having taken an interest in gold coins ("bitten the dust" was one reference to this)... I wanted to get a collection of one 1/10th oz gold modern bullions coins from each country and type available. I have the USA Eagle, Cananda Maple Leaf, Australia Kangaroo, an Australia Lunar, IOM cat and Austria Philharmonic. I know I am missing a SA Krugerrand, UK Britannia and Chinese Panda... does anyone know if I am missing anything else in this list, or would these 9 form a complete set?
You have to define exactly what you are trying to collect in order to decide what constitutes a "set". Dozens, if not hundreds, of countries have issued gold coins over the centuries, many of them intended to circulate in the marketplace as money. Those coins generally were issued at their face value, which equalled (or at least approximated) their bullion value at the time of issue.. All of the countries you have mentioned currently issue so-called bullion coins, of which the primary characteristics are that they are a sub-class of non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) sold by their precious metal weight with a face value far below both their bullion value and their issue price; and carrying little or no numismatic premium. I think there are other nations who issue that class of coin, but they are way outside my areas of specialization and I'm not qualified to make any more specific statements. There are others - Japan for example - which issue commemorative gold coins sharing most of the characteristics of bullion, but carrying numismatic premiums. Still others - Liberia for example - issue a high volume of NCLT, some of which is minted in gold. Those coins are touted as collector coins, and are minted in much smaller quantities than the "official" bullion coins like the ASE, Britannia, Krugerand, etc. Nevertheless, they generally have little numismatic premium over their bullion value. Some countries that minted gold coins no longer exist. Others haven't minted gold coins in many years. Others have only recently started minting gold. Because there are no hard and fast rules observed by all nations, there are no carved in stone definitions of "complete sets" in this context. That's worth repeating and emphasizing: There are no carved in stone definitions of "complete sets" in this context. The set for you to collect is the set you define. In order to come to a reasonable definition, you need to do the research to educate yourself sufficiently to understand your choices, and reasonably make them. In summary, the answer to your question "would these 9 form a complete set?" is: Yes, if you define it that way. Good luck!
Satootoko, I have no knowledge or real interest in the subject you addressed, but I hope I'm not out of line in expressing my admiration for your scholarship and clarity in explaining the issues. Very impressive. You're just the person we need running this outfit.--gunsmoke
Rahul,South Africa has issued the 1/10 Krugerrand only since 1980.The British 1/10 Britannia has been issued since 1987.Have you managed to get the gold 10 Kina from Papua New Guinea,which depicts a butterfly? I have not got the gold 10 Kina,but I do have the platinum 10 Kina. Aidan.
There seems to be a lot missing out there. Big countries such as Russia during the Soviet era used to issue bullion coins known as the chervonets like this one: And then you have the Dutch ducats which not many people bother to give it a thought. If you consider Australian Lunar coins from the Perth Mint bullion, why isn't Singapore's gold lunar coins considered? The Perth Mint got their ideas from the Singapore mint. Afterall, Lunar coins are minted specifically targeted for the Chinese market. There are plenty of other world coins that aren't on the list.
In that case, Singapore does have a 1/10 ounce gold bullion coin. You can see it from an example here: http://www.taxfreegold.co.uk/singaporelionproofsets.html Russia does not have gold bullion coins in 1/10 ounce. They are all commemorative coins and are ridiciously expensive in recent years. I can't think of many other countries that issued coins in 1/10 ounce.
Thanks satootoko for the advice (and everyone else for their inputs), yup I guess I need to define this more rigidly. So I wish to collect one 1/10th oz gold coin from every series issued, a series defined where the coins were minted as functions/fractions of ounces and the series continued for atleast 5 years. And in loose terms, any country that issues 1/10th ounce gold bullion. The ounce concept takes out all gold coins before the 70s and most medal-coins issued. Australias nuggets and kangaroos are considered to be the same series, so I am safe with that. Considering sugestions I have to add in Singapore Lions. That makes 10. Aidan, I havent been able to find any reference to a 10 kina gold coin, only silver and a 100 kina gold, and the 100 kina gold was not issued as a fraction of ounces. Do you have any links? Any more inputs appreciated! And I edit this as I find to my horror that NZ has a gold 1 oz. kiwi... are there 1/10th fractionals of this? The NZ mint site shows a 1/10th oz fractional issued for 2003, but is it a series or a one-off issue? (horror as its very tough to get one's hands on NZ coins)
Rahul,the 1/10 Oz. Kiwi from New Zealand is not a coin,but a gold bullion round.The Cook Islands did issue a tiny gold medal-coin back in 1997 depicting Princess Diana. Aidan.
You might want to check out this site: http://www.pandaamerica.com and hit "1/10" under the search function. Comes out with a lot of interesting gold coins with that specification. Next is to determine if they fit under your "bullion" coin defination.
Thanks! I can add Mexico Libertad and Gibraltar Dogs to the list... Aidan, thanks for clarifying the NZ kiwi. I guess I won't aim for a set... just how many I can obtain! This is getting rather expensive
Luxembourg has issued two 1/10 oz gold coins so far, one in 2004 and one in 2006. And Portugal even started a series (?) of 1/20 oz gold pieces - one was issued last year, another one follows in April. Those are pretty small - Ø 16 mm (LU) and 14 mm (PT) ... Christian
