Sir Sisu

I have only one restrike that is not a legal coin: a 1990 Estonian 1 krone that I purchased that same year. It greatly interested me as the Soviet Union was still around and Estonia had not yet regained its independence. I thought it was a bold gesture by the Estonians. Other than that I have only one copy, and that is of a Russian coin that was in a bag of other coins that was given me. It is a poor cast copy with the word "COPY" stamped in it. I do not ever intend on buying any copies. I do not care for them. I want either the real thing or than I will settle for syzygy's method. (scroll down)

Here is my most recent commem purchase: a US half dollar BU Looks like someone plays soccer in the States. (I am waiting for a new one. Will post it when I get it.)

Here are a few that I have: Finland Icebreaker Urho class Icebreaker Tarmo class tall ship (this scan is not very good) Estonia US half a ship

A Lincoln 1 cent in the 19-teens. I do not remember what year exactly.

Wow! Argentum, since when did you become my spokesman? My exact thoughts also! I would lump them in with Exonumia. It sounds very much like Conder tokens and US hard luck tokens.

Cool! It is like a brand new box of tiddlywinks!

I have 2 of these myself. With such a small mintage, I am surprised that they are not priced very high. I also have a couple of the above. My great-uncle was a sailor and I got these among a bunch of others as a great gift a few years back.

I was a child and the relatives brought "strange" money from abroad. I have collected "world" coins from the beginning.

There are many non-orthadox features to this coin.: already mentioned is the eagle, which breaks with much of the past stylizations, the date of his life being placed at the top is also quite against tradition. Perhaps the reason for the empty field at the left? Mozart is watching the telly!

Nice idea Art! How about coins that have a built in grade-o-meter? It will tell you the exact grade of the coin as it wears down. No more need for TPGs.

Ooooo, I like the looks of this one! The reverse is like a disco ball!

Heh heh. I will try , but if it works like it does with the rolls of 1 and 2 cent coins from Finland, you will probably get a better deal ordering from Germany. That is where many of the small dealers here order those coins. I will try and keep you updated.

http://www.rahapaja.fi/en/press-releases/1250/ Perhaps it might get me a better chance at getting a few extra, but I am sure many will be reserved for those coming to see the games.

Closer to home for you would be the Canadian province/territories series, and affordable to boooot.

Coming home from Sweden I had lots of great stuff waiting for me from T'buuny, a heavy one from Trantor, a few eBay purchases, etc. The most recent items are the short snorter note and a fabulous box from Abish!!!!

That coin sounds familiar. I wonder if it will make the rounds like the €10 note?

I too started with coins and stamps as a child. Stamps were easy as it did not cost me anything, and we constantly received mail from different countries- while with coins, it was predominantly just my home country. I eventually gave up on stamps as there were just too many to keep in any proper organized fashion, plus I just preferred the shiny round coins and the clear date of issue. (I never could get those stamps removed without tearing them.) I still have a book of old stamps that I had collected as a child. Not sure what I will ever do with it. I do like stamps, especially the older ones. Like Blackhawk said, they are like minature paintings. And occasionally I get some really nice ones in the mail (Banivechi recently sent some that really appealed to me) that almost tempt me to start collecting again! I only have 3 stamps that I have purchased new and saved: 2 are numismatics (1 US and the other Finland) and the other is a multiple stamp that makes up the Kalevala theme tryptich painted by Gallen-Kallela.

Bingo! For me an UNC is an UNC whether it is 60 or 70. With circulating issues I will try to find an UNC with the least amount of bagmarks, but that is about it. With non-circulating strikes like SAEs and modern commems, the base quality is already great. At that point I am more concerned that the COA and display box is MS70.

I prefer AU/Unc for the modern mass produced coinage that I take out from circulation. Of course, if I cannot find one, then a lower grade will have to do, but seldom will I go buy a modern circulating piece in Unc. I am much looser with my expectations with pre-WWII coins in this category. For older coins that I purchase, it depends on the reason for why I am purchasing it: -If it is part of a date set then I can go as low as F (though I try for VF-XF) -If it is because I just like the design, then I aim for minimum XF. -If it is a commem, then I usually hold out for AU/UNC.

Interesting! Thanks for the link Stujoe. What it did not answer for me was how they determine the grades for world coins. There is no way they have people there that can know all the details of world coinage to know what the standard is to grade against, what strikes are naturally low relief, etc.

After reading this, I am starting to like our €uro coins even more.

Technically no, they are in the millions. Here a comma is used where a decimal point is used in the States. So the figure for this particular year is (in US format) .5 million. However, you can look at it as though it is in the thousands and it will jwork basically the same except for the very last Total figure.

I finally found the early holy grail of circulating Finnish euro coinage today in change: a 2000 €0.20 piece!!!! (for those not familiar with this see the following mintage details.)

Oh yeah, I forgot about that quirk in the system. So much much for my theory.

I started collecting passively about 25 years ago as a child, probably around the age of 7-8. (My parents did not collect anything, my brother collected stamps.) The only thing I collected acitvely was US nickels. I started actively collecting in 1990. The overhaul of Finnish coinage designs was the catalyst.