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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,211 |
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Valued Member
United States
228 Posts |
Recently I promised to myself to collect a coin from every single country before my 18th birthday(August 2nd). Unfortunately I came up onto a burden, how many counties are there really? Some sites say 195, others 191. Heck, some even say more that 200!. My question to you guys is, what is the real amount of countries in this world? Haha, its kind of a stupid question, but easy to answer. Any answers would be greatly appreciated. As soon as I hit my 2 week (3 more days!!), I will make a topic in the buy, sell, trade forum.
Thanks, OneMoreRoll
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
That is a loaded question. What is your definition of a country? Do you only want to collect countries that currently exist? What about micro-nations, territories, principalities etc.? What you choose to put in your "every nation" list will likely not be the same as another collector's list. In fact, a little while back one of our members compiled a list of well over 1000 coin producing entities.
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
Wow, 1000! Do you know if anyone still has that list. What my personal goal is, is to get a coin from every place that produces their "own" unique coin. What I want is to pretty much just have one of every type of coin made. If you know anyone that still has the list or where to get it, please let me know. Thanks.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
That was my list. I have since updated it to include a lot of ancient places as well. Every time I get a new catalog, the list gets longer. I also take advantage of places like Tradewinds, combined with Wikipedia to learn about new places.
I'll post a new link in the foreign coins forum with the list.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
749 Posts |
I would like to see this list as well. 1000 is quite the tall order, Good Luck OMR  Im trying something like OFEC (one from each country) too.
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
Thanks. all I'm really trying to do is collect coins from countries since 1900 to present. Nothing really old. Do you know if there is a list like that somewhere?
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
Lucky, you posted only 4 seconds before me. I see where the name comes in, haha.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
749 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
get a 1901-present Krause
get a coin from every country listed in it. It's a good start
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
Okay, but do you know roughly how many there might be? As in countries, I counted 194 on the cia site
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5318 Posts |
I'll help you with one country which I'm sure you don't have. Care to take a guess where this coin is from? I have an extra that I'll be willing to trade for something else  (sorry for the huge pic--the only one I had handy) 
Edited by KurtS 04/13/2008 12:15 am
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Valued Member
United States
178 Posts |
speaking of odd ball "nations" that have their own coins, I just got these in the mail yesterday 
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
Collecting "one from every country" isn't easy, for several reasons: 1. As has been stated, "country" is a very vague term, and it can be hard to exactly pin down your "target list". If "countries currently in existence" is your goal, then the CIA factbook, Britannica Book of the Year and similar volumes are sufficient. Note that these lists may not include colonies and dependent states, like Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, French Polynesia, Cocos-Keeling Islands, etc etc. If you want "all countries that existed between 1901 and today", then the simplest way of obtaining a list is to do what GO suggested: get yourself a Krause catalogue, and work off the "country index". 2. Some countries don't make circulation coins. They're either using the coinage of another country, using coins of a monetary union (like the Euro), or not using coins at all, only paper money. Down the bottom of my wantlist, I have a list of currently existing countries I don't have coins from; these countries have only ever issued expensive, made-for-collectors coins, so I don't really consider them as "essential" for my OFEC set. 3. Not every "real country" that has existed has issued coins. Some countries and territories simply haven't bothered (most of the American territories, like Guam, the Northern Marianas, US Virgin Islands, etc, have not). Some countries simply didn't exist for long enough to issue coins ( Trieste Free State comes to mind), while other "countries" (such as Mayotte, Neutral Moresnet and the Palestinian Territories) have had disputed or ambiguous status, and no-one has issued coins for them. 4. Not everywhere that has issued coins was a "real country". Chinese provinces, Mexican civil war states, Spanish civil war districts, Argentinian provinces - these have all issued their own coins since 1901 and they're listed in the Krause index, but they're not considered independent countries. You have to decide whether they're essential for your OFEC list or not. Finally, there are places like Hutt River Province that have unilaterally seceded from somewhere, but lack any sort of formal diplomatic recognition. "Coins" from such "countries" might look like real coins, but you won't find them in the regular coin catalogues. (Slightly edited for factual accuracy)
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
Edited by Sap 04/13/2008 05:08 am
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
KurtS, umm, my best guess is ohh I dont know, Fiji? But yeah, I would be interested in a trade. Please email me.
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Valued Member
 United States
228 Posts |
j-easy, what counrty are those 'coins' from? Are they glass?
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Moderator
 Australia
16826 Posts |
quote: Care to take a guess where this coin is from?
Can't work it out? It's from a quite isolated country. Try doing a forum search for the word "isolated".  quote: j-easy, what country are those 'coins' from? Are they glass?
According to the ebay guy that's selling them, "Crescent Island" is in French Polynesia and inhabited by some 40 people with a fascinating history. According to the Wikipedia article about this island, the seller's story is myth, the coins are fantasies and the island is uninhabited. The auction title describes the coins as "acrylic", a kind of plastic.
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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Replies: 17 / Views: 2,211 |