The first one is an Israeli aluminum-bronze 5 agorot. I can't make out the date, but KM25 was minted from 1960-77. Values listed below Unc go from 10¢ to $20. The second one is from the country named on the reverse - Mauritius, an island republic in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. The 2005 Krause lists the 1 cent coin as copper-plated steel, KM#51. It was a one-year issue in 1987. The gentleman on the obverse is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, who is presumably the head of state. His bust is on all coins of this British Commonwealth member since 1987. Previously the British Sovereign's bust was on Mauritius coinage. I'm going to take a wild guess at the third one , and identify it without opening Krause. Dated Heisei 7 (1996), this bronze ¥10 is Y#97.2, cataloged at 45¢ Unc. The building is the Byo Doo In, an ancient temple. Except for a change from reeded edge to smooth edge in 1959, and the dating changes resulting from the ascension of Emperor Akihito to succeed Hirohito, this design has been used since 1951, and is the oldest currently minted Japanese design.. Back to the book for the next one , a nickle-plated steel Czech Republic 5 korun, 4.8g, KM#8, from the Jablonec nad Nisou mint. The last digit of the year isn't clear, but Krause values Unc examples from 1993 (when the country was formed in a split from the old Czechoslovakia's successor Czech and Slovak Republic) through 2002 at $1. Eire, of course, is Ireland in Celtic. The Irish harp would be a dead giveaway even if the country name had been obliterated by damage. KM#23, a copper-nickle 10 pence is from the relatively brief period between decimalization in 1971 and the advent of the Euro coinage, in 2002. The same design had previously been used for the florin (2 shillings). The 1971 mintage of 4-million results in an XF catalog value of 45¢ and an Unc. of $1.25. I can't read the date under the seated figure's feet, but it must be 1965, as the French Overseas Territory of Polynesia aluminum 2 franc, KM#3, was a one-year design, succeeded by KM#10 which added the legend "I.E.O.M." flanking the feet. The Paris mint produced 2.25-million, cataloged by Krause at 10¢ VF, 25¢ XF, and $1 Unc. I'm not sure I've ever seen an aluminum coin the color of your Austrian 10 groschen before. KM#2878 was minted from 1951 through the end of non-Euro coinage in 2001. I'm fairly certain yours is dated in the 1990s - the exact year isn't important for valuation purposes as Krause says they are all worth 45¢ Unc. Last, we have a Sierra Leone nickle-clad steel 100 Leones, with a bust of Naimbana on the reverse. (I have no idea who he is, and this is the only coin I can find with his bust.) KM#46, a one-year type booked at $1.75 Unc. The very first step in identifying coins is to determine the country of issue. For most of the world that simply means reading the legend, which will normally have the country name in the language of the country. There is also a list in Krause of coin denominations, which can be very helpful, especially if the denomination is exlusive to a particular country (for example Lempira in Honduras). Other ID aids in Krause include mongrams, and instant identifier pictures. If you can't "buy the book", be aware that most public libraries have at least the 1901-present Krause, and the magic of inter-library loans makes a lot of things available to any library card holder. IMHO a library card is just as important to a coin collector as his/her ANA membership card (which incidentally affords mail access to a mammoth numismatic library).
Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam was Mauritius' Prime Minister at Independence in 1968.He later became Governor-General of Mauritius.Mauritius became a republic within the British Commonwealth in March 1992.The current coins still depicts Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam,as depicting the Coat-of-Arms on the obverse is not really in keeping with British Commonwealth tradition,unless the country happens to be like India,Pakistan, Bangladesh,Barbados,Jamaica,Belize,or Trinidad & Tobago. Aidan.
As for the color of that piece, yes, it looks strange but I suspect it's the image that is "toned", not the coin Maybe it's due to the plastic. As for the mintage and price, when Austria (like most other euro countries) introduced the European currency in 1999, it stopped, or radically reduced, minting the schilling and groschen coins. For example, if the one depicted here is from 1990, there are about 182 million pieces like it. If it's dated 1999, there are only 50,000 - primarily for the annual sets. The image is not very sharp, but I think this one is dated 1990 ... Christian
Yes, I think so. I live in Germany, but every time I was in Austria during the years of the schilling cash, I got some of those 10 groschen coins. Not many, and I always tried to get rid of them soon. Don't like aluminum coins much But I know from my own limited experience, and from what others told me, that these were actually common until late 2001/early 2002. Christian
Sierra Leone is also a British Commonwealth country.Ireland was a British Commonwealth country until 1949,but the coins issued since 1949 are popularly collected by British Commonwealth collectors for the sake of completeness & continuity.The Celtic language that is spoken in Ireland is called Erse (or Irish).Erse is in the same family of languages as Manx & Scots-Gaelic.There is an active political organisation in Ireland that has a return to the British Commonwealth as one of its goals.It can be found here; www.reform.org . Aidan.
Here's an article about Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seewoosagur_Ramgoolam . Aidan.
Naimbana, or Nembgana, was reponsible for signing away the Koya Kingdom to be colonized by the British. He didn't really have a lot of choice, I suppose. http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes2.html
Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is still a land of kings,as chieftainship is guaranteed under the Sierra Leonean Constitution. The coins & banknotes from Sierra Leone are very difficult to find,excepting the 1964 1/2c. & 1c. coins. Sierra Leone is a very loyal member of the British Commonwealth.British troops were stationed there after the end of the Sierra Leonean Civil War.Some Sierra Leoneans actually advocate a return to British rule,as the British Royal Family is regarded with affection,because the ties between Sierra Leone & Great Britain are very strong. Aidan.
I've also found that Don has an "instant identifier" section on his website (www.worldcoingallery.com) where you can also find some coins based on their reverses (and/or obverses). I've identified a few coins, namely from Pakistan and Ethiopia, from that section of his website.
Heisei 7 was 1995, not 1996. (Heisei 1, or Showa 64 until Hirohito died, was 1989.) This year is Heisei 19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_era
Sierra Leone redux I was to Sierra Leone several times in the years 1993-2002. The notes are very colorful. I don't remember much about coins though - I wasn't a "collector" back then. However, I did manage to save a few nice notes. The last couple of times I was there, ti was during the UN intervention. The US dollar was, by far, the preferred currency everywhere from the supermarkets to the little stalls in the market. Beautiful country. Beautiful people. Unfortunately, they've been dealt a tough hand. In a nutshell, they were cursed with having lots of diamonds laying all over their countryside.
