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 Replies: 27 / Views: 4,527 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
I started getting into this discussion in the "Welcome" forum and thought I should move it. Excuse the lazy cut-and paste! I am collecting (at least) one coin from each country minted in a year they were involved in World War II. When it comes to the bigger countries, (US, GB, Canada, Germany, Italy, etc.) I am trying for one of each denomination from the "war years". Is this called a "type set"? I've always liked coins, but am just getting serious about collecting. So, I am still trying to get the lingo down! One thing that I believe may make me a little "different": I am collecting only circulated coins. I don't want perfect, uncirculated coins. I am collecting to feed my interest in coins and history. Part of the "history" side is that I want coins that actually went through peoples hands during that time. It's fascinating to me to think that my 2 Reichspfennig may have been in Hitler's pocket! (not because I am a fan of Hitler  ) I look forward to hearing from anyone that collects WWII era coins! I already met MArainman. It's good to know I'm not alone!  |
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Valued Member
United States
303 Posts |
Don't forget China (people don't think of China being involved in WW2 often, even though they were part of the largest armies and losses in WW2) and Japan.
France was a big country too, but they were out in the first part of the war.
I have a bunch of coins and paper money from China during the war years and a few from Japan.
Oh and welcome to the forum!
Edited by hc8604
01/26/2009 3:25 pm
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Valued Member
United States
365 Posts |
I don't specifically target WWII coins, but have always kept a curious eye out for the European coinage of that era, with a fair amount of German, French and Swiss, with a little English thrown in. Sounds like you've got an interesting project here; how much do you have so far?
-SCS
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Pillar of the Community
United States
671 Posts |
Well, as of yesterday I don't, but thanks to you, I might just get started...   |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
677 Posts |
hc8604,
Thanks for the welcome!
Nope, I sure haven't forgot about China and Japan. I have one Japanese occupation coin from (I think) a northern area in China. Actually, some people consider the start of WWII to be when Japan invaded China (1931?)
France is fun, because there are coins from France before Paris fell. And after that, there are coins from Vichy France (the Nazi puppet government) and the "free" French Republic.
All the war-time changes in government make it a challenge. But a very fun challenge!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
SCS,
So far I only have about 2 dozen. Mostly US and German. I have a few other countries, also. I am heading out the door to go to my favorite coin shop right now. So, hopefully I will have a good "find" to report soon!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
Sir Ferrari,
If you are a history buff (or even if you aren't) it is a fun collection. I am learning a lot, and by and large, all the coins are quite affordable.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
671 Posts |
Quote:
If you are a history buff Indeed I am! Once I finish this, I will have to go on to WWI, Spanish-American War, Russo-Japanese War, Sinno-Japanese War, Turko-Russian War... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Are you just talking of the major players in the war or every country that was involved in the fighting. I may be wrong but my count has it at 60 total countries directly involved in WWII. That would be a real task to assemble a collection of each denomination from all of them for those years. Good luck, I hope you do it.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
There is a real challenge in collecting both Japanese and Russian coins with those WWII era coinages. With the case of Japanese coins, there are some interesting variation with the sen coins as the Japanese mint was furiously working out ways on how to reduce metal content and replace with them with cheaper metal. In particular, there are some coins struck in the same year but with aluminum reduction. At one stage, a company has attempted to produce clay coins at the near end of the war:  The coins from the Soviet Union in particular 1942 10 and 15 kopek and 1944 10 kopek are one of the few rarities. |
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Valued Member
United States
104 Posts |
schmidty: The only reference materials I've needed are the Krause 20th century catalog and wikipedia. Somehow I think that if I buy a dedicated WWII numismatic book, I'll start going nuts over varieties and obscure tokens. For now, I collect circulated issues. Most of my finds have been from bulk bags of coins. The 40s are close enough that they sneak through the sticky fingers sifting through "unsorted" lots. Nobody's gonna grab a corroded zinc or pitted aluminum coin when there's silver to find. So far, I've obtained normal issue coins from the US, Japan, and England plus some occupied France, Sweeden, Norway, and China. My collection is still growing though. I only recently branched into the international market. But, I've got one of those spiffy morse code Canadian coins talked about earlier on the way from ebay. After searching through my collection just now, I think I'll make an effort to assemble a WWII themed binder. All this history should be in one place. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
1077 Posts |
That's going to be a cool collection.
There are 10 coins for the UK set of circulating coins during WWII alone!
Good luck! and welcome!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
Quote:
Are you just talking of the major players in the war or every country that was involved in the fighting. I may be wrong but my count has it at 60 total countries directly involved in WWII. One of each denomination from the major players and at least one coin from each minor or affected country. At least to start. My "dream collection" is every country, every denomination, every (war) year, every mint. But of course, that becomes more of a life-long goal! But you have to have goals, right? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
Quote:
The 40s are close enough that they sneak through the sticky fingers sifting through "unsorted" lots. Nobody's gonna grab a corroded zinc or pitted aluminum coin when there's silver to find.
That's also where I get the majority of mine. I even manage to find the occasional silver coin. I finally sat down and counted countries last night. I have one, or more, from 25 different countries. But, 4 of them aren't on the list that GraceOutcast gave to me from wikipedia. I will have to do some more research. I am one of those that takes everything I read on wikipedia with a big grain of salt! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
677 Posts |
Quote:
At one stage, a company has attempted to produce clay coins at the near end of the war: Those clays coins are pretty cool. If my (poor) memory is correct, they made 1, 5, and 10 Sen clay coins in 1945. I'm at work, so I can't check my trusty Krause! Thanks for the reminder. I think that will be my next purchase! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
507 Posts |
I am working at acquiring a type set of Vichy France, and a type set of the Third Reich. Those are the coin types I most associate with WWII. They are also what I am most likely to find for 'junk' prices that my budget can afford. I believe that one of the Scandinavian countries (Norway?) in exile had a coin minted, which is on my list. As for other participating countries, I probably have several, but I don't actively seek them out.
I do not limit myself to WWII, however. I enjoy the historical aspect of coins, and WWII is only one part of that. Think of the history of France from late 1700s to present, or Germany from mid-1800s to present. This provides a lot of coins to collect, all with fascinating history. This is also true for numerous 'colonies' of France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands that attained their independence shortly after WWII.
In 1993, the US Mint made a WWII 50th Anniversary commemorative set you may be interested in.
-wheatiefan
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Replies: 27 / Views: 4,527 |
Posted 01/26/2009 3:01 pm
