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 Replies: 25 / Views: 3,783 |
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Valued Member
United States
162 Posts |
This is an interesting thought I just had--- What is the longest period of time a circulating coin was minted for keeping the same design and composition? An obvious one is the Jefferson nickel minted for 66 years, from 1938 to 2003 (66 years) but I'm sure there are some other coins with even longer time spans! anyone know of any? |
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Valued Member
 United States
162 Posts |
And there is of course the Swiss 10 Rappen minted from 1879 to 2022... 144 years! It is unlikely that anything can beat this!
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17901 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
24992 Posts |
I think that the Maria Theresa thaler would qualify - first minted in 1741 and still being produced today.  Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
 the thaler is the longest running single design I know of. |
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Moderator
United States
34397 Posts |
Here is a link to a similar thread from the early years of CCF. It started off being US-centric, but then expanded to include world coins. Anyone have a Dutch Ducat from their collection to post? http://goccf.com/t/32914"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
The Roosevelt dime reached 76 years in 2022, so guessing this would be the US record. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3848 Posts |
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I think that the Maria Theresa thaler would qualify - first minted in 1741 and still being produced today. That's what I was going to say. Suffering from bust half fever. Want to learn how to attribute early half dollars by die variety? Click Here: http://goccf.com/t/434955Shoot me a PM if you are looking to sell bust halves. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
9376 Posts |
Quote:
What is the longest period of time a circulating coin was minted for keeping the same design and composition? Quote:
And there is of course the Swiss 10 Rappen minted from 1879 to 2022... 144 years! The composition of the Swiss 10 rappen (KM#27) did change twice in that time, before resuming. 1918-1919 was brass (KM#27a) and then from 1932 - 1939 it was nickel (KM#27b). So does that coin meet the OP's criteria? |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10982 Posts |
A bit off topic here but......the U.S. 5-cent "nickel" has the same composition (25% nickel, 75% copper) it had when originally created in 1866. That's 156 years and running strong. There was silver alloy " War Nickel" from 1942 to 1945 that actually had no nickel in it at all. And they didn't even change the name! The standard alloy returned in 1946 and it remains the only U.S. circulating coin that retains its "hard money" alloy from the 19th century. Just a bit of coin trivia for you. |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5172 Posts |
Quote:The Roosevelt dime reached 76 years in 2022, so guessing this would be the US record. The Roosevelt dime had a composition change in 1965, so for same design and composition it's only up to 58 years. AFAIK the actual US record is the Liberty Head quarter eagle, issued with the same design and composition for 68 years (1840-1907). Unfortunately they missed the opportunity of having the same mintmark letter stand for different mints on the same type - Denver was active by 1907 but did not make quarter eagles. |
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Moderator
Australia
16809 Posts |
The longest-running unchanged coin design is, without question, the Kai Yuan Tong Bao coins issued by Tang Dynasty China. They began issuing them in AD 621, near the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, and continued until almost the end of the dynasty, up to AD 907 - that's 286 years of unchanging coinage design issue.  There are minor variations in calligraphy that allow for a slightly more precise dating of specific coins within that 286-year period. This one, for example, is datable to AD 718-732. Of course, if one considers the basic design of "cast bronze, four characters around a central square hole", then "Chinese cash coins" were issued continuously from AD 220 to 1912 - that's about 1700 years of essentially identical-looking coins. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
191 Posts |
Interesting discussion. When I first saw the title, my immediate response was hands down the MT thaler. Now I'm in a quandary as a result of the post about the Chinese cash coin.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5177 Posts |
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Anyone have a Dutch Ducat from their collection to post? AFAIK, the design of the Dutch Gold Ducat has changed slightly over the course of the years (i.e. slightly different armor and stance). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7934 Posts |
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AFAIK, the design of the Dutch Gold Ducat has changed slightly over the course of the years (i.e. slightly different armor and stance). True. As well as different decoration around the tablet reverse, the transition from hammered to milled, etc. But the general design and composition ran for the full 200+ years of the Dutch Republic (1580s to 1790s), which makes it a near second. And if I am not mistaken, the fiorino d'oro of Florence ran from 1252 to at least 1530 with the same composition and design (lily on one side, Saint John on the other) |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 3,783 |
Posted 11/18/2022 3:39 pm
