There are some Pre-Euro coins that I have noticed slowly disappearing off Ebay lately, especially these. Belgium 50 Francs Nickel (1987-2001). (stock images) http://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces1254.html At a time, someone will occasionally list maybe 1 or 2 of these, but you can forget bulk lots. I can't tell you how many months it's been since I last saw stacks of them for sale anywhere. I have about 1000 of these coins, think these are worth holding onto?
Not like silver kind of investment or anything (I do also have some Morgans) but maybe down the road they'll go up in value a bit.
I don't see them as an investment coin at all. The nickel content may take generations to be worth anything. I do like the coins though, worth picking up if you can get them cheap.
Agreed, those are not really meant for investing... maybe you can use them to trade for other coins you want.
Since there was no reason to melt them or turn them, they are still out there just waiting for something to happen. So you will have the same coins coming back into the market and competing with you when that time comes. The premium would therefor be very little. You would have to sell them as a bulk sale or the individual pieces would cost you your profit margin in eBay commissions and possibly postage. Just think of all the time involved to sell them individually as well. I would pass on buying more. I think I would try selling a few now since you say there are not currently easy to find.
Are they low mintages, Uncs, or what? If they are high mintage and circulated, why would they be worth anything? I don't know about them. Are you interested in them because they are pure nickel or something?
No low mintages really, some of them I have are actually unc's and near unc's. There are a few reasons I like them, in general I have quite a large collection of European coins (not old but within last 50 years) and the fact that these are pure nickel I do quite enjoy them. To my knowledge, there aren't that many coins around the world with solid nickel content. I do agree that most of the value will be from the metal content (which isn't much) but in bulk lots that counts more.
Sounds interesting. I never looked into the nickel content for world coins, except Canadian nickels which I have stashed to some degree. I've come across tons of world coin lots and never kept pure nickel coins from other countries. Now I wish I did! If you got those for a good price, then I'd say it was a good purchase
There was a dealer in Netherlands who offered just above nickel value for them. As well as thousands of French Francs I purchased from him afterwards (I have almost 10,000 nickel Franc coins, in 2, 1, and 1/2 denominations. The bi-metal 10's are super fun as well!)
Hmm..I've ran into a lot of French francs and if they weren't silver I sold them by the pound (3 dollars a pound at my local coin shop). Wish I kept them now. Well at least I'm going to know what to keep in the future. In fact, I'm going to write up a list of pure nickel coins to look out for in the future! You know what would be great is a web site like coinflation but with nickel melt values for a wide array of world coins. 10 k is a tremendous amount! As for the bi metal 10s, which ones are those?
These are the 10 Francs here. http://cdn.coins-auctioned.com/uploads/images/5000-9999/8280/8280_1338893380.jpg There are 2 types of them, brass (which have edge engraving) and bi-metal. I do like the 5 Franc coins from France but those are not solid nickel, they have a 75% copper and 25% nickel content if I recall. But as a whole collection it's worth it to someone who loves French coins.
So when I look at Krause, if it says nickel only, that should mean it's virtually pure, right? I suppose the 5 franc you mentioned as being only 75% nickel would be listed as copper-nickel, right? I'm going to look through the catalog tonight
There are also a bunch of other sources that say the French Francs are 100% nickel. I checked about a half dozen other forum sites and searched for posts based on nickel coins (France was mentioned in all of them). I wish catalogs could be more informative on the composition of coins so I wouldn't be forced to scour the internet to confirm. By the way, the 5 Franc coin is listed as "copper-nickel" on catalogs, but every other lower denomination down to 1/2 Franc are just "nickel".
Belgian pre-euro coins aren't expensive. I'd say - it is a cheap and ugly coins (for my opinion). They have no investment prospects.
It's just not cost effective to sell low valued coins on ebay. With ebay taking at least 10% on listing fees alone and then paypal taking another few percentage (I can't remember what it is), it's just not worth the time. Imagine spending a few minutes listing a coin that's worth a dollar or less. Seller practically get nothing for it.
Yeah, if these coins are "disappearing from eBay", it might be because they're hard to find, but it might also be because they're hard to get rid of.
Whenever I do sell them it will be my whole bag of them. I realize listing 1 of these types of coins is a big waste of time.
Don't hold your breath on it. I can understand if you just happen to like the designs. I did the same thing with the Westward Journey nickels, 2004-2006. I have about 18,000 in uncirculated rolls and bags from the Mint. I just like the reverse designs on them. I know I will never live long enough to reap any profit, but I don't care. "It's my money, and I want it now!" Chris
