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 Replies: 17 / Views: 12,360 |
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Valued Member
United States
320 Posts |
So a while ago I found someone selling world coins at $12/lb...given that nickel was $12/lb at that moment, I figured I couldn't go wrong. And I didn't, it turned out pretty well. Lots of old mexican pesos that are essentially worthless, but a couple silver pieces and some interesting history lessons like a King Edward VII from British East Africa. So it's cool enough. But then I got to thinking- wouldn't it be cool to have at least 1 coin from every country out there? I know there's two hundred and something countries, but then there's the now-defunct ones, and micro-nations like sealand.... this would definitely a project, even limiting to just the 20th century...
just curious if anyone here has ever taken on such a thing and if there's a master list of such countries out there somewhere?
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Actually, I started collecting world coins because I could get them cheaply enough. My goal is to say I can go anywhere in the world and buy a cup of coffee. I have not totaled how many countries I have yet, but I still come up a new one every couple weeks just buy picking up bag lots.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1040 Posts |
I think you will find that Sap has the most comprehensive list. He will be around at some time today I am sure. To get you started, this list is supposed to list all countries current as of now. http://www.theodora.com/wfb/#CURRENT |
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Valued Member
 United States
320 Posts |
I notice Sealand isn't on that list... and yes I did break down and but a sealand coin, just because.
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
I'm working on a complete country type-coin collection, and like you I've been able to pull most of them from bags. I've been surprised at how much world coins circulate, too, as nearly all of my coins have come from the central part of the USA, judging from the near-local tokens in the bags. I've also found three quite valuable coins that someone overlooked for sure. I'm also doing pretty well on a complete date collection of coins from about 1900 on from Mexico, Canada, the UK, and Euros. And the USA, of course.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4212 Posts |
I have alot, too many. Looking for anything in particular?
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Good 'ole Krause! I know of a couple collector mates of mine that are seriously into ancients and mediaval coins, but also have a fun collection of low value world coins, me included. I also have a few nice US type coins in silver and gold.
With an old used copy of Krause, it is possible to to build an extensive collection of perhaps thousands of coins for not much money, just as a kid would collect world stamps. You can end up learning at least a bit of other cultures from all over the planet. Perhaps this is the most valuable asset you can get from this type of exercise. This also keeps your numismatic brain ticking over.
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Moderator
 Australia
16817 Posts |
Hi, S.A.M., and welcome to the forum.  You'll find there are quite a few of us "One from Every Country" (OFEC) collectors out there. OFEC is a very challenging collecting field. Many OFEC collectors restrict themselves to a certain period of time, such as "countries that exist right now" or "countries that existed during the 20th century" because the total number of coin-issuing entities that have ever existed since the invention of coinage in 700 BC would run into the thousands. My current "country count" is 685, and that doesn't include most of the ancient Greek city-states nor many of the smaller mediaeval states. Part of the challenge of OFEC is that some countries simply don;t issue very many coins. Many of the smaller nations in the Caribbean, and several of the poverty-stricken ones in Africa, are members of currency unions and have issued very few if any coins under their own name. Burkina Faso, for example, has never issued even one coin of its own. Another challenge is defining "country" because even in the modern era there is, suprisingly, no clear-cut, one size fits all definition. It's entirely up to the individual collector if you wish to include micronations (eg. Sealand, Hutt River Province), unrecognized states (eg. Somaliland, Transnistria), civil war states (eg. Katanga, Euzkadi) and provincial or regional issues (eg. Swiss cantons, Chinese provinces). 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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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
Hi S.A.M. I have a very comprehensive list of places one can get coins from. There are 2428 names on it. This includes what Sap mentioned - provincial issue, civil war states, unrecognized states and micronations (Sealand is there). It also includes foreign influence - my own Norway is listed four times: Norway independent, Norway in union with Sweden (1814-1905), Norway in union with Denmark (1397-1814), Norway under German occupation (1940-45). If you want a copy of this list let me know. It was made mostly by another forumer calld Jays-Dad with just a little contribution from me. We do not claim it is complete, but it is a very good start. For my selv, my OFEC collection is limited. I an not into ancients. I also pass on micronations. And I only count Norway once (but I do count both Ceylon and Sri Lanka, despite them being the same place). I basically include anything present in Krause with the addition of coins from the 16th century (Krause does 1601-present). At the moment I have 184 out of a possible 194 currently recognized nations (which interestingly includes Burkina Faso, I will have to check that one since Sap says they have no issue) and I have an additional 176 others. This is then nations that used to exist, like Yugoslavia and DDR, present places not nations like Greenland, Jersey and Bermuda and past provincial/colonial issue like Newfoundland, Preussen and South Rhodesia. Former German states make up the largest contingent. This kind of collection is a lot of fun. Enjoy!  Edited by Litotes
08/01/2010 05:39 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
539 Posts |
I definitely like my OFEC collection. I have limited it to coin issuing entities as listed in Krause for the 20th century (and then as a sub collection the reform coinage of each). You will find that there are some entities for which the coin(s) will come with a price tag. As Sap so mentioned some 'countries' are rare indeed. But that is all part of the fun, trying to find them and then afford them  Best of luck to you on that adventure. and by the way I count I am down to needing only 20 listed countries for the 20th century. Getting there slowly |
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Valued Member
United States
320 Posts |
OFEC, huh? Wow, there's even an acronym for it. Cool! suddenly my impulse-buy purchase is leading me down a whole other road of coin collecting....only this time "on my own terms". I'm sure there's no dansco album with their gaping holes that will probably always be empty without thousands of dollars investment. I could make my own book- maybe that's why it's so appealing. Well, that and (for a time at least) it should be relatively inexpensive as compared to trying to purchase say silver coinage. Litotes- I would definitely appreciate a list, thanks for the offer that's really cool! I tried to send an email but it says I don't have access to that. I assume I need a specified number of posts-- so when I get that number I'll send you one. I assume we're not looking at a limited time offer! Gosh, thanks everyone who's responded... it's cool to know others have the same interest/goal/thought. 'specially when my wife thinks I'm nuts. Edited by Secret Argent Man
08/02/2010 12:23 am
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Valued Member
Israel
423 Posts |
I collect mainly FAO coins and I have at least one from every country that has issued these. 119 countries. I also have a few other countries including ancients.
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
510 Posts |
S.A.M - I cannot presently send you an email either. But after a specified number of posts and/or amount of time there is no problem, I have emailed other forumers before. The offer will remain open until you can avail yourself of it.
Edited by Litotes
08/02/2010 3:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
as an OFEC collector, I limit my collection to world atlas as of 2007 and to at least one coin per country, Atlas year 2007 = 194 countries listed
now at 145 becoming quite difficult to obtain the others, but this is where the fun really starts.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
790 Posts |
I do my OFEC incredibly liberally. I do in fact include all kinds of derivations on places [if Krause can separate Germany kingdom from Weimar from Third Reich, then I can separate Norway into Norway independent, Norway in union with Sweden (1814-1905), Norway in union with Denmark (1397-1814), Norway under German occupation (1940-45)]. I definitely include places that no longer exist. Talk about a geography and history lesson. I also collect (accumulate) banknotes and use those in my OFEC compilation. Using these generous parameters, I currently have 589 places. My newest places are Ukraine as an autonomous republic from 1918-1919 in the form of a banknote and Madura Island under British occupation. Some day I'm going to add stamps then we'll see that list go kapowie. Think Memel, Quelimane, North Ingermanland..... I just got to get a handle of my stuff, I've got it all here somewhere (I think it might be under the bed).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1840 Posts |
Welcome to the darkside! I have an OFEC collection and really don't place any restrictions on it. The last time I counted I was at 258 different coin issuing entities, but it has been more than a year since I took inventory.
To keep track of what I have I use a 100+ page checklist that I got from a web group that I use to subscribe to. I estimate that it has more than 5000 different items. The list includes notgeld, commerce tokens and a variety of other categories that people may not consider coinage. It also has a 6 page fantasy/micronation companion.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 12,360 |
Posted 07/31/2010 8:43 pm
