Is This A Good Bulk Deal?

I have become a world coin collector, and am a fixture at my LCS. They let me have first pick of the foreign coins that come in, and I let them know what is silver.

My foray into world coins started when I was cheated at the annual coin show over 10 years ago. Someone sold me a 1950s Swiss 5 franc claiming it was .75 oz of silver. It is .40 oz. It took me weeks to find a resource to tell me about the silver content of foreign coins (I have used copies of the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th century Krause catalogs now).


One day, while waiting for the store manager/owner to finish with an earlier customer, I looked at the foreign "treasure chest" and saw a 1950s Swiss 5 franc. I knew that for exchange it was (then) worth $4 US, so I asked how much the coins were. 25 cents each, or 5 for a $1 I was told. That is when I became interested in world coins.


I have bought more garbage than good coins, but learned what is garbage thereby. My best pick was an essay for Cochin China that has been mentioned elsewhere. The most silver I got at 5 for $1 is a Bahamas $2 (.89 oz). I have acquired over $280 Canadian, over 13000 yen, gave my daughter 170 British pounds to take on her trip to Northern Ireland, collected I don't know how much in Euro (my latest collection is at 47 euros), swapped 250 Swiss francs for a gold French 20 franc...There is a lot that is easy to collect, but often hard to market.


I have learned about places I never knew existed -- like the British colony of the Ionian Islands, Nagorno-Karabach, South Arabia. I have a coin of Constantine I, a gold Napoleon (I), a 5 kopek of Catherine the Great, a silver coin of Frederick the Great, coins of heroes and villains throughout history. I am constantly learning more history and geography.


World coins are not a get rich scheme, but can provide a tactile entry into an amazing education about the world where we live, and of those who have gone before us.

Kawliga-

I was unaware of where you live prior to my post.

The Cuban coins were mentioned, as an example, for two reasons.

The first is the (easily overcome) headaches associated with selling Cuban coins local coin store owners and dealers just through them in the bulk bin. Due to their business models messing with them isn't worth it.

Lastly, the ones I typically find are pre-Castro and in extremely nice condition. There is no shortage of buyers.