i mainly collect Iceland and today i picked up a few more for the collection. the first was the the 2 Kronur 1930 medal. these are not as rare as the 5 and 10 Kronur - they had mintages of 10,101 each where this had 20,101. it's in VF condition with a few green PVC spots, but since these are so hardly seen, i had to buy it. another find was a BU 1933 10 Aurar - a very nice example of this coin that is very clean and well struck. and finally last month i picked up a very BU 1929 10 Aurar - this coin just jumped out at me when i was digging through the box. i almost passed on looking through the box since i was tired and had already dug through several of dealer's boxes of low grade Republic era coins. a valuable lesson learned. finding high grade Icelandic coins is tough, but it's very exciting to find a gem and well worth the time. -Steve
asciibaron, awesome 1930 2 Kronur. Are you sure the green is PVC damage. Dealer I showed my 10Kronur to said the mint did some kind of toning to the coins before they were sent out. Not sure if it is true or not though. Your 10 Aurar is very nice as well. How long have you been collecting Icelandic coins?
the green spots are from a PVC holder. i started when i was 9 or 10 and just picked it back up a little over a year ago. i had amassed a decent collection mostly from 1940 to the 1970's in mostly AU/UNC. all my recent purchases have been to fill gaps, mostly concentrating on the Kingdom era in high grades, mostly BU. it's a challenge, but it's very rewarding to find a needed coin at a show. the thing i really enjoy about the Icelandic coins is low mintage figures. i'd rather have truly rare coins instead of those seen as rare by market force such as the 1909 S VDB. demand is everything i guess. that's fine with me, more Iceland for me -Steve
quote: that's fine with me, more Iceland for me. And me too! I don't have very good luck at shops for Iceland though. Any recommendations on sellers and/or good books and info? Thanks!
a good place to get an understanding of the currency and what has been minted is the Currency of Iceland book by the Central bank of Iceland. they have made it available as a pdf: http://www.sedlabanki.is/uploads/files/TheCurrencyofIceland.pdf it's written in Icelandic, but there are English summary paragraphs. after sometime with it, you can understand what they are saying by just looking at the Icelandic. -Steve
i almost didn't buy it... i had a quick battle with myself and decided that since i have never seen one i had better buy it. i left a few other nice BU coins in the box for me to buy at the show in November. -Steve
That first coin is outstanding. The artwork, particularly the reverse is just great. Looks like they could have worked on her face a little longer though!! Very nice coins.
the top coin and the one posted in the other thread seem almost like fantasy coins. I have an example of the 10 Aurar...that one didnt spark my interest in icelandic coins, nice but nothing outstanding, but these last few ones posted here and by Noost has inspired me to go looking for a few as well
Darkfenix, ebay has some from time to time, but the 2Kronur go very fast with buy it now. I have a dealer in California looking for some more, I'll keep u posted. Also, maybe hit up a world coin dealer and tell them what u r looking 4. Sometimes this works and other times you just get alot of mailing from them. May find something new you like that way though. I think the 2Kronur is getting close to $60-$99 and the 5Kronur is like $170 and the 10 anywhere from $200 and up. Don't be afraid to pay more than book price as they are hard to come by. There should be a 5Kronur on ebay right now with buy it now but I don't remember the auction off hand.
ok sounds good i'll have to pick up 2-3 books on them first n do some research into which i prefer before i begin shopping as i'm not familiar with these but price sounds pretty decent
no need to buy a book, just download this... http://www.sedlabanki.is/uploads/files/TheCurrencyofIceland.pdf -Steve
After searching around I noticed quite a few other, newer iceland coins that also have great designs, their coins in general are very attractive.
