Reasons to collect world coins.

Although I still collect US coins from time to time, I have switched to mainly collecting world coins.

1. There are fewer collectors of world coins than US coins.

This can usually result in bargains to be had. World coins tend to not bring as much as US coins at auctions, and if there is no one there that collects world coins, they can go for pennies on the dollar.

2. World coins can give you a good history of the world.

With US coins, you're stuck to one country, however with world coin collecting, theres over 200 countries to collect from.

3. 4 for a buck or two for a buck bins can be cool to sift through.

Some coins dealers don't know much or care about world coins, this can lead to some amazing finds on the cheap. I've pulled silver many times from the "25 cent bin".

4. World coins tend to be cheaper.

This rules does not always hold true, but it seems like due to demand, US coins are higher priced than some world coins, allowing you to collect cooler coins if your on a budget.

For example...I bought a 1831 penny from Great Britain with good details for $10. Try buying a 1831 large cent with good details for $10!

 

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i have portuguese and spanish coins about 300 hundred of them al very old some i can read date,they were left for me i never checked them but i will very soon...i believe also a few italian with carriages and roman like figures..

 

I never collect world coins (aside from the Maundy money proofs), but I love to get a ten pound box from one of my dealers and go through them with my son. I'm amazed that he can get off of the video game so long.

 

Because they are pretty.

 

Technically world coins would consist of us coins as well or is the usa not part of the world

 

The US got kicked out of the world.

 

Such wisdom. Who knew?

 

^^^^^
"Although I still collect US coins from time to time, I have switched to mainly collecting world coins."

 

Here you go Detecto. Get er done. http://www.cointalk.com/threads/entire-world-coin-collection-for-sale.233852/

 

they ARE pretty, aren't they

i do more ancients than anything, but i really like older modern world coins. since i see lincoln pennies every day, i can't really get excited about collected them...though i have several.

 

Well, if a coin site like this one has a US coins forum and a World (and Ancients) coins forum, and the coins from 1 country are in the former, and the coins from 200-or-so other countries are in the latter ... there is your answer.

Christian

 

World coins will keep you busy learning. Just figuring out the country can be tough when you first get started.

 

Every world coin is cheap until it is the particular coin you absolutely must have. BTW my avatar coin was much pricier than any USA coin I own.

 

The problem with a small foreign collection (375 is tiny) of what could be 10 cents to $10 a coin is that there are few buyers interested in the lot. Dealers will remove the few good ones and the rest will go in the grab bins. Collectors get fun out of building a collection and might not want 375 coins of which they already have 200 as opposed to pulling selected coins out of a bin. I agree with scottishmoney's statement. I need to realize that few of you would be willing to pay me what I have in my collection even if the total of the items 'catalog' at several times that amount. You would prefer to buy coins you like rather than take the bunch I bought for some reason. Finding a dealer who wants 375 (or 3075) foreigns (or ancients) is hard enough unless a good number of them are very special.

 

What coin is it, anyway?

 

Good point by Dougsmit there. I have spent a lot of money in total trying to complete modern sets that, if I sold them, would just go in someone's junk bin. Like I'm trying to complete a modern Italian set, and you have to pay $2-$3 plus shipping apiece for coins like a 1984 10 lire, but almost no collector would look twice at it if you offered it to them. Many are low mintage or uncommon and you'll go years without finding them in a junk bin on your own though, so you have to pay for them.

 

It is a very rare Scottish "Thistle Noble" in gold from 1588, 146 Shillings Scots. It is an anachronistic design that was immediately not popular and was recalled. The 1570s - 1590s in Scotland were a turbulent time monetarily - lots of different coins were made and recalled because of their unpopularity or devaluations of the sterling.

 

i like foreign silver. Designs on foreigns look better then most us coins.
I do have some large pennys ect and other non foreign coins to go with the silver tho

 

Value of US coins are really high. Bigger prices means bigger interest and the biggest prices. I think it's not smart to buy something what is high, it's smart to buy something what is low. You can buy really old foreign coins for small prices because there is low interest in it.

 

Just my two cents also...

I think collectors of only USA coins have a warped/skewed idea of what "scarce" and "rare" mean in the strict mintage/availability sense. I see those terms thrown around all the time for USA coins with mintages of more than 100,000 coins, and all of that mintage available in FDC absolute pristine condition as issued by the mint. In my mind, I don't even think to start using the term "scarce" until I see a mintage (or availability) below 2,000 -- and the term "rare" is reserved for coins/tokens, etc. with estimated available remaining pieces in the range of 200 (or far less).