I've noticed cards from broken sets are frequently offered on eBay. I never paid attention as my set been in storage for along time. I wasn't sure what I really had as no authentication came with my set. I'm not sure who produced it even. Recently, I noticed a 1976 USSR card is going for $384 on eBay. Caught my attention! When I originally purchased mine in 1998, I snapped up what a quickie Google search said was $2,499 (gasps) for Volumes I/II. Who makes this? There's 132 cards. Were they intended to be collected monthly? Face value of some sets push $10 USD (Swiss card).
Hmmm, Google....an amazing tool. I have heard of two Franklin Mint (thank you sets. Appears several are depicted. They are beautiful coins. Amazing Countries around the world using aluminum and bronze. Finest coins, in terms of design, shape (triangular) are European or a former colony there of (Bahamas, Pacific Islander's) But now..... the Euro?
As I understand it, NONE were supposed to be minted by the Franklin Mint and only packaged by them. I have seen in other chat rooms that evidently some of these coins are special issues and not known from other sources such as the mint or National Banks themselves. Perhaps deserving of "Specimen" status, but it should be noted that some of the coins in these sets are bog standard coins so not all are special. I have also noted that the mintage years of the coins included can vary and got some 17 card sets of Jamaica with coins of various years. I even got some that DID include older uncirculated currency strike Franklin Mint coins of the earlier '80s.
Some of the coins in these sets are remarkaby difficult to find in uncirculated condition. People just didn't bother to save moderns and these sets have had a high attrition because they sold for peanuts all through the '80's and '90's. Coins in the sets tend to be choice to Gem as they did an excellent job at selecting nice coins for them.
