My mother's grandmother apparently did a bit of world travelling, and gave her a box of currency from various countries. This is one of the prettiest coins of the lot to my eye, and I was wondering if anyone could identify, and perhaps give a grade and value estimate? Thanks! ~neuron
Neuron, I'm happy to help a little bit but I'm sure someone will come along with more info shortly. The coin pictured is a 20 Rappen KM# 29 from Switzerland, nickel composition. I'm unsure of the grade by the pic but values are listed as $1.50/VF, 10.00/XF, 45.00/Unc, and 75.00/BU. Enjoy your box of goodies!
Nice Swiss coin. I've always liked their designs, two thirds German, one third French. The shooting thalers (medals) are really great pieces.
Bern mint, 1,000,000 produced. The Reverse is at least EF, maybe AU if there is any luster that didn't come through on the picture , but that obverse looks like a different coin - VF at best IMHO .
Cool! Thanks for the info! The obverse pic is a little fuzzier than the reverse, so that doesn't help with the grading. But, it is not in perfect condition by any means, and the reverse does seem to have fewer nicks and scratches than the obverse. Anyway, I visited my local coin shop today and purchased a number of supplies for organizing my collection (inherited accumulation?). I will post some more interesting pics soon, I hope! My University library has many books on coins, but they seem to be mostly pretty specific; for example, there are a number of books only on Roman coins during certain time periods, or on coins featuring Popes, etc. I requested the appropriate Krause books via InterLibrary Loan (ILL)- hopefully they will arrive shortly, as I cannot afford them at this time. Query: could I post foreign paper currency here for help with identification and grading, or does everyone on this forum pretty much specialize in coins? Thanks! ~neuron
Sure - you can make posts about notes as well. Just try to make them in the appropriate forum based on your question and the country of origin.
Good for you!! The library is an underappreciated resource among collectors. You started in the right place. The ILL was the right move, also. Even collectors who find the library do not make the best use of it. I do not know how things are in other states, but here in Michgan any state resident (taxpayer) can get a library card at any state university system library. Rules vary. I have an MSU card and have for many, many years, even though I never attended. Does your library have specific books about the coins that were passed on down to you? I do not recall any books about Swiss coins, but there are several from Seaby about UK, British, and English coins. Paper money collectors and coin collectors seem to fall into different categories, oddly. The library sure sees it that way. Depending on how yours is catalogued (LOC or Dewey), you will find the paper money books with the books on Banking (Library of Congress) or else Paper Collectibles with Comics and Stamps (Dewey). Michael
