I am only a few days in Coin Talk but i don't think there is much interest for euros in US collectors. Am I right or am I wrong? In Europe, however, there is great interest for the USA coins.
Yes, I noticed little interest in Euros and foreign coins in general by US collectors. I found a 2005 Italian 1 Euro coin in a coin machine and it did sell for a little over face converted to US dollars. I just tried to sell a variety of foreign coins and no bids.
Yes, I don't see many Euro collectors here in the U.S. Maybe in a hundred years when there are old Euros more Americans will collect them than they do now.
Guess that, from an American point of view, euro coins are (a) "too foreign" and (b) "too modern". If US collectors are interested in non-US coins at all, it's mostly older pieces. Then again, many collectors here in Europe, if they are interested in US coins, don't really care that much about, say, the ATB quarters or the presidential dollars ... Christian
True, Euro coins are modern. Many US collectors are not that interested in state quarters or presidential dollars. I know American collectors are mainly interested in older British coins since they were used by the colonists. I noticed many also like older Italian coins just because of the nice designs associated with them.
I also like some coins because of theire designs. i may be an oddball, but i collect mostly foreign silver coins. i have a very few from the usa. i have silver coins from about 45 countries, from when i was starting to collect and was just buying anything silver. now i am focusing on british empire silver.... britain, south africa, australia, new zealand, british east africa, and british india silver coins, and also a few irish silver shillings and florins. from about 1900 to 1950.
I like the Euro's and collect them whenever I can. The designs are interesting and the multi-metal coins are interesting. I only wish I had access to "new" eEuro's. Especially the commemorative Euro's which each country in the European Union is allowed to produce two of per year. Those rarely see the light of day and my non-collecting European contacts never see them.
That's because the commems from some euro countries have relatively low mintages while others make quite a few. In Belgium for example they usually mint 5 million of each issue, Germany 30 million, Portugal half a million or a million. Spain makes between 4 and 8 million per issue, Malta roughly half a million, and so on. I do get a commemorative €2 coin in my change from time to time, but of course there are many more "regular" pieces. By the way, the "two per year" rule is pretty new, and so far no euro country has made use of it. Until this year, each member state could issue only one (plus the common issues), but there will soon be more. On the other hand, some countries (such as Ireland) never make any €2 commems unless it's a common issue ... Christian
I'm toying with a collection of business strike Euro coins. Since I've just started I try to buy mixed bulk lots. From what I've seen on eBay most sellers price their common small lots too high.
When the euros first came out I was quite surprised by the high level of interest in the US. Even people who ignored the states quarters because they were too modern were collecting the Euros. Most of the interest seems to have faded over the years.
I never got into Euros due to lack of availability to them. Besides seeing US coins, the only other countries I see at local stores/flea markets are Mexico, Canada, Italy, France and Great Britain.
I am a big world coin collector but the euros have no interest for me. It's hard to say why exactly, but one thing is I don't really like bimetallic coins, and I don't like the modern designs. My collections for euro zone countries stop in 2000.
I agree with wgpjr, I think the lack of availability probably plays a big role in why not many in the US collect them. If they were more widely and easily available I think more people would dabble in them.
I found a five cent Euro in some nickels today and I also mentioned I sold an Italiian Euro. Euro coins are available, fortunately for nothing or next to it.
For my part, I really do like the Euros but it's an availability problem. I could get them online, but I prefer to see them in person before I start buying online. Kind of a chicken and egg problem. -L
