Along with US material, I collect world/foreign coins--I like the variety and most of the designs. I do keep a sharp eye out for foreign silver, but not at the expense of anything else. For me silver coinage has a cool numismatic nature to it. I'm not in it for financial gain--not a primary motivator. That's just me.
@IJN1944- I actually agree, I like the variety of world coins and have branched out into base metal stuff.
I got my start trying to get silver weight, but have now branched into numismatics. For instance I bought this for $75 recently. I'm a sucker for Britannia. Hoping to one day get a British Trade dollar. This is the next best thing( well this and a Brittania modern seminumismatic coin)
I would never have bought anything like this years ago. Then alone for $75!!!
I've been buying world silver coins for decades. Initially I was more focused on paying bullion value or less (yes, that was possible) but eventually took a broader view.
I love to pick up world silver when I can, especially for really cheap, meaning less han melt , say finding 'accidental silver' in a dealers junk foreign coins. It is the thrill of the hunt, I don't know what I will find... So yes, I do sometimes pick up world silver for the silver at times plus the coolness of the coin itself. Example of a very good pickup for a dollar, 1912 Newfoundland 20 cents.
I used to be solely a US coin collector, but a few years ago I started buying some world silver coins and I've been primarily focused on that every since. I like the variety, the intrinsic value, and the fact that you can get a lot of it pretty close to melt.
Soon enough we'll be back to bartering--chickens, walnuts, lumps of coal; you get the idea. Remember, a road rash chicken is damage, not a hatching error.
I've been doing that for more than a decade. Went to the local rinky-dink annual coin show, and was disgusted by the bullion premia. Started looking at foreign coins.
Went to one table with some foreign coins and asked if he had any Canadian--he laughed in my face. Found another table that sold me Canadian dollars sealed in plastic for below melt. Guess he was tired of them.
So I picked up some Dutch, some Canadian, a Chinese dollar before they went crazy in price, and a 1950s Swiss 5 franc that was marked as .75 ASW. Didn't know anything about foreign, so I went on line to see what I had. Found out I had been cheated on the 5 franc.
Started buying used Krauses online. Was in line at the LCS, and forced to kill time, I looked at the foreign junkbox. There was a 1950s Swiss 5 franc. I asked how much the coin dealer wanted for this junk box coin. Answer: 25 cents. I was fairly sure the coin had not been demonetized, and a Swiss franc was then 80 cents US, so I figured I had a $4 coin even if it wasn't silver. But, of course, it was.
FWIW, at a later (and different) coin show, I brought 280 (nonsilver) swiss franc coins to a foreign coin dealer. This was when the Swiss franc broke the Euro peg, and was marked at something like $1.20 US. He gave me 90 cents for each franc, and I bought a gold French 20 franc with the proceeds. These were coins I had paid 5-6/$1 to obtain, ranging from half francs to 5 francs, so I didn't have much money in them.
Now, a major part of my collection is foreign silver obtained either in the 5-6/$1 junkbox, or at a spottish price. If the LCS holds coins for me to review, I pick out the silver for them (often setting aside the silver I want to buy). If they throw it in the junkbox, I figure it's free game. And yes, I have found gold in the foreign coins I reviewed.
Was in the LCS recently, and a customer said -- hey, the world coin guy is here. So I guess I have a reputation now.
Ah, the junk box at the LCS seems to be extinct in Australia (at least in Queensland). Even low value coins are now listed individually on ebay at often ridiculous prices. I find the odd silver coin in bulk lots but have to go through about 50-100kg for 1 silver. I did recently find a silver 1960 France 5 Franc coin that I suspect only escaped detection because it is the same design and size and the 1970 onward 5 Francs that I often find in bulk noodles. I would be better off buying individual silver coins but it's the thrill of the hunt I guess.
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Posted 12/14/2021 07:44 am
, say finding 'accidental silver' in a dealers junk foreign coins. It is the thrill of the hunt, I don't know what I will find... So yes, I do sometimes pick up world silver for the silver at times plus the coolness of the coin itself.
