1970 Iceland 1 Krona!

Hello everyone, sorry for the extended absence. I've been very busy with life, school, and video games over the past few months and while I definitely could have done some posting, I decided to use my time in other ways.

Anyway, I decided long ago when I took these pictures that this coin would follow my 1940 Icelandic Krona when I posted it. So, here it is! This was the last version of this coin used before Iceland downgraded to a much smaller aluminum coin with the same design. It has since been demonetized and the Krona was replaced with a new Krona 1980. The new Krona is valued at 1KR=$0.0085 USD which means Iceland is probably due for another revaluation. This coin as it sits is worth about $0.10 in numismatic value making it worth more than an actual modern Icelandic Krona.

1940 Iceland 1 Krona!

My oldest, most rare, and probably most valuable Icelandic coin. I bought it for $0.50 and knew when I saw it that it had to be mine. I'm not a big fan of modern Icelandic coins, but the older ones are much harder to find so the newer ones are pretty much all I have. That's why I was excited to see this coin for such a small price. Only 209,000 were minted which, by American standards, is a very small number and if this was an American coin, I would not have one. Since it is from a smaller, not as collected country, it is more readily available. This coin is worth about $2.00

1925-J German 5 Reichspfennig!

Ever wondered why the German 5 Pfennig coins made from 1949-2001 are brass plated-steel rather than a different metal? This coin is why. Following WWI Germany's economy quickly crashed under the heavy burden of the Versailles Treaty and German money became worthless. A fix was made which called for new coins and bills. This is one of the coins. Its predecessors were made of nickel and then zinc and finally aluminum-bronze, like this one. Zinc was then used again during the war but since it is more of an emergency/short lifespan metal, it had to be replaced with something else. So the government used the second most familiar metal (color) there was. Despite almost 11 Million of this coin being made and its worn state, this coin is still worth a couple of dollars. I would definitely pay $2.00 if I needed it for my collection.

1944-S Philippines 1 Centavo!

What's twice the size of a U.S. cent and only worth half of one in face value? This coin! Two of these (relatively) large coins would make but one tiny U.S. cent despite having more metal content. That was back in the time when the government made money from making money. Now the cent and nickel are getting expensive and people aren't happy. This coin has jumped an estimated five times its original face value (due to inflation) making it worth $0.50.

1960 Cuba 5 Centavos!

One of my now many Cuban coins. Many may be a little strong when compared to my American collection, but I do seem to be finding them more often. I got this for a slight bargain at $0.20 whereas it is valued at $0.75. It has the lowest mintage of the three years this design/composition was struck and is worth substantially more than the 1961 version in higher grades.

Indian 1959 2 Paise!

It's been a while since India could produce coins in this small denomination. Currently the Indian rupee is worth around $0.02 which doesn't leave a lot of room for lesser denominations. This coin is copper-nickel and holed, the latter being done outside the mint. I don't know who put the hole in or why, but it was probably worn on a necklace or bracelet to make carrying money easier or as just a decoration. This coin isn't worth much with the hole but $0.05 or whatever the metal price is should cover it.

1980-A German Democratic Republic 1 Pfennig!

Aluminum: a metal that seems to be common among cents these days. If they're still being produced, that is. East Germany is no longer around and does not produce any money at all. I suppose they were ahead of the curve. East German coins seem to be hard to come by, although they are not rare at all. This example is worth just $0.10 but it is the first East German 1 pfennig coin I've ever come across. And on top of that I've only found three East German coins period before this one. I don't mind it though since I prefer pre-1949 German coins to newer ones but still, I don't think it should be easier for me to get 100 year old coins than it is to get 20 year old coins.

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 (1893 Columbian Exposition Half Dollar)!

This is one of the few coins I have that is this old and in such fine shape and of course it's American. I used to have a less desirable one, but with this there's no need. It was struck in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  Some were sold at a premium at the fair, others were thrown into circulation, and the rest were melted. Not many survived in perfect condition making the near-perfect specimens worth $1,000+. Unfortunately my coin is AU which means it's worth $17.00.

1943 Indian 1/4 Rupee!

This U.S. Cent-sized, .500 (50%) silver coin is a quarter? Yes, it is. Four of these would have made an Indian Rupee and now it takes quite a few Indian Rupees to make one of these. The silver value alone is $54.02 Rupees ($0.90). I got it for $0.25 which was, at the time, a much better deal. Now that silver has dropped it doesn't seem like much profit. Except for the fact that it's worth $8.00! Numismatic value dominates silver in this case and the coin is actually a great bargain. I'm glad I noticed it and picked it up when I did or else someone else could be blogging about a great find.

1962 South African Cent!

This coin is large, but not in charge. It's quite a few times bigger than a U.S. cent which isn't surprising because the U.S. cent was actually worth more than the metal and production costs back in the day. Now, due to inflation, poor spending, and other things, the U.S. cent is worth less than production cost. The South African cent is no longer made because it is worth so little. In fact, it takes about 10 South African cents to make one U.S. Cent. This coin is worth about 1 South African Rand (as of 7/5/13).

Workers of all countries, unite! (Soviet Union 1933 20 Kopeks!)

I'd been needing an old Soviet coin and a few weeks ago I got one. This is the coin and while it's dirty and worn, it sits as one of my favorite coins. I love how the older Soviet coins are more full in design. They're much more appealing than the ones minted from the 60's - 90's. They also had propaganda on them. Like the U.S. has "In God We Trust" they had "Workers of all countries, unite!" among others. Many of these coins were made, but they must have had a rough time in circulation because this coin is worth about $2.00.

Italy 1913-R 20 Centesimi!

A beautiful coin! Too bad it's my only one. But then, you don't need any more when one coin has this much beauty. I got it for the usual $0.25 which I consider to be a bargain for such a nice coin. It features all this and since I've given a link this post can end here. It is worth about $2.00 which makes it a financial bargain as well.

South Korea 1973 50 Won!

About the same size as a nickel, so it makes sense that one of these is worth about $0.05 in exchange value. At this moment I have 161 Won which, as you may have been able to figure out, is around $0.16. At least it isn't the Mongolian Togrog or Iranian Riyal. Then again, it is close to the Togrog, but worth a bit more. Korea also has nicer coins than Mongolia but Mongolia has nicer bills. That is my opinion, of course. What is not opinion is that this coin is worth $0.25 or exactly what I paid for it.

1826 British Shilling!

A shilling, 12 pence, 5 cents they all mean the same thing. That's right, this U.S. Quarter-sized, 92.5% pure silver coin was to Britain what a nickel is to Americans. 20 of these coins would make a big gold 1 Pound coin just like 20 U.S. nickels would make a tiny gold 1 Dollar coin. I got this coin at the flea market for only $4.00! It's pretty worn, but much better than my 1927 Shilling. It's also worth about $15.00! Not bad for $4.00.

1925 Norway 10 Ore!

I bought this coin in hopes of it being silver. Unfortunately, it is not. I figured with it being so small and holed there was a chance of some silver content. Fortunately, I did not buy it as a silver coin, so the silver would have been an extra bonus. Norway did make silver coins until 1919 but stopped then because of problems brought up by WWI. Most of the 7 million 10 Ore coins minted in 1925 must have survived the depression and WWII era pretty well because this coin is worth just $0.75.

2006 Moldova 5 Bani!

The first thing I saw of this coin was the obverse. I thought "Oh, I could use another Romanian coin." I turned to the back and discovered it wasn't Romanian, but Moldovan! So that's the story of how I got this, my first (and so far only) coin from Moldova. I like the design, I just wish it were a little less worn. This is probably why the U.S. mint is so reluctant to use aluminum for the 1 cent coin. It wears and scratches so easily. Because of this, this coin is worth face value which is below 1 cent at $0.004.

1928-R Italy 5 Centesimi!

It's official. Italy was poor. Reason #1: this coin is pretty much the same size as a U.S. Cent. It's more deeply struck but there is little difference other than that. Another way to tell is the dedication to agriculture. Most American kids don't aspire to be a farmer when they grow up. But in poorer countries the one with the food is the one with the money. Speaking of money, this coin is worth a nice $3.00. Much more than the $0.25 I paid for it.

Iran 1937 50 Dinars!

Rather than use the dinar as the dollar like Iraq, Iran used it as the cent. So this 50 Dinar coin is just a 1/2 Rial. At current exchange rates, this coin is worthless. Of course, it was demonetized long ago so it is worthless anyway. It features a radiant lion carrying a sword on the obverse and the denomination on the reverse. This coin takes a huge leap from its would-be face value and is worth $1.00.

1947 French Indo-China 1 Piastre!

In my quest to acquire a coin from every country as well as my quest to get a coin from French Indo-China, I picked up this coin. French Indo-China is no longer around and is now known as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. This coin is almost the same size as a Ike, Peace, or Morgan Dollar; just a tad smaller. It's a monster compared to the French 10 Franc coin issued at the same time which is odd since colonizing countries' money was usually more valuable than the colonies' money. This coin is worth $4.00, which in 1947 would have been $0.39.

1928-M Mexican 20 Centavos!

I've been wanting one of these since January (2013)! Five months later, I get one for a steal. It's 72% silver and is worth $1.69 just in silver. I got it for a mere $0.20. This is the most beautiful coin I bought last Sunday and by far my favorite. For some reason I just find old silver Mexican coins highly appealing. I especially love the eagle on the reverse. It's much better than the design used on modern Mexican coins. It's worth about $3.00, a price I would have gladly paid had I not been fortunate enough to find this one.

1953 Cuba 1 Centavo!

 Guess who got two Cuban coins for $1.00? Me! I bought this and a 5 Centavo coin for my Cuban coin collection. So now I have five instead of three! I'll admit I overpaid some, but Cuban coins are so few and far between, I couldn't pass them up. This was a commemorative issued for the centennial of the birth of Jose Marti, possibly the most patriotic Cuban ever to live.

Cuba made their coins at par with the USD from 1916-1961. 1 Gram of copper-nickel was equal to 1 bronze U.S. cent. Cuban cents were struck on  1 gram copper-nickel blanks until WWII came along and created the need for blanks of the same size, but made of brass. This was made on one of the brass blanks and is therefore smaller than, but was equal to, the U.S. cent. It is worth $0.15 in numismatic value, $0.01 in official exchange rate, and $0.0004 in actual exchange rate.

1923 Poland 10 Groszy!

 Poland: Home to some really girly birds. Germany's are much better. Why is this 90 year old coin in such great condition? Because there were 100,000,000 of them made! Plus, it isn't silver and the design isn't the best. It is better than most modern ones, it just lacks the biceps the German Eagle had. This coin is worth $50.00... in MS-60! In this shape, $1.50.

Croatia 1993 50 Lipa!

In the age before the internet, this coin would require some digging. Nowhere on the coin does it say "Croatia" which makes it hard to identify. However, a quick Google search reveals that it is indeed Croatian. This coin is 50 Lipa, or cents, which is also half of a Kuna. It is worth $0.09 in exchange value which makes 1 Kuna $0.18. This coin is worth about 2 Kuna or $0.40.

1855-BB French 5 Centimes!

No, not short guy and Waterloo Napoleon, that's Napoleon III  on the obverse. He was the famous Napoleon's grandson with a fantastic taste in beards. Victor Emmanuel II of Italy had a similar taste. When I saw this coin at the flea market, I immediately bought it simply because I didn't have one before. It's not special at all and isn't worth much unless in high grades. This one is worth about $1.00 and I got it for $0.25.

1923 French 5 Centimes!

What a beautiful coin. And for only $0.25, how could I resist? This was the most beautiful world coin I got that weekend. It's also worth 6x what I bought it for. So for $0.25, I got a $1.50 coin beautiful coin! The hole in the middle was most likely for saving metal and money which would all the government to produce more coins for cheaper prices with all the metal they saved. Unlike the U.S., France's economy was severely crippled by WWI and they needed to cut corners as much as possible. Unfortunately, these efforts were to no avail and the French Franc became practically worthless in the following years. I like how the dirt accents the design on the coin. I wonder if this adds any value.