I've noticed an unusual number of Jamaican coins seem to be really heavily damaged or discolored. I'm wondering if anyone has any theories about why? Here are two photos from eBay auctions, but I think they are typical of many in the series.
I have noticed the same thing. Maybe it is the meat "jerking" thing they do that erodes the coins. A lot of spices...
And what annoys me is I see coins like these for sale and the starting bid is like $5. No one is paying $5 for that horrible looking coin. I've noticed the British Honduras 5 cents from the 50s and 60s have the same problems as the Jamaican pennies from the same time period. They seem to be the same kind of metal and have the same problems.
It has to be the climate and the fact that they actually use the coins, as opposed to other Caribbean states that use US and UK coinage and only use theirs for souvenir tokens.
I've added Jamaica to the list of countries I'm collecting, since I always seem to add British territories eventually. They're not easy to find. Most dates just aren't for sale, or if they are I feel they're overpriced. You see the coins from the 1940s-1960s quite often, but the earlier dates don't show up much, and when they do a lot of them look like the ones I posted above.
You get the same problem with a lot of older coins from Africa, environment is a huge factor in how coins hold up.
I would say that there are four factors at play for why older Jamaican coins are usually found in such pour condition, especially in foreign bins here in the US. 1) Low Mintages 2) Heavy Usage 3) Climate Conditions 4) Better examples shipped over seas (Europe) whereas most low grade coins end up in foreign bins and in low priced foreign coin books and buy boards in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Most collectors that I know in Europe tend to have better examples than I do and at times have purchased them at lower prices.
That 1903 above is a beaut. Never seen one like that. I've noticed the same thing as you. But I tend to think they are like that because no one took much of an interest in them, and they would just rot in world coin bins and get infected. I also see this with Great Britain cents and lower from the 1800s and early 1900s. These coppers tend to have bluish slime and corrosion on them and I'm wary of purchasing them raw. I wouldn't say it was so much the climate, maybe it's more the abuse
I agree with you, Sir. A coins in a low grade aren't popular both Europe and Russia. We're call them "Numismatical garbage". As for me, I try to get a Caribbean coins in high grade too. Like this coin.
