Liberia $25 Scwc KM-323

The "legality" of many "NCLT coins" can be legitimately questioned. In 1997, Liberia had just ended a period of civil war, so there was an actual internationally recognized government in Liberia to authorize such coinage, and Pobjoy Mint is usually careful to do everything "by the book", thus this particular coin is almost certainly legitimate. For the majority of the period from 1989 to 1997 this just wasn;t true, as Liberia was wracked by a multi-faction civil war with essentially no internationally recognized government and thus anybody could issue "coins" in the name of Liberia and there wasn't anybody around to confirm or deny their legitimacy. I'd classify such coins as "NCNLT" - in other words, they're technically not coins, but medals that just happen to look like coins. Many such coins may even have been "authorized" by rebel factions, with the proceeds helping fund their war effort ("blood coins") but with minimal documentation it's often impossible to know. Which is why a majority of the weird and wacky coins issued in Liberia's name during that time period are listed in the "Unusual" Krause book and not the mainstream catalogue.

It is a bit concerning, however, when the gatekeeper of coin legitimacy itself commissions and legitimizes its own coins. This coin could in theory have been completely illegitimate, and yet Krause could have listed it as a real coin purely out of self-interest.

Interesting point of view. I imagined them moving in the opposite direction, coming down from space to the earth, like a fleet of alien UFOs invading the Cape Verde islands.


Some of the "coins" on this coin are unidentifiable blobs, with only 6 or 7 actually identifiable.That smaller number of coins isn't hard to find on other coins, such as the New Zealand dollar of 1983 which has nine little coins on it, all identifiable.

For unidentified blobs that you need context to determine are actually coins, the coins that come to my mind are some ancient Roman sestertii depicting Liberalitas the goddess of generosity, pouring out a pile of coins to a recipient catching them in his toga. Here's a nice example from Heritage.

What an interesting notion... that a "coin" being worth its precious metal value is a bad thing.