Searching bulk world coins

This question is kind of like a CRH question but not really. CRH generally refers to searching for US coins, which can be deposited or spent if nothing is found.

However, I find it very interesting to sort through bulk world coins. Several years ago I bought a whole load of bulk world coins, mostly post-1950 but not all, for about 5 cents a coin: maybe 10,000 in all. I knew perfectly well that I would never recover the cost, but I was just intrigued by the possibilities.

Here are a few of the interesting results of looking through these over a few years, a few dozen an evening when I am in the mood (once of twice a week).

1. I have learned to recognize so many world coins on sight.
2. I am amazed as the rate at which coinage as been devalued over the last 50 years. For example, 0.5oz silver to 0.05 aluminum for the same denomination in less than 50 years.
3. Some observation have made me want to investigate further and I have learned quite a bit of 20th century world history.

So far I have cataloged many thousands of world coins (each is in a coin envelope) and they are all stored in an old microfiche filing cabinet, and the majority have a catalog value below 25 cents.

As I said, I will never recover the money or time investment even if I ever try to sell them (which I am unlikely to do) but the learning (numismatic and otherwise) has been worth it.

Anyone else done this? If not, I recommend it. There is more to studying coins than buying expensive (>$10) ones.

I should add, I do have a lot of much more valuable ones. I just find this aspect interesting.

 

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Every once in a blue moon you can find some little overlooked treasure in those lots. I have found rare Danish coins that I turned around and sold to a collector in Denmark for quite a bit more than the pocket change I bought them for. My favourite junk box find and one I keep in my desk is an ancient Judean lepton or "widow's mite" that I bought for a quarter.

 

I have actually found a coin in this haul which were worth over $20. Nothing much more than that though. But that was not really my point. It is the educational aspect I am thinking about.

 

I agree with that. The History lessons that comes along with the cataloging of world coins is really the best part of doing it. I have about 1100 coins from approx 240
countrys. So far. I have learned more than I ever did in High school.

 

It's also a great way to get a start on your post-1950 (or whenever) OFEC collection (One From Every Country).

 

I kindda started out this way to help me learn which of those coins are rare in uncirculated condition. The first ones I was able to identify as rare were the Greek cu/ ni drachmas.

 

Just wanted to add, at $5 per pound and being individually cataloged, you can easily double what you paid if you chose to sell them as a group. The time spent is another thing of course

 

Sure, and one day I may. As for the time, considering the coins as a side product of an education makes it worthwhile.

 

GF bought a can of foreigns at a flea market some years ago.
I pulled out a rare silver 1939 10 centavos Dominican Republic (150,000 minted)
a coin from the Ottoman Empire (silver, circa 1800) and some others.

 

You've invested a little $ and a lot of time. You're return has been knowledge. It is difficult to put a monetary value on knowledge, but I personally value it highly. It sounds like you do as well.

I've done similar things in the past. Many years ago, I bought a group of low grade large cents and the Sheldon Book. I also bought a bulk lot of decent Civil War Tokens and the Fuld Books. Back in the early ebay days, I used to buy the low grade, uncleaned ancients, clean them and try to attribute them (The books were expensive). Overall, I learned an incredible amount on these subjects and that has a lot of value to me. And it seems that the more you learn, you begin to realize that there is a lot that you don't know

 

That's how I started with foreigns, poundage was great fun and educational. Nowadays so much of the stuff I still need is post 1970 and low value that it is hard to get from dealers. Not worth their time to catalog it, list it, or haul it to shows. I keep thinking I may have to go back to searching poundage to find it.

 

I started out, a lifetime ago, with 'missionary mixtures' of foreign stamps (they were colorful, they were different, and they were interesting), which evolved into exploring dealers' 'junk boxes' of inexpensive foreign coins (lots of US/Phillipine centavos, Chinese 'cash' coins with the square holes in them, Mexican coins from the 1930's and 1940's, etc.). I have continued 'grazing' through the junk boxes, whenever I come across one, to the present day, and you can still find worthwhile coins in them, on occasion.
My late wife would always laugh when I came in the front door wearing a smile and having filthy fingertips. She knew where I had been, and patiently allowed me to show her my "treasures".

Addressing the subject of storage of coins, I've found that boxes made for photographic slides (which measure 2" x 2") are ideal for that purpose. Flat metal boxes with rows of slots will hold 150 2x2's, and boxes with drawers ("Baja boxes") that open on the end, are worth finding at flea markets, etc., at an affordable price.

A local dealer, now closed, used to have such a junk box, and I would go up there, pull up a chair, and go through the coins for perhaps an hour or so, all the while engaged in conversation with the owner. I was surprised to find so many silver coins (mostly Australian 3p and 6p, and occasional British, French, or German silver coin from the early 20th Century), and many other coins that I just found 'interesting', without regard to commercial value.
Unfortunately, I don't think very many youngsters have an interest in such things today. Which might help explain the prevailing dismal lack of interest in geography, history, etc. in younger Americans.
None of my children or grandchildren have expressed any interest in coins, etc., other than to ask "What's it worth?".

 

I just recently bought about 20kgs of world coins and went through them. Still cataloging them. I LOVE digging through world coins way more than I enjoy coin roll hunting. I am also working on a world type set, so it's fun to see if I can accurately pull coins I need from bins. I'm usually about 75% accurate. I can also look at a pile of world coins and probably point out every single country and its denomination without much effort. I trade the rest of my excess coins and rinse and repeat. Like you, I'll never get my $ back, but the fun is in the searching. PM me if you ever want to trade world coins!

 

I don't buy huge lots, but I like to go through the world coin junk boxes at my favorite shop. That's actually where I got the majority of my coins. I've gotten to the point where with a lot of coins I can predict what year it will be just by seeing what coin it is. It's interesting how that works. You definitely get to the point where you know what's common, and when you see something different it really jumps out. I've found a lot of uncommon coins in there over the years, including silver and even one gold coin. This is my favorite way to collect coins. Unfortunately once you search through it you need to give them time to get new inventory; otherwise I'd like to do it a lot more often.

 

Thanks for giving this information. I was getting a little tired of bullion and U.S. coins as the ones I'm interested in are out of my budget for coins. Sounds like a lot of fun & I'm going to try it on my next visit to a LCS

 

I picked mine up on EBAy as bulk lots. A few auctions for 20-30 lbs of random world coins each. At the time I bought them, several years ago, it worked out to be 5-7 cents a coin.

 

I just discovered the ability of Numista to help keep track of these coins. Great tool! I entered about 500 of them from 7 different countries in the last week: 150 different types. Will continue to do so as time permits. It really gives meaning to collecting a world type set. It has also made me think much more about the grades of the coins.

 

I HAVE doing BEEN this for two years i have 1014 types 2226 different coins 137 different country,,, from old to modern europe, far east middle east, africa and many more it is fun to do that and the educations is very rewarding

 

How long did 500 take? Does it tell you what you are missing from each country?

 

The coins were already sorted and organized to it did not take long. Ist opened the page for the country and checked the boxes. As it should you a list of all coins for the country you can easily see what you don't have.