Got a little bored this morning so I wrote this down. As some of you know I´m from Iceland and I collect Icelandic rarities, Kingdom BU coins, varieties, errors and tokens. I´m also a coin dealer and buy and sell coins. I know everything there is to know “documented “about the business of Icelandic coins and their history. 60% of all clients that come to me have vast amounts of coinage from the Republic era. I have had people come to me with suitcases full of these coins expecting to hit the jackpot. I even had a man calling me up who had 300 Kilos “600 pounds “of coins. And he had documented every single coin and given it approx. grade and price and put it in the largest excel file I have ever seen in my life. And every time I have to tell them the same story and facts. It´s worthless I’m afraid. According to the central bank of Iceland 590 tons were not returned when the changed our coinage in 1980. Which is about 1.180.000 pounds of coins. Vast majority of those being the later dates in full BU grades. Yes some early coins like the 1946 pieces are scarce in BU condition but because of coin catalogs being undervalued when it comes to Icelandic coin prices it´s not worth trying to find them in those lots. There are other factors which make Icelandic republic coins so unpopular and that´s the lack of ANY varieties. The coins did not change for 40 sum years and no one has ventured into finding out differences like the us collectors have done for years. When you have a coin like the 2 Kronur 1946-1966 that was minted for a nation of 300 thousand in 3 million plus pieces the interest will always be minimal both at home and abroad. There are collectors who ventured into making mint sets with every one of them making less money than time spent making the sets. Even the melting facilities have refused to take the coins. That leaves people with kilos of coins to give to the next generation of people who will get the same answer. Now I get all kinds of responses, All the way from angry to general interest in how much I know about coins and even laughter when they realize the space they could have saved all those years holding on to them. So what does one do ? Well as I say people have made mint sets, all kinds of jewelry, and even tried to sell them to the Russians in bulk. But with every new bright idea how to turn these large amounts of coins into a profit a star explodes in the universe. I often wish that I had the longing to find varieties but I don’t. Maybe the future will hold someone that would give them the time and effort. But I’m not holding my breath. Siggi :thumb:
I don't even have that wish. Yes, seeing a variety, or reading about one, can be interesting. But when it comes to my collection, I do not really care about errors and varieties. As for designs of Icelandic coins, the two silver commems from 1974 I have, and also a set of post-1980 circulation coins. Very nice pieces. The Alþingi millennium pieces (1930) I did not get. Again very interesting designs, but as they are between medals and coins, I decided to spend my money on other pieces. Another "problem" from my point of view is, in the past 25 years Iceland has issued hardly any collector coins. None in the past ten years, I think, and the few before have (again IMO) fairly old-fashioned designs. Guess that in tough economic times, people are not all too keen on buying new collector coins. But a few more than zero would be fine. Christian
Christian your absolutly right about the lack of collectors coins from Iceland. The problem is that the central bank is not doing any because of the blunder of the 10.000 Kronur 1000 years of christianity gold coin from 2000 KM#36. It sold very poorly and 1700 out of 3000 minited were melted. It´s the last piece to have been made. They had a great oppertunity to make one this year but failed to do so. The problem also is that coin collecting is a hobby had died over here in Iceland. There is no interest at all in collecting coins.
Wow..........590 tons of Republic coins,, That alot of coins. Well Siggi ,,,,You don't have to hold your breath....I think you should collect all these coins and ship them to me,,these way I can check them all for errors and varities since this is what I like doing best. So when can you ship them....LOL
I have three huge boxes of them, You can have them if you want ot pay shipping. It´s about 50 KG of coins
Coin shops in Iceland Hi Siggi, can you suggest any coin shops in Iceland, preferably in Reykjavik area? I will be visiting your country in late February 2012 and would like to check some numismatic places. Thak you
Since Siggi is a dealer, perhaps you can both meet up. I know he has sold a couple of coins to other CT members. Infact, I should really pm him myself about his coins. I would be interested in aquiring a few. However, I haven't seen him post anything lately. I hope he is still active on the board. And as for yourself, welcome to CT. We are always pleased to have a new member.
hey siggi i would be interested in some of those coins if you want to work something out pm me the details id be interested in about 25.00 worth (including shipping) since thats my weekly budget. i would enjoy going through them. cody
Cody; That 50KG in coins is about 110 Lbs of US weight. I know it costs about $15 to ship 1 ounce of Silver from Britain, to the US, from the British Mint. (Which is close to that part of the world). That will net you $10-$12 in coins. I don't know if this is even worth his or your effort to reduce a collection of that size.
true.. lol i didnt think of that, never bought anything out of the us before other than some honda parts that were going to be expensive to ship regardless of where they came from.. nvm siggi cody
Well you found a niche, so why don't you be the first to document the varieties? I know for a fact they exist. =) Personally I have more experience with the 1920's-30's coins. The later stuff I generally throw into large lots for the same reasons you mentioned. The earlier stuff can sell quite well in mint state due to relatively low mintage.
I love Icelandic coins! We used to travel to Iceland and that's where I was introduced to the wonderful culture. I love the Sugar Cubes, and the people there are first rate kind and considerate. I would love to have sets of Icelandic coins, because I have a few odd coins that I saved with some paper money. If you wanna put together year sets, PM, me and I will procure them from you. I am glad I am not the only one around who loves the Country and Designs. Be worth your time.
if you have a large amount of coins with no numismatic value.then don't forget the scrap yard.i have a friend who does very well out of british bronze coins
