Collecting To Represent Coin History: What Would You Include?

about the Lydian lion. If you want to represent the history of coinage, it's hard to get by without one of those.

You definitely need some kind of Chinese cash, but I don't think they get slabbed very often. I don't think I've ever so much as heard of a slabbed Indian karshapana, but if you can somehow get a hold of one, that too.

I'd add a wire kopek (any type from 1533-1717), though, again, they don't get slabbed very often, and in the grand scheme they're probably too obscure.

Prague groschen perhaps? But yet again, good luck finding a slabbed one.

You will be hard pressed to find a British shilling from 1100, especially as the denomination was only issued in 1504 and any before 1544 are extremely rare.

If you want a medieval English coin, you are limited to pennies and groats (From 1351 - 4d).

@Princetane, I definitely slipped, I meant British Hammered silver, a shilling, groat, or penny depicting the forward facing portrait they used over and over for centuries

@january1may I was initially thinking Chinese spade money, but it doesn't fit a normal slab, thinking about a Japanese Bu or 2 Bu to represent unusually shaped Asian trade money and middle-age (1600-1800) Asia

@erafjel you make some great suggestions, a couple I was bouncing around already, especially the denarius


Some other options I've been thinking about are:
-German 5 Mark of Kaiser Wilhelm I (Second Reich, post Holy Roman Empire which is repped by the MT Thaler)
-Napoleon I 5 Francs (post-revolution)
-Louis XVI 1 ecu (pre-revolution)

I'd suggest a British golden guinea of 1662-1812 or a sovereign, as they were very important trade coins that circulated around the world.

Those are all great additions to your list.

You may want to consider swapping the Napoleon 5 francs for a Napoleon gold 20 francs, since the 5 mark and 5 francs coins are both 19th century versions of the thaler, so sort of two of the same kind. The 20 francs gold coin became internationally accepted and in the 20th century, the "gold franc" was a separate currency, used as a unit of account for certain international transactions, long after it had played out its role as the French currency. It is still a very popular bullion coin. You can choose one of Napoleon I's more expensive gold coins or one of the later and less expensive issues (they are all beautiful in my view ).

I've been thinking about a George III sovereign, probably my favorite of the designs. If I come into to some money some day I'll include a noble in the set




Very good point, world crowns are all pretty similar, I like the 20 Franc suggestion. Gold is always tempting




I assume you mean why 1740-1780 and not a 1780 (restrike) release, and my main reason is that if I have one dated prior to 1780, I know it is of that date, but since they kept restriking with the 1780 date up to the current day, I want one that truly is of the times, despite the continued use in world trade

You have raised an interesting question as to what historical significant coins you should collect
I have just published a book "Empires & Money", which is the history of the major trade currencies of the world -- starting pre-coin to the current US Dollar plus history of Chinese money including the paper money described by Marco Polo.
I would start with a Lydian electrum coin (the first coin) or possibly the silver or gold or silver Lydian coins. Then I would look at the Aegean Turtle Coins (first coin of Greece), then the Athenian "Owl" tetradrachma, which is considered as being the first trade coin that was used until it was displaced by the coins of Alexander the Great, that were followed by the coins of Alexander's Successors. Might throw in a Celtic coin copy of Philip II. The last monarch of Alexander's successors was Cleopatra. The Roman Denarius would be the next. The Byzantine Solidus, The Dinar of the Arab Empire. The Denier of Charlemagne, The Silver penny of King Offa of Mercer, The gold Augustale of Frederick II which was displaced by the Ducat, Florin, etc Do not forget the Thaler of Maria Theresa which dominated the Levant for over 200 years and was made by the Italians for there war in Ethiopia after the WWI. The British copied the Thaler during Lawrence of Arabia's campaign. My book, with 380 tight pages and over 4000 images covers this area. I also cover the importance of the gold:Silver ratio since the time of the Egyptians to the abolition of the gold standard by Nixon in 1971. The ISBN of my book is 978-1-896713-02-1.