Why you should collect Newfoundland coins.

 Posted 01/03/2011  02:41 am

I'm hoping to drum up some interest in collecting this fantastic closed set. I first became interested in NFLD collecting when I realized that I was going to have a hard time getting every Canadian coin. I wasn't even aware that NFLD had it's own currency until I found a nice 1880 20 cent piece online and it was looking like I would get a stellar deal if I bid on it. I did and won, and at that point I decided my chances of completing the NFLD set were a lot higher than completing the Canadian set.

Newfoundland coinage consists of 8 different coins and were minted from 1865 to 1947.
I've included a picture of each monarch in the different sets.

Large Cents
1864 Specimen Strike only
1865-1936 Circulation Strikes



Small Cents
1938-1947


5 Cents
1865-1947



10 Cents
1865-1947



20 Cents
1865-1912

25 Cents
1917-1919


50 Cents
1870-1919

2 Dollars (Gold)
1865-1888

All of these are out of my collection except for the 2 dollar gold as I haven't started collecting those yet. Apologies for bad grades on a few :)

None of these groups have full consecutive dates.
There were a few decade long breaks with no new coins minted.
Few coins broke the 500k mintage numbers with many having under 100k minted and some as low as 2,500.

If one were to try to get one of each date you would only need to find about 132 coins! With varieties that number can easily double!

Newfoundland coins have far been undervalued and it's almost a running joke in Canadian Numismatics that they one day will pick up and show their true value based on the rarity. This will only happen if more people get interested in collecting them. There are some extremely rare examples that don't show up too often and when they do command a high price. From what I can tell getting a Victoria portrait in mint state is extremely tough and you better be willing to shell out thousands to find them. They are mostly available in VF but anything EF or higher is very difficult. The prices are low for the rarity but just finding them available to buy is the hardest part. There are still quite a few of the 1940's coins in MS.

Some of the rarest coins to keep an eye out are the 1873 5 cent piece which even in G-4 can command hundreds of dollars. The 1880 $2.00 gold piece has only 2500 minted. It's quite exciting to search for all these.

I've seen some interest on the forums in figuring out some of the 1899 20 cent varieties. Hopefully I can help illuminate some of it. A friend of mine is writing a book on all the NFLD varieties he has been investigating and it will be very very thorough. This is all the fruits of his research and he gave me permission to post some of this stuff. He has found about 5 major varieties of the 1899 20 cent with a few minor varieties. One thing to note is that it isn't worth distinguishing between a small 99 and a large 99 variety if they are below a VF 30 grade. Of the hundreds of coins he has checked out the small 99 have all been weakly struck on the reverse. Especially in the words CENTS. The prices in the Charlton for small 99 variety are grossly exaggerated in the lower grades as finding a small 99 in VF20 or lower is very easy. Of the hundreds my friend has looked at he hasn't found a single small 99 above EF40 grade. ICCS has graded a few higher but with close examination they are actually Large 99 varieties and finding out what their criteria for grading the differences just doesn't look like it will happen.

The easiest way to determine a large 99 and a small 99 is to look at the foot of the T in CENTS. The large 99s all have a long foot while the small 99 have a short foot.

The first I want to show is the Large 99 Wide Date, the last 9 is closer to the right than the the Narrow Date

The next is the Large 99 Narrow Date:

The third is the Small 99 Even Date:

The fourth is Small 99 Low 9, the second 9 is noticeably lower than the first 9:

The fifth is the hooked 99:


Here's another noted variety in the charlton. The 1940 Re-Engraved date. Note the letters and date both show doubling.



If you are looking for a good resource on NFLD coins there aren't really any out at the moment and I must admit that there are some very questionable coins listed in the Charlton. Recently this year in the 2011 edition a 4th variety was listed for the 1898 50 cent piece. It's Portrait 2 Large W. As far as anyone can tell, these coins don't exist and if they do they are worth a LOT more than the price listed. I suspect Bill Charlton knows they don't exist but he included them in this years Charlton on the off chance they do and he will be able to purchase them cheaply. This isn't the only example of coins that are listed that don't exist. Portrait 1 small 96 and portrait 2 large 96 for the 20 cent pieces definitely aren't around. I can elaborate on the different portraits and some of the problems with the Charlton guide if anyone is interested.

I've only been collecting for about a year now but I'm only 25 so I have many years ahead of me and I hope to finish the NFLD set in the next 10 years. I've quite lofty goals of acquiring every NFLD coin with varieties in very good grades and so far everything has been going great!
If you have any questions feel free to ask.