Coin Shopping Around The World

He certainly has something from there...

http://goccf.com/t/277724&whichpage=16#2383745
http://goccf.com/t/277724&whichpage=16#2383951

Sorry, I don't want to die yet. Haven't been there yet.




It's definitely on my list, but getting things fixed here in Norway gives a few complications. I sure do hope that the place stay around before some people lose their patience...




Sure thing. Here we go.

Svalbard

Svalbard is an arctic archipelago and part of the Kingdom of Norway. As such, it's completely Norwegian and all things Norwegian here should be applied. Or is it?

Svalbard, of which the main island is called Spitsbergen, actually has a unique status in the world, due to the Svalbard Treaty of 1920. This Treaty gave some nations (mainly Russia) the right to exploit mining activities on the islands. And they did. While Svalbard is permanently inhabited and the capital city (well... city...) Longyearbyen is generally thought of as the world's northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world with over 1000 citizens (just over 2000 to be more precise), there are a few more places to explore. But be quick, as they're turning slowly into ghost towns.
Due to the Svalbard treaty, Svalbard is also given a status aparte within Norway. Flights to and from Longyearbyen, the capital, aren't treated as domestic flights, but rather as flights to non-Schengen countries. Indeed, you have to go through passport control in order to get there. You can fly from Iceland to Greece and no one will ask you anything, but for this flight there are some thorough checks.

During the heydays of the Soviet Union, the Russian mining company Arktikugol set up business here and bought a mining town from Sweden, Pyramiden (a ghost town nowadays), and founded Bartentsburg, nowadays still the second largest settlement in the region (with just less than 500 citizens). As coal mining nowadays is less and less profitable, the Russian community tries to get tourism up and running here as new source of income. Despite that all prices are already adjusted to Norwegian levels, they're not really making money due to lack of tourists, though.

Nevertheless, despite the rights in the Treaty given to other sovereign countries, Svalbard is still Norwegian and thus, the Norwegian Kroner is the legal tender here. Even when visiting the Russian places, you're expected to pay with kroner. All prices there are in kroner, at least for tourists and visitors.

Svalbard Ruble
As said, during the heydays of the Soviet Union, a lot of Russian people actually lived on Svalbard, speaking Russian, eating Russian food, doing Russian things and getting paid in Arktikugol ruble. And the latter was according to the treaty, as it's a breach of the sovereignty of Norway to issue Soviet or Russian money. When Sweden was still active, they did the same thing: they issued a Svenska Stenkolsaktiebolaget Kronor (all banknotes, by the way). As such, the Arktikugol mining company issued their own currency to be used on site, the Svalbard Ruble. Most of these rubles were paper money, though: banknotes, even for the lowest denominations.
Three series of coins have been issued:

- in 1946, coins were issued of 10, 15, 20 and 50 Kopeks.
- in 1993, coins were issued of 10, 25, 50 and 100 Rubles.
- in 1998, coins were issued of 10, 25 and 50 kopeks and 1, 2 and 5 Ruble.

The first coins were tolerated, but technically had no more than 'token' status outside the mining community.
The second series issued quite a diplomatic riot, as they read 'Russian Federation', which is again a breach of the Svalbard Treaty. This caused a small riot between Norway and Russia, ultimately leading to the withdrawal and destruction of these tokens... or, not completely. Only the first batch of these was destroyed, and a second, much smaller batch actually managed to survive. These coins (tokens) have made their way to collectors, mostly. It's unknown how many of these tokens survived.
The third batch, however, was made but then withdrawn entirely before they were released in favor of another system: a chip card system, which only allows for cashless transactions.

All of these coins and tokens were struck at the mint of Saint Petersburg.

In addition to the coins mentioned above, two commemorative coins issued by Arktikugol are known to exist: one to commemorate the tragedy of the Kursk, the other one to commemorate 9/11. These coins all have the status of token, though, and honestly, I haven't seen any of them, ever.

Coin shopping
Perhaps unnecessary to say, but with a total population of about 2500 people in three settlements (Longyearbyen, Barentsburg and Ny-Ålesund, which aren't even connected by roads!), this isn't the place to go coin shopping. You should be able to get a nice set of Norwegian circulation coins though. And, what you also may do, is get a visa to Russia here, as Barentsburg has a Russian consulate, the northernmost diplomatic mission in the world. Please make sure that you contact them first and have all your paperwork in order, though.

I've been told (independently, well after I asked you about Svalbard) that the tragedy series is entirely unofficial (and isn't actually limited to those two coins either), and that a new series of tokens was made recently (in 2016, IIRC).

Maybe try japan or south korea?

Yet another fantastic summary.

I still have lots of Portugese escudos, coin and note, that I wasn't in a position to exchange.

Can I use them there ?

Anyway, time for another country. I got some requests for secluded countries and for East Europe, so why not combine this? So, to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of this topic, here's a special one.

Belarus

Having held the title of 'least democratic country in Europe' for well over 2 decades, this very secluded, semi Soviet state lies in East Europe, next to Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In practice, it's a puppet state of Russia, no more than that, and it's been ruled exclusively by 'democratically elected' dictator Alexander Lukashenko since it gained independence just over 25 years ago. Its currency is the Ruble, and since a few months the Third Ruble (BYN).

Getting into Belarus used to be a complete nightmare, with a lot of discouraging bureaucratic elements and a lot of Soviet style poker faces on the way. Getting a visa is your first challenge and chances are well over 50% that you get no visa or the wrong visa and that you have to start all over again... One good thing is that the nationals of certain countries now can stay in Belarus for up to 5 days, visa-free!
The next challenge would be to get there. Most flights to the only international airport, Minsk-2, about 25 miles (40 km) from the capital Minsk, depart from Russia. And flights from Russia to Belarus are considered domestic flights, which means that you need a Russian (transit) visa in addition. Russian visas cause almost equally big headaches, is my experience. Anyway, on arrival, please don't instantly hop on bus 300E or in a taxi, but use 10 minutes to look at the historical Aeroflot fleet that's lined up just outside the airport. Antonovs, Tupolevs and Ilyushins all the way!

Unlike the macro-perspective, every day life in Belarus, and especially the capital, Minsk, isn't bad at all. Despite its government and suppression, people in Belarus are generally very friendly and very interested in what's happening in the rest of the world. You can really feel that they want to get out there, but are held back by their beloved dictator. Just to debunk a few myths here: especially the younger generation learns English (although I do recommend to learn Russian before getting here! Government officials and everyone over 20 years old only speaks Russian) and a lot of international chains have shopping outlets in this country. McDonald's is one of the most popular places to eat. I think Minsk alone has over a dozen of them... And internet doesn't seem to be restricted at all, contrary to, for example, almost all countries in the Arab world. Oh, and the food and beer are of excellent quality!

Now, for the Ruble... it's a highly unstable currency, suffering from a high inflation rate (usually at least double digits). As such, the previous Ruble (the second one) was replaced just a few months ago by the current one (Third Ruble) at an exchange rate of 10.000 to 1. Some shops still use hybrid prices (both old and new) and posters explaining the new currency hang just about everywhere. The most interesting part is that this new currency comes with coins: 8 different pieces. And in addition, the kopek (sub-unit of the Ruble) made its reappearance since it disappeared almost immediately after its introduction in 1992. Katsiaryna already posted about the coins last year: http://goccf.com/t/262737&whichpage=1 Needless to say, but this had a big impact on shop owners, as no one had a cash till that could handle coins, and on private people, as no one had a wallet with a pocket for coins.

The funny part is that, even though the coins have been introduced in 2016, they all bear the minting date 2009. This is due to a failed attempt to reform the currency in that year: the new coins and notes have been stored at the national bank for about 8 years since. The coins were struck by the Lithuanian and Slovakian mint. Honestly, I think they're a tad boring. Very functional, though, but they get dirty easily and aren't that appealing.

My experience is that these coins circulate pretty well. It's relatively easy to obtain all of them (at least, for now) from circulation in relatively decent condition (at least, for now), but the inflation issues still haven't been resolved, and it's already quite clear that a lot of shops rather use Swedish rounding on their prices or simply use one decimal in their pricing to avoid the smaller coins. 1 and 2 Kopeks can best be obtained at larger supermarkets. I expect that these coins will disappear completely from circulation within the next 2 years at most, making the 5 kopeks the smallest one in use (as it's already in most shops nowadays).

Apart from the circulation coins, Belarus has also suffered from commemorative diarrhea over the last 2 decades, resulting in a huge amount of different non-circulating (sometimes silver and gold) coins. Most of these are also struck in very limited quantities (the 2017 issues come at 1000 pieces each for the silver edition) and these coins are, by default, only sold inside Belarus, without possible shipping abroad. Some of those are very appealing, though, so it might be a great challenge to collect a complete type set of them.

Now, for places to go coin hunting...

Minsk

Minsk is the capital of Belarus and houses about 20% of the total population, or roughly 2 million citizens. The city is still packed with Stalinist architecture and Soviet symbolism, and combined with current capitalist developments, you really get a feeling of being in some sort of hybrid capitalist soviet nightmare. It's very interesting though. Almost all streets in the center have asphalt surfaces, a luxury which cannot be found in most other places: sand and dirt roads are the standard there. Fun fact: this is the city where Lee Harvey Oswald lived for a few years before returning to the USA. I found his apartment and it's really central and at one of the nicest spots in the city.

Coin collecting is a nice state-controlled hobby here, just like almost everything else is in a way. There are no Western-style coin shops, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing of interest here.

First of all, the National Bank has a shop. Not just here, but in a few more cities: https://www.nbrb.by/engl/today/serv...s/SalePlaces
The shop in Minsk is housed in a large blue building, between a Hilton hotel and a few blocks of Soviet style apartments, and it has a huge fence around it. You can just open the gate and walk inside. A security guard will meet you and you will explain in your best Russian what you're doing. Then you turn right from the entrance and find 2 counters, where you explain again in your best Russian what you want to buy. They will not understand you and just point at the 2 desks around the corner, which you of course hadn't seen yet. There you'll explain your story again and you'll get told that all is sold out. Or they simply will continue to refuse to understand you until you give up...

I also got advised that there's a chance that a large antiques place might be of interest. It's located at Vulica Kazlova 3. Long story short: yes, there's lot of old stuff and art to be found, but no coins. The same goes for other 'antikvariat' shops in the city: old stuff: yes, old coins: no.

Your actual stop should be the National Museum at Vulica Karla Marksa 12, Minsk. This museum has a decent numismatic collection. In case I haven't stated it yet: learn Russian before going here. All signs in this museum are exclusively in Russian. It's a nice collection though!

A second stop should probably Stankovo Castle, just outside Minsk. I haven't been there, but I got tipped that it also houses a numismatic collection.

I got informed that coin collectors gather via 'coin clubs' and also do their trading there. Apparently they hold public meetings very frequently where people may come to trade coins. I haven't been able to infiltrate deep enough in the Belorussian numismatic world to confirm or debunk this. One major factor is my command of Russian. Just keep your eyes and ears open.

Outside Minsk
I haven't had the possibility to travel much outside Minsk due to obligations and restrictions. But based on what I found in Minsk, I guess the best bet is the state owned shops of the national bank. My other bet is that there are no other coin shops in Belarus, simply because coin collecting is an elite hobby and Belarus is a poor country with lots of economic trouble.

Having said that... I found an online Belorussian coin shop/market place. Once again, in Russian only.. It's found here: http://coins.ay.by/

Now for the most anticipated post of the year (well, sort of, right? At least for those who read this topic: http://goccf.com/t/289686

Timor-Leste

Timor Leste, also known as East Timor, or Timor Timur in Indonesia, is one of the youngest countries in the world. The country was part of the Portuguese colonial territories until 1975, when it declared independence. Days later, Indonesia invaded, fully supported by the US, Australia and Britain. And so, instead of becoming independent, Tomir ended as a province of Indonesia for almost 30 years. This was a grim time, as the independence movement kept fighting for independence, while the Indonesian government violently suppressed any form of insubordination.

So when Timor-Leste declared independence again in 1999, Indonesia decided to help by destroying almost all existing infrastructure and killing about 1 of 6 citizens (estimated 250.000 casualties), in order to make sure the new country could start from scratch, with a blank sheet. Independence was finally there in 2002, though.

Needless to say, Timor-Leste, isn't the richest country in the world. And Dili, its capital, only has had that status now for a decade and a half, having been a quite dull, provincial town before. There are, however, a few things that make Timor-Leste an interesting country.

Dili has by far the best infrastructure in the country. It has paved roads, electricity (although no street lights at night) and some form of internet (despite being very, very slow. Just above ISDN speed, if you recall. And very, very unstable). It's also one of the few places in the country where ATMs can be found and where commercial eateries (restaurants, bars) exist. Outside Dili, you are basically on your own. Most people around the country live in slums, though, or just a bit above that level.

Despite being a poor country, prices are high. This has to do with the presence of a large Australian UN force, which has been there since 2002 in order to maintain the peace. So expect to pay prices at American level for food and hotels. The good thing about this presence is that most of the people here also speak English because of it.

Now, one of the most intriguing things about Timor-Leste is its currency. Or basically, lack of currency. Timor-Leste might actually be the only country in the world which uses a hybrid currency. It uses a unit (USD) which is complemented by a different sub unit (Centavo). Or maybe the Centavo is the unit and the USD is the super unit. The latter would make more sense, as Timor-Leste has a 100 Centavo coin, equal to the value of 1 dollar. One centavo equals one US cent.
So, all sums up to 100 centavo are paid in local units, all above that is in US dollar, with the 5 USD being the smallest circulating note. I honestly can't recall another country in the world which uses a monetary infrastructure like this right now. I assume that, if this ever changes, the superunit will be called the Escudo. Just a feeling. On the other hand, given how things are now, I also assume that the country will be hit by a huge level of inflation and economic instability if it decided to disconnect from the US dollar. The economy is simply too tiny and too weak to support a stable currency.

The funny part is: coins of 1 centavo are no longer circulating, and prices are Swedish rounded to the nearest 5 cent. Indeed, US, a poor country deems 1 cent coins not valuable and stopped minting them for a long time ago...

The centavo coins actually do come in denominations of 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 centavo. These coins are all minted in Portugal (which shouldn't come as a surprise) and have remained unchanged in design since their introduction in 2003. Or, that's not entirely true. I observed that the 25 (and probably also the 50) centavo coins have been changed since 2017. They are thicker, have different reeds on the edge and are, according to a statement from the Central Bank of Timor-Leste, also different in metal composition.
I need to weigh and measure the coin to find out what's really going on, but I think Krause will get a new entry or two.

The 100 centavo coin
Before leaving for Timor-Leste, I saw that an assumed 2000 pieces of the 100 centavo coin have been minted and that it was a commemorative issue. Sounds like a coin that's hard to get, right? So I was very surprised to just get 3 of them in change when I went out for dinner on the first day. And not just that, the restaurant had a till full of 100 centavo coins. And actually, within days, I managed to collect over 20 of them, without even trying. I did not see any $1 notes around, though, even though I got assured that all denominations of $1 and bigger are in USD, and all smaller denominations are in Centavo.

Anyway, time to do some research, also because there wasn't much else to do in Dili. The Central Bank of Timor-Leste is quite appalling when it comes to communicating and a lot of their statements are actually altered before putting them in practice. After a while I found out that, indeed, the 100 Centavo coin is a one-issue coin of 2012, but the mintage numbers are wrong. The Central bank claimed that 2000 proof coins were issued, whole the actual coin card states that it's 3000. Also, the weight of the coin isn't 14 grams, but 7 instead. Proofs aren't piedfort.
And the bank issued a statement that these coins would be introduced to replace the circulating $1 notes, as these notes had an extremely short lifespan. The 100 centavo coins are intended to circulate for decades to come. In that case, 2000 circulation coins in a country with almost 2 million people nowadays is a bit little, I think.
Quite a bit more research learned that the actual mintage number for circulation coins is 50.000.000. So suddenly all my 'special' coins weren't so special anymore...
Anyway, having found this out, I'm happy to see that other sources shared my conclusions and updated their numbers.

Coin shopping
Needless to say, there isn't much coin shopping going on in Timor-Leste. Coin shops don't exist and the best I found was a street vendor on the boulevard near the harbor who offered me 'old money'. His 'old money' was a bunch of old Indonesian Rupiah banknotes and a Mexico Revolutionary coin that was so incredibly fake that I didn't even have a second look at it.

The main reasons to go to Timor-Leste are the very friendly people, the incredible food and being able to experience a third world country that's actually very safe.