show same mint mark but were minted in several different mints. Mintage locations and quantities documented (mostly) so its not a hard task to find specific coin info.
