Yes I do! I am not far from having a complete silver (proof and unc) set of all Finnish commemoratives. I collect unc commems from the US. I also always like to buy a commem from any country that I visit as a souvineir. And finally whenever I see something that appeals to me. Here is my most recent purchase when I was in Denmark last november:

I love it. I've seen pics of this coin before. I do not have one. In fact my Ghana coin set is pretty poor. I have about 4 or 5 coins. Almost all low denomination circulation coins.

I do collect some commemoratives. I had started years ago on a US Commemorative Type Set but gave it up. I've sold off a number of my modern commems - US. I'll probably sell some more. They just don't appeal at the moment.

2004 Belarus 1 Rouble, Castle of Radziwill family in Nesvizh.

1996 Belgium 250 Francs, King Baudouin - 20th anniversary of the King Baudouin Foundation.

1948 Czechoslovakia 100 Korun, Commemorating the Charles University in Prague.

1913 German States, Prussia, 3 Mark, Defeat of Napoleon

Coinpeople's favorite...



2002 Poland 20 Zloty, Castle Malbork Commemorative, is actual legal tender. Silver and Ceramic.

I'm a passive collector, usually only with classic pre-WWI designs. I'm sure a number of Coinpeople have a Prussian 1901 3M

I just got it myself.

They are beautiful, but they are not real coins... If I come across them cheaply I may get them, but I don't actibly hoard them.
At the end of the day they are not real coins, just a squeme for the mint/goverment to make money of collectors...

Here we go again.  We just had a big discussion on what a coin is with the Silver American Eagles.  If a coin is offically designated as legal tender it is a coin.  At least by definition. 

Besides a lot of the old ones were circulated.

They're all legal tender with face value so they're all real coins.  Just because the majority aren't meant for circulation doesn't void their coin "status".

I know that, but personally I preffer collection coins intended for circulation.

In any case, as I said, if I can get them at good value (like face value) then I am happy to have them, as usually they put more time into designing the commems, so they suppouse to be more beautifull, that is theory though...

I consider them to be real coins, and I do collect them.

I will collect them from all countries I do collect coins from.

So far I have commems of The Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg, Great Britain, France, Spain, US, Canada, Dominican Republic

I should be getting the Italy €2 WFP soon.

Oh Unknown, that silver commem that you recently received from me, actually circulates, a friend of mine who works in a store, found one in the till, the other day, buy one of his co workers wanted and traded it for a €5 note.

Speaking of that, Tiff, did you get yours already?

I am assuming you meant the 2 mark? -the coin that T'bunny posted after you? Or did T'bunny post the wrong picture? Anyhow, I have had one of those (Prussia 1901 2 mark) myself for a looooong time. Mine is in nice shape excpet for a major scratch on the obverse that has ruined the coin.

  Oh, no.  I hope that the lady doesn't really look like that.  The portrait on the coin makes her look like she could be the mother of Beavis on the old MTV cartoon.  ;-)

I entered that coin in the UCC ( http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8595 ), but people found the Belgian franc to be uglier! :?

And no she does not look exactly like that. Here is a photo of her:

And yes, I do collect commemorative coins (including what in Euroland is called collectors coins). I am not terribly keen on pieces that are not issued at face value, but have bought and will buy such pieces as well :-)

Christian

Yes, the 2M. My bad. I always get the 2M and 3M confused. My piece for some reason has a polished obverse.

And if I may add to my own comment about collecting commems. I avoid those commems that come from those mints (most often island nations) that issue coins for Elvis, Pokemon, LOTR, etc. Somehow, those coins have little to no appeal for me.

Yes, I collect silver Euro commemoratives and being in the U.S. makes it a pretty tough collection. Most of my euros have come from European collectors who are willing to trade for U.S. or Canadian coins. I have been very lucky so far and hope to continue building a great, long term, collection. I like the vast history offered by so many different countries so the collection has been very educational and my new friends across the big pond are fantastic to deal with.

COLLECTING COMMORATIVE COINS SETS OF INDIAN COINS IS WORTH, I COLLECT THOSE . . .

My latest in the world of strange and unusual commemoratives:

Both are Belarus 2004 20 Roubles. 




The first is limited to 3,000 pieces, the 2nd 5,000.

Do i collect commemoratives?

No.




Never. I don't agree with the way they are aimed at collectors for the mints to make a profit out of. Consumerism ruined stamps, coins are going the same way.

Tiffibunny,  Now I WANT the one on the left!!! I am going to have to quit hanging around coin forums as it is driving me nuts! How available are these Belarus 20 Roubles now and can a guy find one? As for commemoratives, well they are a major part of my collecting now as 30 years of the same designs in the U.S. was getting really boring. Now I have turned to silver Euro's and world coins with outstanding designs. Prefer older 1800's in world coins but have found some outstanding NEW designs such as the one I just found here!!! Hard not to want them!

They are 2 seperate coins, the right is the reverse, the left the obverse.  I had to go to Ebay to find the top one it was released in July and my dealer sold out of them.  He's sold out of both now I believe.  As it turns out the guy I got these from on Ebay supplies my internet dealer.  I bought them straight from Belarus.  I know he has some more on Ebay.  I'll get you his ID if you're interested.  He's a great guy, I lost an auction for the bottom coin, but he sold me one cheaper than what the auction went for.

I forgot to show off this Polish Beauty too:

The commemoratives I just bought do not really belong in here since they are US coins, but yes, I did spend more than face for each of them ... A Mt Rushmore half, and today at the Denver Mint (well, the store) I got two silver $1 commems. I consider these pieces to be coins as well as souvenirs, so they were well worth the money :-)

Christian

I do not collect commems but I will buy them now and again when I see one I like. I should not have opened this thread because those two coins Tiff posted are way cool!

This goes hand in hand with the US Leif Ericson I posted...

drooooooooooool

Those coins are sooooo beautifull!

A pity they are just commems done in porpouse to take money of collectors... if they would be made for circulation they would be soo much cheaper...

You aren't gonna find much silver in circulation anymore.

Yes I know... that is a real pity...

The latest from Belarus.  .925 Silver Antiqued with embedded gem Snow Queen Mintage 1,500

Ohhhhhhh, I love the ... hmm, is it obverse or reverse?  The side that says "Sneznaja Karaleva". The other side is soo different, I would think it's from a different coin.

1966 Irish commemorative 10 schilling. It commemorates the 1916 Easter Rising against Britian.

Looks like a medal. I do like the reverse. 

That is a legendary hero called Cúchulainn, with a raven on his shoulder. The reverse design follows an Oliver Sheppard sculpture of the dying Cúchulainn:
http://keltic.johnny.free.fr/mythes/C/Imag...cuchulainn3.jpg

Seems they expect everybody to know who that statue represents, and who is shown on the other side (Pádraic/Patrick Pearse). What makes it look like a medal is the relatively high relief, I think ... and maybe the absence of a digit indicating the value ;-)

Christian

...And a very large, plain field.

(Thanks for the details!)

The raven represents Morrigane, by the way, a goddess who was after him. But apparently he was not terribly interested, and even injured her. Which is why his life (was) ended somewhat abruptly.

Nice coin indeed. But the empty space also makes it hard to find that coin in excellent condition. I have it, but with quite a few scratches. May replace it one day if I find a better piece at a good price ...

Christian

How about a missing rim / edge?

Right, except that I am used to that from many GDR (East German) commems. But the fact that there is no "protective edge" does make finding well preserved pieces hard :-)

Christian

As with Finland as well. Most Finnish commems did not start using a raised rim until after 1990. Those are my more favorite Finn commems.

I ended up with a few nifty ones in the mail today...

first of all, those are NOT coins, but tokens......

The ECU never became real money....



OK, the dutch one says (tough thing to translate, btw):

"Bevrijding betekent herleven van alle vrijheden"

"Liberation means living again all liberties/freedoms"

The portrait is Wilhelmina, reigning queen during WW2