I've got a decent collection myself I've built up slowly through the years. Mostly American, Canadian, Mexican, British and a random assortment of European coins. Wouldn't mind dropping something in the mail in exchange for similarly valued coin/paper bills from foreign lands. :thumbsup:
I don't actively collect, but I got almost all of the regular 1st generation Euro-coins (missing only 2 or 3, I don't remember, EXCEPT San Marino, Monaco, Andorra & Vatican) and a big assortment of foreign coins from pretty much all European countries before the Euro went into effect. Lots of coins from Canada/USA as well as Japan and Australia, North Africa and some historic coins from Nazi Germany and the timeframe 1870-1914.
When silver was cheap, morgan silver dollars. It's big , heavy and satisfying to hold. Over 110 years old, and fascinating to think who might have used it. Sad knowing I won't live as long as a simple coin.
I have a few genuine Roman coins, and whenever I hold one I cant help but think about all the people that used it thousands of years ago. Makes you wonder what items you currently own that someone might be holding thousands of years from now...
Can't say I do, mainly collect interesting coins and/or oddities such as the American "wheat" pennies that during WWII were made out of steel (only 3 years production). I've only found one in circulation. Post WWII most pennies were made out of shell casings adding to the historical interest. Few American proof sets, one that was worth $800 prior to the economy taking a dive but I collect out of interest rather than investment.
The oldest coin I have is an 1899 Silver Dollar. Other than that, I have a handful of Indian Pennies, Buffalo Nickles, Mercury Dimes, and various silver dimes/quarters. I have a couple foreign coins as well.. Francs, Euros, a really cheap looking Belgian coin from 1952, and some odd looking Asian coin that appears to be Korean. I've always liked collecting coins and old bills like silver certificates. I've sort of done it casually over the years through getting change and working around cash registers.
Did you ever get your hands on coins from the former GDR (Eastern Germany 1949-1989)? Those coins are pure garbage. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_%28DDR%29 They were all made from Aluminum but rumor has it that it's actually just painted cardboard. At least that's what these crappy things feel like, a perfect DDR-collectible representing the country's state of economy (based on illusional crap). I still have lots of them around just because they are so odd.
I could cut one in half but I'm afraid of all the toxic substances that might still be captured between the cardboard layers.
I don't really collect but I do have the unfortunate habit of not being able to spend any old style bills that come my way. Just can't bring myself to spend them.
You'd be hard pressed to find any Andorran euro's - they don't exist! They might in the future though. At any rate, I've yet to come across any small-state coins in regular circulation! Have you had any luck in this regard, or did you get them from stores or ebay? I don't collect coins in a serious sense, but every time I get a 2 euro coin I check the "heads" side (how do you even call that?) and if it's special, I keep it. I currently have a sizeable collection of commemorative numbers, such as a 2005 Luxembourg one with two heads on it. That, and I usually bring something from travels. I have lots of Syrian, Jordanian, Sudanese coins and bills, as well as some Swiss (nothing special here) and Hungarian coins. The Sudanese coins and bills are somewhat special as they've changed to a different currency since - they appear to do that pretty often! Only two years ago I found an old wallet with 65 euros worth of Belgian Francs in it, yay! I feel like an asshole for spending all (to the last coin, I was actually haggling with a shopkeeper at the airport) of my Israeli shekel this summer. Especially the bills look quite cool!
I bought many of the special french euros (5, 10, 50, 100, 200, 500), because it was easy to get them (only need to go to the post office and pre-order them). Next month, monnaie de paris will release new 10 euros silver coins (one for each region of France), I'll get the one from my region and try to snap a couple others.
I've currently have been having terrible internet problems that are still not resolved , but I have been collecting coins since I was a tot and my rarest coin would either be my 1600's piece of eight or my carson city 1875 20 cent piece.
I've inherited a decent stack of British and European coins from 1901-1970s, a couple of roman coins and a British coin from 1600s iirc. They're just sitting here so if anyone is after anything and want me to have a root through...
Oh, not to derail this topic too much, but I recently took a liking to old stock and bond certificates - they're quite pretty, I think, with their ornate engravings and seals, like huge dollar bills! This summer I found an 1880 Czarist Russia railway bond (yes, the "famous" ones that Lenin defaulted on after the 1917 revolution) with some coupons still attached, in a Brussels antiquariate. Bought it along with several others, they make for nice wall decoration
I don't but I strangely keep a single Yuan coin in my wallet ever since my trip to china (I also have a 10HK bill in a DSi box from the trip). Never though I would ever pull it out but over the weekend I was at the grocery store and the clerks where confused over a coin they had in the change, I asked to see it (since they kept asking different coworkers) and me and my wife could tell it was a Chinese coin. I pulled out the coin in my wallet to show as a comparison. Just though I would add my coin story. =P
My mother has had something similar happen, but with American currency in the US. Got change back from the till, just paper money. One of the $1 bills looked odd but it also looked real. Turned out it was a mid-50s Silver Certificate which are no longer issued and only have two changes by comparison to modern $1 bills. Not worth anything really but I still enjoy collecting them when I can find them. Some grandparents out there are missing something from their collection I'm sure.
