Why Foreign Coins Are For Me
By Thomas O.
It started when I was 12 years old and had a paper route. Occasionally, we would receive a large Canadian penny as a tip from one of our customers. They were unusual so we would put them aside. After my paper route, I worked as a clerk in a small local grocery store and later at a department store. This gave me an excellent opportunity to watch for old or unusual coins.
Along the way I purchased books on American coins and later finally purchased one on World Foreign Coins by R.S.Yeomen. People from my neighborhood would also watch for foreign coins and give them to me.
After college I started to work for a company that had an International Service Dept. This gave me another chance to add foreign coins to my collection. I learned a lot from collecting foreign coins because I researched the coins and I was able to find historical and valuable information about other countries. I started to purchase some American coins and Canadian coins to build my collection. I usually purchased proof and mint sets and some Canadian pennies, nickels, half dollars and dollars. I also took every opportunity to travel for my company. While in Texas I traded some non-silver Kennedy’s for some silver Mexican pesos and during a visit to Disneyland even traded a US quarter for a silver 1/4 Balboa from Panama. The vendor would not take the coin from the customer so I traded it. It has an approximate book value of $25.00. My collection consists of coins from many countries around the world. Some of the coins come from countries that no longer exist or have changed their currencies, such as Iran after the fall of the Shah. My oldest coin is an 1801-1/8 real from, I think, Spanish America. I still am working on it. My next oldest coin is an 1812-1/12 shilling from Sweden.
The U.S. quarter program has added some excitement as I try to find the quarters
from circulation. Canada also had a similar program. The U.S. Mint also issues
a lot of other coins such as the commemorative series, but they are very expensive. One of the rules and advice I received from veteran collectors was that when I am going to purchase a coin to buy the best one I can afford.
I can’t get excited about U.S. coins as they make so many of them and there is no variety. Sometimes I will make a purchase and set it aside. Then I may read an article in a coin magazine or newspaper about it. I then check it out to find that I made a nice purchase, e.g. two sets of Uncirculated coins from the mint in 1970 with the silver 1970-Kennedy half dollar for $5.00. I still have them. Foreign coins also offer a great deal of variety: from royalty, to animals, to cities and countries, people and maritime vessels. There are too many to mention.
A lot of people collect coins for an investment. I collect them for their beauty. In recent years I have started to focus on the "Tall Ships". In the summer my friend and I spend some time sailing around Lake Michigan. Sailing is so peaceful and relaxing. A two-masted sail boat breaking the waves under full sail is a sight to behold. All that power. I try to think back to the early explorers like Columbus and how they sailed the seas and oceans without all of the high tech instruments that are available today.
From Canada I purchased the Blue Nose which has been on the reverse of the Canadian dime since 1937. I also have the Marco Polo, Lawrence, Frontenac, the Ketch and others. Recently I received the 6th coin in the Austria On The High Seas series. It took almost 2 years to collect them all but it is a beautiful set and worth the wait.
Over the past few years my family has hosted several students from Europe. One of the things we do is exchange coins. I have had the opportunity to visit several of the families and have received many beautiful keepsake coins from France, Austria, Slovakia and Germany. One of the French families has gone out of their way to find new coin shops for me to visit while I am there. I started to collect the Euro coins but that is a little difficult here in the
states.
Foe the past 8 years I have served as a mentor for some special students in the 6th grade. We meet for lunch and then we visit, work on homework, or play games. I have started to get them interested in coin collecting. We work with foreign coins. I supply the coins and the materials. The student then has to find the coin in the catalogue, read the history and then put it in a holder. They are amazed at all the different kinds from foreign countries. Some coins have holes in the center and some have scallops. It is also hard for them to imagine the days when people in England carried the large pennies before the changeover to the decimal-based currency. This helps the student get an understanding of other countries and also helps them with their geography classes.
Perhaps the most exciting and intriguing coin I have added to my keep list is the "Red Back Spider" dollar coin from Tuvalu. I had to research Tuvalu before I made the purchase. What a unique coin! I don't know the right words to describe it. I love this coin even though I don't like spiders. Over the years I have collected a variety of coins and have enjoyed all of them. I have some of each: Gold, Silver, Cupro-nickel - and they are all beautiful in their own way even though they may have very little intrinsic value.
They all have a story.