Liberian coin variety?

[everycountrycoins]

Hey CoinPeople,

 

Although many of you may have no interest in coins like this, I have a KM# 651 5 DOLLARS (2000) coin from Liberia that looks exactly as it does in the SCWC with one rather glaring difference--on the bottom of the reverse my coin has "5 DOLLARS" (not "FIVE DOLLARS" as depicted in SCWC). My coin came with a COA (a sort of funny one--an AMERICAN MINT COA made in Germany) for "World War II." The coin does not seem valuable enough to counterfeit. Should I report it to SCWC as a variety?

 

Hope to read an opinion from at least one of you,

 

Bruce

[bill]

Hey CoinPeople,

 

Although many of you may have no interest in coins like this, I have a KM# 651 5 DOLLARS (2000) coin from Liberia that looks exactly as it does in the SCWC with one rather glaring difference--on the bottom of the reverse my coin has "5 DOLLARS" (not "FIVE DOLLARS" as depicted in SCWC). My coin came with a COA (a sort of funny one--an AMERICAN MINT COA made in Germany) for "World War II." The coin does not seem valuable enough to counterfeit. Should I report it to SCWC as a variety?

 

Hope to read an opinion from at least one of you,

 

Bruce

 

Pictures would help, but it sounds like a standard issue coin. The SCWC picture could have been taken from a pre-release press release. A quick scan of Liberian coins around the internet show them a number for the dollar value and DOLLARS spelled out.

[RHM22]

Pictures would help, but it sounds like a standard issue coin. The SCWC picture could have been taken from a pre-release press release. A quick scan of Liberian coins around the internet show them a number for the dollar value and DOLLARS spelled out.

 

I believe Bill is right. Also, these nations-for-hire tend to mint coins in lots of varieties.

[everycountrycoins]

Pictures would help, but it sounds like a standard issue coin. The SCWC picture could have been taken from a pre-release press release. A quick scan of Liberian coins around the internet show them a number for the dollar value and DOLLARS spelled out.

 

I didn't bother with a picture because it was exactly the same except for a 5 instead of a FIVE. However, I have seen both varieties on the Web. Here is one like the one seen in SCWC:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em=230412548618

 

Here is the one that I won:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=370315703995

 

There is a difference in the COAs. The SCWC variety has no letters in the issue designation. The "5" variety has an A before the issue designation. Thus, I guess I believe that there were two varieties issued (for who knows what reason) and that I should probably point this out to the SCWC folks (although they may not care).

 

Bruce

[bill]

Okay, I'm at home and I only have the 33rd (2006) edition of KM World Coins. It lists only 18 different 2000 dated 5 dollar gold pieces and KM 651 is not among them. What you are dealing with is something called NCLT or non-circulating legal tender. It is made under loose contracts and marketed with a percent going to the country listed on the piece (if any goes at all). While I don't have an issue with someone who chooses to collect NCLT as if they were medals or other non-coinage type of issues (I have some in my own collection), they are not circulating coins in the standard sense of coins that people spend in the store. They are made for collectors and some even have a value beyond the time the are issued. It would not surprise me if more than one mint issued varieties of NCLT and it would not surprise me that KM was unable to keep abreast of all the issues that might be issued to scam collectors of their hard earned dollars. [WARNING: My personal opinion expressed.]

[everycountrycoins]

Okay, I'm at home and I only have the 33rd (2006) edition of KM World Coins. It lists only 18 different 2000 dated 5 dollar gold pieces and KM 651 is not among them. What you are dealing with is something called NCLT or non-circulating legal tender. It is made under loose contracts and marketed with a percent going to the country listed on the piece (if any goes at all). While I don't have an issue with someone who chooses to collect NCLT as if they were medals or other non-coinage type of issues (I have some in my own collection), they are not circulating coins in the standard sense of coins that people spend in the store. They are made for collectors and some even have a value beyond the time the are issued. It would not surprise me if more than one mint issued varieties of NCLT and it would not surprise me that KM was unable to keep abreast of all the issues that might be issued to scam collectors of their hard earned dollars. [WARNING: My personal opinion expressed.]

 

First, this is not a gold issue. It is simply Copper-Nickel. It is listed on page 1358 of the 2010 edition of the SCWC.

 

Second, Bill brings up some interesting thoughts that border on others I have pondered before. Although I have started to collect some uncirculated, specimen, proof, and even piefort sets, part of me feels like they aren't "real" coins. These uncirculated objects merely are artistic impressions of "real" coins that are made for collectors. They are sterile in more ways than one and don't carry much of a story until they pass through several owners for the reasons that are the conclusions of their chapters. When I hold a well worn circulated coin, I know I am holding something that probably has hundreds of chapters, many of which may be very interesting. [WARNING: My personal opinions expressed]