What Currencies Are Not Used?

Transnistrian coins do indeed circulate in Transnistria, as one was found in the street by a friend of mine who actually went there; see this thread. I understand that the same applies for at least some of the coins of Somaliland.

There are smaller countries which normally use the coinages of their larger neighbours; their coins are primarily sold as fundraisers for collectors, even if they don't resemble the "typical" dollar-sized made-for-collectors coins. Vatican City, Monaco and San Marino all have monetary unions with the Eurozone; none have issued coins in "circulation quantity". Andorra uses euros too, but issues it's collector coins in centims and diners. Liechtenstein uses Swiss coins. Tuvalu and Kiribati use Australian coins (though you might still occasionally find local coins there).

The coins of Nagorno-Karabakh were made overseas for sale to collectors; I doubt that anyone actually in Nagorno-Karabakh is even aware of their existence. The same goes for the coins of Cabinda, the 2004 series of coins for the Cocos-Keeling Islands, and anything you'll find in the Krause "Unusual" book.

Actually both Monaco and San Marino have issued euro and cent coins for general circulation. The SM pieces are not even all that rare, while MC coins can hardly ever be found "in the wild". And yes, the Vatican has so far made pieces for collectors only ...

As for San Marino, they also issue scudo denominated gold "coins". Not convertible AFAIK, but a 5 scudi piece for example is a half ounce of (Au900) gold; 2 scudi = 1/5 oz.

Christian

Depends. Liechtenstein for example basically uses Swiss coins (see Sap's reply) but issues its own franken-denominated precious metal coins from time to time. Those are (non-circulating) legal tender in Liechtenstein. You could even add those euro collector coins (mostly silver and gold pieces) that are, contrary to the regular euro coins, legal tender in the issuing member state only, and do not actually circulate.

As for "Kurdistan" coins, I doubt they circulate(d) anywhere. Certainly not in Turkey, and I don't think they are used in Iraq. Considering their low mintages (in the four digit range), I'd say they were made for collectors and maybe as awareness raisers ...

Christian

To address the coins on both your lists, in order:

Alderney: issues NCLT only, but has been granted the right to issue it's own coins. I'd call them legitimate NCLT.

Ascension (St Helena): The coins issued in the name of "St Helena - Ascension" circulate on these islands, which are administered as a single colony. I believe the inhabited islands are in fact allowed to issue their own NCLT.

British Virgin Islands - legitimate, as far as I know (though vastly overproduced in the 1970's by the Franklin Mint).

Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australian Territory) - as mentioned above, the 2004 series of coins are bogus. The earlier 1977 metal coins, 1967 plastic coins and 1913 plastic coins are all legitimate.

Kiribati - legitimate, though rarely seen on the islands - I think souvenirs pilfered them all. Australian coins and notes are the norm. When Australia abolished it's 1¢ and 2¢ coins, Kiribati still had need of them, so made their own.

Micronesia, Federated States of - Legitimate NCLT only. Uses US$.

Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan) - as mentioned above. I believe they have their own paper money which circulates there, but the coins are foreign-made fantasies.

Nauru - legitimate NCLT only. Uses Aus$.

Niue (New Zealand Associated State) -Legitimate, NCLT only. Uses NZ$.

Northern Mariana Islands - US territory which has not issued legitimate coins. NCM "coins" in this name are bogus. Uses US$

Palau - Legitimate NCLT. Uses US$.

South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (Falklands) - Uninhabited rocks; there are no people there to use coins, so any such coins should be regarded as illegitimate NCLT. A Pobjoy Mint flag of convenience.

Tristan Da Cunha (St Helena) - Part of St Helena & Ascension colony, uses coins from there in normal use, but I believe may issue it's own NCLT.

American Samoa - US territory, but as far as I know, their NCLT coins were legitimate.

British Antarctic Territory (Falklands) - Uninhabited, and illegitimate. If Britain actually struck coins in the name of this territory, they'd probably be in violation of the Antarctic Treaty. Blame the Pobjoy Mint.

Cabinda (Angola) - produced by one of the factions striving for independence from Angola. The other factions (and the Angolan central government) have denounced the coins as illegitimate cheap Chinese knock-offs. Uses Angolan kwanza, with CFA franc also probably in wide circulation.

Gough Island (St Helena) - Uninhabited rock. I do hope these coins aren't a total scam and at least some of the funds from the sale of these coins go to help pay for the protection of and research into the island's wildlife.

Kurdistan - The Iraqi Kurds are very careful not to do anything that might provoke the Turks, Iraqis, Americans or anyone else who could disrupt their de-facto independence; issuing their own money would be considered by some as provocative. Coins in the name of "Kurdistan" are issued by expatriate Turkish-Kurd awareness-raisers pushing for independence for the Turkish section of Kurdistan, and are not legitimate. Uses Turkish lira.

Nightingale Island (St Helena) - Another uninhabited rock. See Gough Island for comment.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon - French islands off the coast of Newfoundland. The 1 and 2 franc coins dated 1948 are legitimate, though now obsolete. These coins date from the period of the Fourth Republic and the French Union, when every colony and territory was considered autonomous and given it's own coins. The islanders use euros today.

Tokelau Islands (New Zealand Territory) - legitimate NCLT. Uses NZ$.

Some other countries for your consideration:

Turks & Caicos Islands - British colony, issues NCLT coins denomininated in "crowns", but uses the US dollar in everyday trade; the "crown" is considered to be on par with the US dollar. The quarter-crowns and half-crowns of 1981 may have actually circulated as quarters and half-dollars; I have seen a circulated specimen in a scratchtray.

Hutt River Province - unrecognised state in Australia. The population is too small for the coins and notes to be considered "circulating". There were some "circulation-quality" coins and notes produced in the 1970's, but they were never intended to circulate; the principality's gift shop sold out of the coins long ago, but the notes are still for sale there for a slight premium and are accepted on par with the Aus$. Most of the "Desert Storm" and other coins in the name of this "country" in the early 1990's are not legitimate, even from the Prince's perspective - they were issued in America without the knowledge of anyone there in the HRP.

Cook Islands - there are some circulating coins from these islands (though the NZ$ circulates there at par, too) and the NCLT issued by them was legitimate, but the "legal tender" status of many of their NCLT coins was retrospectively revoked after a plot was uncovered from some entrepreneurial foreign gentlemen to buy up masses of cheap Cook Islands NCLT from Europe and America for far below face value, travel to the islands, and cash them in.

Mayotte - all coins in the name of this French island in the Comoros Archipelago are illegitimate; Mayotte uses euros.