There's quite a list of former sovereign states. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_sovereign_states#section_3
Well, the author writes that he picked just these four. It is a selection, not a complete list - makes sense to me. Unfortunately the article also has some mistakes. He says "On Oct. 3, 1990, the coinage of East Germany became a finished chapter, as the nation was reunited with its western portion as the Federal Republic of Germany." Duh. What the author calls "the western portion" has been the Federal Republic of Germany since 1949. A few years later, in 1957, Saarland joined that Federal Republic, and in 1990 the five Eastern states (formerly the GDR) joined. A simple look at the country name on the coins would have revealed that. Also, the coinage "became a finished chapter" when the GDR adopted the DM - which was not in October but on 1 July 1990 ... Christian
Why would the East Germans make silver coins? I thought they had a planned economy, i.e. no need for hard currency since the system is the purest form of fiat. Was it made for collectors? Who on earth could afford such things in the old eastern bloc?
There is no economy in this world that relies on or works with what you call "hard currency". But of course, in a system like what the GDR had, the way cash "worked" was different from how it works in "the West" (where I lived). The GDR issued two different types of collector coins - silver pieces (between Ag 500 and Ag 800; primarily exported) and Cu-Zn-Ni pieces. The silver coins would of course cost more than face, and the government would cash in on the difference. However, as a collector in the GDR you had the opportunity to get such collector coins if you were an active member in a Kulturbund coin club ... Christian
Rare is relative. The "regular" issues are not that expensive, even though quite a few have been melted down. Some will cost a one-digit euro amount these days, the pricier ones will be between €200 and €400. It gets really costly, however, if you want a proof version of an early commem. In the mid-1970s the GDR made those proof versions of coins that had been issued in the 60s and early 70s. Very few were minted, and those can easily cost €10,000 to €15,000 ... Christian
