And no, I don’t mean the crap your grandfather gave you when he died so you never have to work again 😀
When I got back from Baghdad last year I brought back a rather…er…substantial amount of “non-current Iraqi currency.” Anyway, I’ve always collected coins and whatnot from places I’ve been or been near. I’ve got East German aluminum pfennigs, Soviet kopeks, and a bunch of other fun stuff. Including a silver coin with the head of a recently “demoted” Middle Eastern politician.
Currently I am thinking about expanding, and getting into some OLD stuff. I think the oldest coin I have right now is either a US penny or something from the late 1800s, or a 1913 German 10 phennig piece. I am seriously contemplating dropping $300 for two new coins, an 1811 20 franc French gold coin (why 1811? why France? think real hard…), and a silver coin from Alexander the Great’s mint in 330 BC. Future purchases will probably continue along the vein of really powerful people who tried to take over the whole world. Like anyone is suprised 😀
Anyway, does anyone have any helpful guidelines, references, or advice to offer somebody who is branching off into the realms of the potentially very expensive?
By: Old Git - 14th May 2005 at 14:55
SOC
I would suggest that unless you have large amounts of money to spend, you should concentrate on a small area of collecting. I have a fairly large collection of pre decimal UK coins and I concentrate on Florins and Half Crowns. The most importatnt thing apart from rarity is the condition of the coin/note and will make a lot of difference to the value. Talk to other collectors and do some research before you start laying money out.
If you should come accross a threepenny bit from 1937 with King Edward VIII
on the reverse please let me know. They were minted in 1936 just before he abdicated and a few got into circulation and are reckoned to be worth 25,000 each, check with your older relatives. I will give you 500 quid for it :p
Good Luck
O.G.
By: SOC - 14th May 2005 at 14:38
Nah, didn’t get that specific.
By: Flood - 13th May 2005 at 22:51
Oh.
Thought it was an important date or something. Discounted it being the retreat from Moscow or defeat at Waterloo, for example. Assumed you were being tricksy…
Flood
By: SOC - 13th May 2005 at 22:29
1811=a gold coin struck during Napoleon’s reign in France.
By: Flood - 13th May 2005 at 22:24
Never did get the 1811 bit, and I can’t be bothered to think about it.
Flood
By: SOC - 13th May 2005 at 22:18
Well I broke down and got the Napoelon 20 Franc gold coin and the silver Drachma from Alexander. I’ll have ’em both in my greedy little hands by this time tomorrow since the morons at FedEx and the USPS didn’t deliver them, they only left notices that I have to go and get ’em :rolleyes:
By: F-18 Hamburger - 2nd May 2005 at 19:45
I’ve got some old Russian coins (non-Soviet era) and Spanish ones, I’ll trade it for your soul……….. and guitar.
By: Arthur - 2nd May 2005 at 19:06
How about a few Belarussian banknotes? I really hated those… paying a 400.000 rubles hotel bill with banknotes no bigger than 5000 rubles… AAARGH! There are plenty of things to dislike about Belarus, and their money is one of them.
By: Colonial Bird - 2nd May 2005 at 19:03
I’ve got some now defunct Turkish and Spanish money….some other countries as well. Not sure how old it is though…..Looking for anything of that nature SOC?
By: Arthur - 2nd May 2005 at 18:57
Anyway, does anyone have any helpful guidelines, references, or advice to offer somebody who is branching off into the realms of the potentially very expensive?
Try buying stuff like that as close to the source as possible. Don’t go around to American dealers to buy old French coins, and don’t go to Paris to buy old American coins. The further you’ll get from the source, the more expensive it will get, both because in-between traders and because the dealer will assume you don’t know the real value of a coin just as long as the coin is exotic enough.
The oldest coin i’ve got is a Roman one, emperor Nero-era. It’s one i actually dug up myself, in the Mosel area where they are pretty easy to find. It’s nothing spectaculair, it’s a small copper one (either a sestertia or an as) and i use it for a totally annoying time-killing game with a spinning cellphone. But i’m open for a reasonable offer 😀
By: Colonial Bird - 2nd May 2005 at 18:38
Anyway, does anyone have any helpful guidelines, references, or advice to offer somebody who is branching off into the realms of the potentially very expensive?
ummm…loan me some money before you do? :D:D
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May 2, 2005 at 5:40 pm