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 Replies: 6 / Views: 4,287 |
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Valued Member
United States
52 Posts |
Hi, I just got these 3 U.K. ecu coins, but I can't find them in any K&M catalog. Can anyone tell me what I've got here? Thanks,   |
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Moderator
 Australia
16849 Posts |
They are "unofficial fantasy patterns", so you will not find them in the mainstream coin catalogues. No actual coins denominated in "ecus" were ever issued in the 1990s, by any country. Most of these unofficial coins eventually make it into the "Unusual World Coins" catalogue, which are given "X" numbers in NumisMaster and on NGC. UWC lists these particular coins under "United Kingdom" rather than "Great Britain". Here's the 1 ecu. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
 United States
52 Posts |
Great, thanks!
Now I'm more confused than ever about what constitutes a "fantasy coin". I thought they were things like Harry Potter coins or coins issued by mythical countries like Atlantis or Utopia.
Were these Ecu coins minted by private fantasy issuers or by European governments and then never issued once the Euro was adopted?
Thanks,
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Moderator
Australia
16849 Posts |
Private issuers. The "ecu", as a physical coinage, never even made it to the drawing board.
"Fantasy" is a label that can be attached to any coin that was never issued in real life. It could be "fantasy" because the country was fictional (like Klingon or Middle Earth coins), or the monetary system was fictional (like Harry Potter or the ecu), or simply that the coin design itself was never actually made or even considered as an official pattern (like many of the Chinese fake "silver dollars" you see around the place these days).
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
629 Posts |
Well...
I must say that Spain and other european countries minted some ECU proof coins to spoil the collector´s budget...
These "coins" never entered into circulation, but the politics in their personal "Olympus" said that they were official means of payment...
In my own opinion they were beautiful MEDALS, not coins...
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Pillar of the Community
Belgium
1194 Posts |
here is a 5 ecu coin minted in Belgiun in 1987.  Ag 833°/°° , 37 mm , 22.85 gr , 12 h. obv:Carolus D.G.Rom.Imp.Hisp.Rex.Burg.C.F.: a copy of a coin of the emperor Charles V rev.Belgique , België , Belgien ,5 ecu , 12 stars , 1987 : twelf stars , one for each menber at that time ;Belgium in three linguages , Dutch,French and German , the three are spoken by people in that order . There is also a 10 ecu coin in gold. albert |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17970 Posts |
They are part of a set made for and sold by Coincraft, the London coin dealers:  As Sap says, these are fantasy coins. I think Coincraft may well still have some in stock - they appear for sale in their magazine/price list "The Phoenix" from time to time. |
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Replies: 6 / Views: 4,287 |
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Posted 03/15/2015 9:45 pm
