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.