Do You Actively Collect Foreign Coins?

Does anyone solely collect foreign coins? Why?

In addition to U.S. coins, does anyone actively collect coins from another nation or region? Why?

I am looking for opinions and thoughts.

 

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Why collect other that US coins? I would ask why ONLY collect US coins? There is a huge wide world out there, and they have been making coins for 2500 years. Why anyone would limit themselves SOLELY to collecting coins from one country that isn't even very old is really beyond me.

Familiarity? Collector laziness? Gringoism? IDK.

Seriously man, while the US has made some great coins, so have nearly every other nation. Silver Cabillitos from Mexico, Ecuador birds, late medieval thalers, Greek tets, early Sassanian, all of these and much much more are just as pretty or more than anything the US has made. Why deny yourself access to over 99.9% of all coin designs ever produced?

Chris

 

I don't know how active my collecting would be considered, but I'm starting to get into foreign/world coins. I just picked up a very attractive 1920 Cuba 20 Centavos coin this past weekend.

Why? Because there's only so many US coins and my favorite type of just about anything is "variety". I like discovering new things and learning about them. Also, US coins only go back a fraction of how far back coins from other countries go. Other countries laugh at us when we say our 100-200 year old coins are old.

 

I'm always on the lookout for Taiwan coins, but only from trusted sources. I guess most collectors that are born in different countries tend to buy some things from their native land.

But mostly I collect what catches my eye which includes US coins and paper money.

 

I should add that I'm not the OCD type that has to assemble a complete set of whatever category of coin. If I like a coin, and the price is right, I buy it. Some people would consider my collection a simple accumulation, but I consider their complete Roosevelt set somewhat boring. To each his own...

I think some of the OCD types have to limit themselves to one country, or even one type, because each time you expand your horizons just a little bit, there's another set to assemble.

 

Indeed.

Montana is quite young. Some of our oldest buildings are 150 years old and they are considered historical treasures. My wife is from Germany and finds it interesting that there are bars in Germany that are 6 times as old as our oldest buildings and they aren't really considered historical treasures. If they were, they certainly wouldn't let people get drunk and rowdy in them!

 

Yes, I actively collect foreign coins like USA. Your darksides are my lightsides and my darksides are my lightsides.

 

If you like Taiwan coins (Republic of China), check out the thread "unknown coins."

I used to have more Taiwan currency, but now I just have a really nice example of the centennial $1 coin.

 

It is all "lightside" so long as it is non-absolute and harmonious.

 

Of course, they are interesting & pretty.

 

I mainly collect only modern foreign comm. coin issues' since they at least for a while there weren't that many collectors in that space. Making it quite easy to get some good deals but know there is strong competition coming from overseas bidders.

 

I collect Canadian cents and pre decimal tokens also Canadian nickels besides US coins. I think that there are a lot of neat coins from before 1800 that I'd like to own. Especially Great Britain coinage.

 

Other coins than US?! That's nonsense, only US coins worth collecting, all other countries coins belong in junk bin.

 

Do ancients count? I only collect those, and the occasional Islamic or early East Asian piece. I haven't bought a US coin since 2008.

 

Outside of a few designs, I find u.s. coins boring. I see them all the time, nearly everyone collects them, & many are vastly overpriced.

I enjoy world coins more due to the many different designs all countries have. Biggest plus is the majority are cheap, especially if your not collecting key dates.

I find if $ is tight or I am saving for a big ancient purchase, I can always spend $10 or less and acquire a world coin or few to get my new coin fix. I cant tell you how many I bought just by other fellow collectors here have shared & I end up buying one cause I liked/loved the design.

I think collecting only u.s. coins limits you as a collector. There is much learning in u.s. coins but even greater learning with world & ancient coins.

 

Nice thing with Euro coins is I have gotten coins in change from Slovakia, Cyprus etc that are actually pretty interesting. Usually I see German, Austrian or Netherlands euro coins but the others are pretty easy to find if you check your change.

 

I collect us, foriegn, specifically great britan

 

Yes. Imperial german 1 and 1/2 mark coins. I really like the coins designs, the fact that they are 90% silver, the timeframe, the fact that they are somewhat of a challenge to photo, and the joy of having to look hard for them. (I may soon also begin to add some smaller denominations with similar designs) anyway, many of the same reasons I like certain US issues.

 

What US coin did you buy last, Arda ???:smile

 

Aside from U.S. I collect anything that looks cool (i.e. aesthetically Pleasing) and also Israeli Coins.