World Coin? About KM#

djluster - I think you are asking if all coins have KM numbers? If that is the question - the short answer is no. US coins, to name one type, are not included in the numbering system. However, that said, I know of no better system of numbering that comes so close to being universal.

If you look in the Krause Catalog of World Coins, there are KM numbers assigned to the US coins also.

As Susan pointed out, the latest volumes of Krause have added KM numbers to US coins, too. For instance, Buffalo nickels are KM#134. This certainly helps us folks for whom " US coins are darkside, too" and who occasionally want to sort by catalogue number.

As to the KM numbers themselves, for most countries they are the primary numbering system to use for the period 1601-present. Note that Krause has "assimilated" the numbering systems of several older catalogues, such as Yeoman (1850-1960 coins) and Craig (1750-1850 coins). China, for instance, is still listed in Krause using Yeoman/Craig numbers; I usually refer to these as "KM/Y" or "KM/C" numbers.

Krause only replaces the numbering system when it finds a better one or the old KM/Y one becomes too obsolete or unwieldy. They have been gradually doing this over the decades since Krause was first published.

You should also be aware that Krause numbers are not necessarily carved in stone; numbering systems for some countries are occasionally revised and replaced; this usually happens for long-established European coinages when Krause pushes back another century; I know it happened for Austrian and Scandinavian coins between my first Krause (1987) and my latest edition (2006) . For example, the as-yet-non-updated part of my database shows my Sweden 5 ore 1978 as being KM#600. Now it's KM#849.

It doesn't happen often, and certainly not as often as Pick renumbers the world banknotes, but it is something to be aware of.