Foreign vs. U.S. Coins

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By definition, a coin is a historical artifact, which represents the aesthetic, political and/or spiritual values of the time and place in which it was produced. This is exactly what makes coin collecting so interesting.

Personally, I feel like American Coinage- both past and present-- serves as an excellent expression of American sentiment and values. There is nothing that is more beautiful and patriotic to me than seeing Lady Liberty grace the face of a Gold or Silver Eagle. Having said that, I find foreign cultures fascinating as well, and therefore I also enjoy collecting coins from Australia, Canada, China, the UK, and elsewhere.

I feel that in order for any Coin to be truly special, and grow in value consistently over time, it must meet three basic criteria, regardless of the country of origin: 1.) The Coin must be Beautiful, i.e., well designed; 2.) The Coin must have a certain element of Universal Appeal, that is, at least one major representation on the coin must be instantly recognizable by almost anyone, regardless of nationality; while at the same time, 3.) The Coin must also retain characteristics which easily identify the Coin with the time and place in which it was produced; otherwise, the Coin loses almost all value as a Historical Artifact.

No Mint in the World has consistently produced 'winners' which meet all three criteria that I have outlined above. However, compared with mints in other countries, it seems to me that over the past century, the U.S. Mint has come closer to the mark more reliably than most.

 

Alrighty then! Glad I read your post after entry, makes more sense now. I agree that it would be nice to have a variety of different looking coins and metals used to make them. However if that happened hardly anyone would collect foreign coins. Just kidding of course!

I agree that the US mint could loosen up a little but unfortunately they are under the guiding light of our illustrous congress. Our congress is a bit old and stuffy in their ways, for certain.

I'll tell you something that would be helpful is to start a committee whose job would be to advise congress or the US mint on various ideas On this committee would be at least 5 coin collectors. Recently I read an article in one of the coin mags and it was saying that our US mint is lacking in innovation. Man, is that ever the truth!! :kewl:

Now let me get back on that cycle and get started with these gifts!!

 

My father hated foreign coins and they had no place in his collection. He was strictly US and proud of it. But he fought in WWII and I see his point.

I collect both US and European coins and there is a place in my heart for both.

How could you not find this beautiful?



The Swiss minted only 78 of these Schutzenfest medals. If this was a US coin it would be worth more than my house.

And I have a nice house!

 

Ah, but the original title instantly suggests you are a US patriot. I mean, such a subject can only come from an American.

As for brass coins, well, we have them in the euro area. Of our eight coin denominations, the three lowest ones are "copper", the three middle ones are "brass", and the two higher ones have a bimetallic look.

The US has a somewhat different setup - "copper" for one low value denomination, "silverish" for the mid-range pieces, and golden/brass for the "high" value end of the line. Sure, people don't really use the $1 coin much, but I think it would be confusing if you now used that "color" for a low value piece too.

Christian

 

Personally, I like foreign better than US for a couple of reasons:

1.) Everybody, or at least it seems that way, collects US coins. I've always been one to go the less traveled route.

2.) MY finances are pretty slim, so US coins, unless pulled from circulation or I find a great deal on craigslist or ebay, tend to be more pricey.

3.) The designs, as stated previously in the thread, are more various (For obvious reasons) and are therefore more interesting to me.

Now, I DO have some US coins, and I AM trying to fill some of the folders, but I don't really go out of my way to get them like I do the foreign stuff.

 

I travel a lot, and I have a huge collection of coins from countries I"ve been to.

Some are beautiful and some are ugly, but all have memories attached.

 

I'll take some pictures of my fav. world coins designs. I'll put them up in less than an hour.

 

I guess that's why I don't collect any circulating coins. I am sure that you're "spot on" about the die life and economy issues. It would seem to me that there should be way more interest than there has been...in modern commemoratives. Some of those are very nice designs, and since they're struck in lesser numbers, die life isn't nearly the concern.

Nightowl

 

Here's some pretty world coins:





One of my favorites:

 

I love those two from Chile and Argentina!

 

Chile does has nice coins. I've got a few more with the turkey vultures on them and they're just as neat.