I have, over the years, accumulated coins and paper money from many countries. Until recently I had not thought about just how many. So I checked. I have currency from 90 different countries (out of about 300 I found in the guide) and coins from almost 200 countries (out of 1400 listed). So I have now decided to start of fun project of trying to acquire one currency note and one coin from as many different countries as possible. It will be an ongoing project which will be added to only as the opportunity arises. I will try to find uncirculated currency and coins for modern issues and the best I can find for older ones. I won't be looking for expensive items, just one low cost item of each type.
I had coins from about 200 issuers back a couple of years ago, so I decided to do the same thing (without the currency). According to Numista criteria, my OFEC (One From Each Country) collection now has 265 countries and 449 issuers. The Numista catalog currently has 292 countries and 1285 issuers. I also have an OFEY (One From Each Year) collection running from 2018 back to 1498.
I started an OFEC collection with my son when he was about 8. We made a lot of progress over the years, but set it aside when he headed off for college. I still have it and occasionally add a coin to it. Maybe when the kid gets over the hump of entering the work force and has more free time, he'll want to pick up where we left off. It's a lot of fun and low pressure if you don't set the bar too high. From the outset I said high grade (UNC whenever possible) affordable base metal coins, 20th century only. That seemed to work well for us.
That's pretty much what I decided on. Base metal and low denomination notes from 1945 onwards, unless it is something I already have or something which fits with my regular collecting.
I've been away for a few weeks: more than ever since I started posting regularly. May is always a very busy time for me because if I don't plant in the spring I don't eat the rest of the year (at least not without spending more than I care to). Plus, some other personal issues got in the way. But, regardless, I am back with an update on this project. What I found is that it is relatively easy to accumulate currency notes and base metal coins from many countries. I very quickly got up to 160 out of the 210+ countries listed in the catalog of modern currency. Many of the remaining ones are more of a challenge so, while I am working on that, I decided to extend my challenge. Now my goal is to obtain one each of every denomination minted by each country as a coin or banknote. As fare as coins go I restricted myself to all base metal coin denominations plus a goal of one silver coin per country (gold was too ambitious). This is way more challenging and so I decided to restrict it to countries which are currently minting one or the other (most have both, of course). The goal is one country per month and I reckon that makes it a 15-20 year challenge. That sounds much more interesting. For some reason I found that the countries which I was closest to completing when I started were the Stans of central Europe. Don't ask my why: I just had them. So that was my first goal: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. For good measure I threw in Mongolia as it seemed much closer to the Stans than to China. So a six country challenge. I have just completed the first one: Kazakhstan. I have one coin of each base metal denomination and one silver coin. I also have one banknote of every denomination they have ever produced, all the way up to a current note with a dollar equivalent of over $60. I am now working on the other five countries in the region while accumulating as many notes and coins from as many countries worldwide as possible. I am currently in the process of writing up and scanning all the coins and notes of Kazakhstan and writing background information about each. As soon as it is completed I will create a gallery entry with all the information I have found. It had been very educational and I would recommend a similar project to everyone.
I feel like it’s been not that long ago since I saw @sakata post, but it’s been over two years since his last post! Time really does fly.
