Best place to buy modern world coins?

Does anyone know a website that sells current world coins. I would like to start collecting them, but most websites I go to only sells very valuable world coins or proof sets. I just want some high grade (F, EF, AU) circulated coins from various countries. These shouldn't be expensive to collect since they would really only be worth the face value of the coin. I have a few Canadian coins as well as some from Italiy and France. I just thought it would be interesting to have a set of coins from every (or atleast most) countries in the world. I can find lots of world coins on ebay, such as a 1lb grab bag, but they are like buying a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Obviously I would have to pay more than face value so the supplier could make money, but I want to buy the coins I want in particular instead of a grab bag of unknown countries. Do any online dealers offer this for reasonable prices?

Thanks.

 

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Clay do you have a Krause World Coins book ?

 

In the age of the Internet, I imagine you might be able to find someone in that country who is into U.S. coins... might be able to become coin trading pals and send each other coins???

 

No, I was looking on amazon for them though. They seem expensive ($40-$60 new). I haven't looked yet but I may try to find an older used version on ebay. Considering they are 2300 pages, I guess $40 isn't to bad of a price though.

Good suggestion. This would probably work for a few countries.

I will probably start off by buying a bulk lot of world coins on ebay. Many sellers sell about 1lb bags and say that they try to put as many originals coins as possible and avoid duplicates in each lot. One seller even offers an unconditional return policy and even offers to reimburse you for the return shipping costs, so I have nothing to lose on that one. he sells 3/4 pound of coins for $17 BIN price (+$6 shipping). I'm estimating 3/4 pound would be 60+ coins, although that may vary I know nothing about world coins size and weight. I guess that's a good deal to get me started.

 

I had the same problem and decided to get the 2007 edition used. I forget how much I paid, but it was a lot easier to swallow than the prices of the new ones. I wanted it mostly for a ballpark value and identification and info of the coins I had and the ones I need, and it does that adequately. As for buying the coins, I bought several lots on eBay when I was getting started and had mixed results. Some were really good, others had a lot of the same countries over and over. I wish I paid attention to who the good ones were. Unlike you, I considered the good ones the ones that gave me older coins and I was disappointed when all I got were coins from the 90s and 2000s. My local dealer has a discount bin where all the coins cost 25 cents, and they are mostly world coins. If you have a local coin shop, see if they have something like this. Most dealers and American collectors don't really want world coins so you can get them cheaply and often find some gems.

 

yeah, the auctions I'm looking at are for uncirculated coins. I ill probably eventually start collecting older coins, because when it comes to US coins, I like older ones. But for now, I would just like a nice selection of new ones.

The only coin shop close to where I live is a pawn shop that has a few dozen coins, nothing special and all over priced. There are a few further away that I have never been to, but this would be just the excuse I needed to make the drive...if only gas wasn't $3.99 a gallon where I live that is *sigh*

 

one of the dealers here has world bin ranging from 25¢ to $1 per coin (most being 25¢). i'd check with your local dealer if you have one.

 

I'm not sure there is an easy answer. My local dealer of choice also has the world junk bin and I have seen coins in there worth more than the price in face value (that's what happens to the Euro change that comes back in tourist pockets) but most are worth a lot less than a quarter. When local collectors go to the shop, they sit there for what seems like forever and select the ones that strike their fancies. You can't ask a dealer to spend time picking 25 cent coins out for you since time is money. Attending a coin show where one of these dealers has a booth would be a good idea but I realize that most of the nation has no more coin shows than coin shops. Buying pounds of coins will produce a lot of duplicates but may still be the best answer.

 

@dougsmit

This has nothing to do with your post, but I have to ask. Why are you using a band saw to saw open that coin slab?

 

I collect living coins over a thousand years old and not dead ones in coffins. The saw effectively freed a decent coin someone else slabbed. You will find that the majority of collectors of ancient coins do not buy slabs.

 

That due you store then in, after sawing them out of their slab??

 

I get that, I prefer to look at coins that are not slabbed or stored in 2x2s or the like. I use plastic holders now that can easily be snapped apart so I can remove the coin if I want to, then snap the holder back together when I'm done.

 

Why buy circulated moderns?

Most moderns look junky enough anyway since they are shiny base metal that are poorly made and all scratched up. Lightly circulated coins rarely look very good and very few will ever have much value because they get lost in the woodwork and refound as soon as the price starts going higher.

But the uncs don't survive and sometimes aren't saved. They often look good and if you search you can always find an attractive example. But most importantly for very modern coins the uncs will probably cost no more and might cost less. Someday you'll probably have far more appreciation for uncs than a collection of XF's and AU's and it's a certainty that the buyer of your collection will.

Now days it's not that hard to find dealers for some of this stuff though I know it's still not being imported much and you'll spend a lot on postage probably.

 

I'd suggest perhaps Joel Anderson -- nice guy, seems honest to me. I buy from him when he goes to coin shows, but nowadays he doesn't do many, saying he's mostly selling over the internet. Here's a specific link to his sets by country: http://www.joelscoins.com/coinsets.htm

 

I just want to see other coin designs from other countries, not pictures of them but the coins themselves. Plus looking the coins up in the Krause World Coin book will kill time if I ever find some to kill. I'm not to concerned about the quality. I just bought some from a fellow CT member who gave me a more than fair deal and I also found an Ebay seller who sells BU world coins by the pound, so I might order some from him eventually. Most of the US coins I collect are uncirculated or proofs, so that's definitely what I prefer. I may eventually want to start collecting BU and PF world coins, but for now I will settle with some nice grade circulated ones to start out with, atleast until I find a particular counties coin designs that strikes me.

 

Thanks! I bookmarked the link. I just bought some by the pound, but if I ever settle on a country in particular to collect I'll start with his site.

 

This thread treads on the line between two different reasons we collect coins. Some of us want coins we can handle, toss in the air study, enjoy and not worry about. Others want evidence of wise investments that need to be preserved even if it means their being unseen, untouched and unknown. The two are different hobbies. It is like the difference between running a small family business and buying stock.

 

To the OP, you are a young collector I take it and do not have much of a collection yet. I would strongly advise you to take a look at larger groups on Ebay to minimize your cost per coin as well as shipping. I have bought 15, 20, and 25 pound lots there pretty cheaply per coin. I buy them for the better coins in them, and all of the stuff you are looking for I just leave in piles around the house, (makes my wife happy, let me tell ya). Look at larger lots, look at the pics real close, and buy one of those. The prices for 1 pound or 3/4 pound lots seem high, especially with shipping added in. I don't buy these lots anymore unless I see some really good coins in there, so you won't be competing with me on them. Usually there is not a ton of competition for lots made up of current coins, as most collectors want the older ones.

Chris

 

I agree with you. Personally I have never been able to understand the people who handle their coins with gloves and debate if it's MS-64 or MS-65. I like to have something I can touch without "ruining" it, and even moreso with world coins. There's a lot of things said on this message board that just don't make sense to me, but to each his own.

 

I am not trying to endorse myself as a seller, but I just sold 500+ mixed for $38 (+ 5 SH) or so. You can do WAY better than $17 for 3/4 pound. Look some more.