I've recenty discovered a love for Pacific island coins and there was an auction I found on the local auction site for 16 Pacific island coins, I had a look through them and it had not 1...but 2 Cook Island 20 sene coins from 1974. I looked up the coin and found the mintage was only......5,500 coins. There was also some more juicy low mintage cook island coins and some samoan coins as well.
I swooped in and got the leading bid at $15.50, less than $1 per coin for the lot.....I waited nervously....1 minute to go...still nobody had out-bid me.....30 seconds....I was waiting for the last second bid....I was shaking with excitement.
IT NEVER CAME!!!
I am now the proud owner of a 2,750th of the supply of Cook Island 1974 20 senes and I got them for a steal!!
Does anyone else get that worked up over auction's you're bidding on, To me it's an adrenalin rush that beats bungy jumping.
Moved by ZacUK from Numismatic questions to Free discussion
Well, not necessarily!
As these figures are not confirmed, I might anytime wake up for some news, that ... in somebody's backyard they have found 12000 of the same stuff. ...
That is the risk with old coins, specially with Romans.
It is only VERY valuable, until a bulldozer finds a lot of them somewhere. We have seen individuals and museums go down in value ... after building a highway.
Απόσπασμα: imrehWell, not necessarily!
As these figures are not confirmed, I might anytime wake up for some news, that ... in somebody's backyard they have found 12000 of the same stuff. ...
That is the risk with old coins, specially with Romans.
It is only VERY valueable, till a bulldozer finds a lot of them somewhere. We have seen individuals and museums go down in value ... after building a highway.
Agreed, I find it hard to believe that the Romans would turn out a single coin of one type, it's one recorded copy, there may even people who own copies of the coin now who are hoarding it and it's not listed as a known copy. I wouldn't count the commemorative proofs that are made for collectors either. I own one of the silver proofs of the New Zealand 2010 yellow eyed penguin $5 coin which has a mintage listed as 5,000 pieces, but they were never intended to be used as currency, who in their right mind would spend a coin that costs $100 and has about $40 of silver in it for it's face value of $5?
My 20 Sene coins on the other hand were not commemoratives, they were minted for circulation and I'm stoked to get my hands on a couple. I've now got around 10 coins with a mintage of 20,000 or less.
And finally I have a 1994 $2 coin from New Zealand (https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces2653.html) that was only released in sets and has a mintage of 7,000 + 4,600 proof. I bought that one directly from a dealer.
Both of the Pacific Islands coins I acquired in bulk lots from the same auction site as neilithic. There really are some great bargains to be had out there!
And finally I have a 1994 $2 coin from New Zealand (https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces2653.html) that was only released in sets and has a mintage of 7,000 + 4,600 proof. I bought that one directly from a dealer.
Both of the Pacific Islands coins I acquired in bulk lots from the same auction site as neilithic. There really are some great bargains to be had out there!
There sure are some bargains, you have to hunt for them though, more and more people are asking truly exorbitant prices for their coins.
If you buy off trademe, I guess we've probably done battle on some coins in the past if you're collecting Pacific island coins too.
I don't like the proofs and sets, I prefer coins that have been issued for circulation, so I don't usually collect commemorative coins either
Some other low mintage ones I can boast are a 1938 florin from Fiji, mintage 20,000 and a 1973 50 tene from Cook Islands, mintage 19,000.
By the way, the coin you've put as a Tongan coin is a Cook Islands $1
Απόσπασμα: 15turtlesI should have ones with lesser mintages but they are modern commemoratives by the RCM
I couldn't think of my lowest mintage coin. It would probably also be a 5000 or 7500 mintage proof coin, I do have a handful of such inventory. Thinking about a real coin was tough, but it finally dawned on me, I do have a 2007 Monaco 1 Euro without mint marks.
Απόσπασμα: 15turtlesI should have ones with lesser mintages but they are modern commemoratives by the RCM
I couldn't think of my lowest mintage coin. It would probably also be a 5000 or 7500 mintage proof coin, I do have a handful of such inventory. Thinking about a real coin was tough, but it finally dawned on me, I do have a 2007 Monaco 1 Euro without mint marks.
Agreed. I go into local markets during the summer and every single silver coin in there is fake, unless you use a lot of proofing methods. But it could be modern silver made... unless the design is perfect...
But they even have fake NGC slabs and stuff now in China...
University is time consuming, cherish your free time!
I think most Chinese fakes are quite easy to recognise just by the weight the look and the feel of the coin, same goes for eastern European fakes. For Italian fakes though its sometimes harder - example the fake 5 lire of Umberto many actually own it without knowing as it has been perfectly forged and the fake also weighs exactly the same as the real one both 25gr. For rarest mintage I once though I own a 50 centesimi 1860 mintmark P with a mintage of 15 Coins. Went to a meeting at a reputable auction house for valuation. The specialist then told me that I had mixed um the signature mark (which was simply a P) with the mintmark; damn that was embarrasing.
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
Απόσπασμα: BrittaniaMine is a 1903 Edward VII Maundy Twopence, with just 8,000 mintage.
What does Maundy Coinage actually mean? I have a few 3 pence coins form Edward VII which are registrated as Maundy Coinage but I don't know what it means, though.
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
Απόσπασμα: BrittaniaMine is a 1903 Edward VII Maundy Twopence, with just 8,000 mintage.
What does Maundy Coinage actually mean? Because I have a few 3 pence coins form Edward VII which are registrated as Maundy Coinage and I stil don't know what it means!
Maundy coinage means that it was presented by the Royal power (King or Queen) to a pensioner on the Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Maundy
I usually let my maundy stuff go lol not too impressed by it there is only 1 I am
Interested in is a George V in UNC condition mounted on a pendant so for some reason someone on my dads side got one I would assume !
Απόσπασμα: BrittaniaMine is a 1903 Edward VII Maundy Twopence, with just 8,000 mintage.
What does Maundy Coinage actually mean? Because I have a few 3 pence coins form Edward VII which are registrated as Maundy Coinage and I stil don't know what it means!
Maundy coinage means that it was presented by the Royal power (King or Queen) to a pensioner on the Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Maundy
Ahh, now I finally understand what it means! Thank you very much!
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
But this one tops them all - Macedonia 1 denar https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces7980.html
it says only 2,000 it cant be right - I've had like 5 of these myself.
I find this one hard to believe
I probably have more proofs that are really low but I guess they don't count so the lowest circulated coin I have would have to be the Macedonia if that is indeed true and the lowest proof coin I have is this Ivory Coast one only 850 of them https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces17120.html
and plus to go with the Seeland thing I've got some Antarctic coins that are at about 200
talking low mintage. Daniel Carr bullion coins are all limited edition runs of under 1000 and they seem to hold their value; good for bullion coinage but they sell out quick and are hard to get a hold of.
Yes, its zany history is why I love it so much
It's the world's smallest "landmass" that claims to be its own country, and famously won a court case in the 60's because it was just barely far enough from the mainland to be in international waters. Several changes in legislation have reversed that, including an expansion of the UK's costal claim which envelops the naval base and a stipulation that "Artificial islands, installations and structures do not possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of their own, and their presence does not affect the delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf." The "Royal Family" still rules over the place anyway, making good money on the unusable coins and stamps they mint.
Απόσπασμα: 0gramzTo go with the Seeland thing I've got some Antarctic coins that are at about 200
I've heard that it will be worth 1/100 of a Troy ounce of silver once we reach 2076. I seriously doubt that would be honored, or that I would trade it in either way, but I find it a hilarious and unique addition to my American bicentennial collection.
I just wonder why does anybody consider any coin above a mintage of 200 (yes, two-hundred) to be a 'rare' coin. we are sincerely rowing in different boats here.
I just have a swap turned down, when a partner said "mintage 5000" as ULTRA RARE. I think it is more than ridiculous. To me "ultra rare" is below 50 mintage or much better even less!"
We have Phil Nightingale's valuable suggestion somewhere on the rarity scales, I wish ZacUK or someone from the team can link it here.
I know, I feel it can be like that...and perhaps it's that, that keeps him away.
With the mintage figures, I think I agree. I was so pleased when I had a "rare" coin, Scottish shillings of 1961 and 1959. But they are in the millions...I suppose though, you have the luxury with the coins as you have one coin with a mintage of one...so it is as rare as rocking horse poo...and you have a rocking horse poo almost.
Απόσπασμα: imrehI just wonder why does anybody consider any coin above a mintage of 200 (yes, two-hundred) to be a 'rare' coin. we are sincerely rowing in different boats here. :(
It's relative. If you compare a mintage of 5,000 for a circulating Cook Islands coin to a mintage of 10,000,000,000 for a US penny then 5,000 is indeed a rare coin. I wouldn't desribe it as "ultra rare", that would be anything with a mintage under a couple of hundresd but certainly not an easy coin to get hold of.
If you think that a coin with a mintage of 5,000 is not rare then bully for you, but to me it was a difficult coin to track down and I've never seen one listed individually on our local auction site, I was just lucky to find one in a bulk lot. Since the currency is still in use, most of them are still circulating round Cook Islands. That's why I'm chuffed to be able to pick one up for less than a dollar without having to go to Cook Islands and sort through pocket change.
Some coins may have high mintage originally but then been melted away or destroyed, hence the label rare, but that only goes for a few and some are just labelled wrong "ultra rare" when there's plenty to go round but nobody wants them.
Απόσπασμα: bam777I know, I feel it can be like that...and perhaps it's that, that keeps him away.
With the mintage figures, I think I agree. I was so pleased when I had a "rare" coin, Scottish shillings of 1961 and 1959. But they are in the millions...I suppose though, you have the luxury with the coins as you have one coin with a mintage of one...so it is as rare as rocking horse poo...and you have a rocking horse poo almost.
I have 6 coins ONLY, with a mintage less than 5, maybe 10 more with a mintage [registered less than] 20.
Am I having a luxury?
Not really.
They were not even very expensive,it is just focus and knowledge. Everyone can do it, Ben, if you are focusing on your [whatever] area! But surely these coins are hard to find if people are staying in the KRAUSE era.
That will not help at all. These coins are just not there. either because they are older [by definition] or because they do not make it to the publisher (like the 1938 Hungarian silver 5 Pengo with 56! mintage, which I do not have, like no-one here, but it is not in the KM catalog )
What I sadly see here, is that people think Krause is the Bible, what is in it: exists, what not: is not. But numismatics is far more than the KM catalog.
Απόσπασμα: imrehI have 6 coins ONLY, with a mintage less than 5, maybe 10 more with a mintage [registered less than] 20.
Am I having a luxury?
Not really.
They were not even very expensive,it is just focus and knowledge. Everyone can do it, Ben, if you are focusing on your [whatever] area! But surely these coins are hard to find if people are staying in the KRAUSE era.
That will not help at all. These coins are just not there. either because they are older [by definition] or because they do not make it to the publisher (like the 1938 Hungarian silver 5 Pengo with 56! mintage, which I do not have, like no-one here, but it is not in the KM catalog )
What I sadly see here, is that people think Krause is the Bible, what is in it: exists, what not: is not. But numismatics is far more than the KM catalog.
hhhhmmm: MISLEADING
Why do you have to bring down the tone of the thread? I started it off so people can list the nice low mintage coins that they've come across, which pretty much everyone else has done. But your posts have a tone of scoffing arrogance, belittling the posts of other people.
I collect circulated Pacific Islands coins and the Papua New Guinea 2 toea with a mintage of 2,000 is one of the lowest mintage coins you can get in the Pacific coins. Why should I be mocked by you for considering it a low mintage coin just because you have coins that are ultra rare?
The dictionary definition of rare is "An event, situation or condition not occuring very often" and I consider finding a coin with a mintage of 2000 to be an event that doesn't occur very often.
I consider pretty much any coin under a million as rare. I just love when I come across a coin and come to find out it's say 800 thousand I feel like I've won the lottery or something. Like one time I went into this antique store and all they had was a showcase with typical U.S. coins that they no longer mint and I asked if they had any foreign coinage and the man said he had a few junky world coins not worth anything in the back. He brought them out and had about 2 handfulls. I bought them all for 5 bucks and got home looked through them and found a Danish West Indies five bit coin https://en.numista.com/vous/vos_pieces.php?pays=antilles_danoises
At the time I was so amazed I hadn't even realized there was a Danish W. Indies that existed; still to this day that was one of my favorite finds that came unexpectedly. Ain't nothing like that feeling when you stumble upon a coin you don't know of or happen to get a country you havent had before, or a hard-to-get coin gets passed over and thrown in a junk pile that you discover for next to nothing. Maybe it's the whole mystery of it all but to me that's what I consider a rare coin to myself. Not exactly the mintage but for instance it could be any coin design that strikes my eye as "I havent seen this" when I'm rummaging through the mounds that coins dealers throw together and label worthless. This thread asks what's {your} lowest minted coin and I have a lot to go through to find this answer, and still may be incorrect because as you know a lot of these countries don't even release info on mintages, so we all could be sitting on a gem and not even know it yet. Some people think just because a coin isn't worth much it doesn't make them rare. Well I think those are the most intriguing ones. This is just my opinion and everyone else is entitled their own also for I'm sure of their own reasons. But who knows of the true mintages - we weren't there - these are all just reported mintages. I'd like to see some facts on accounted for mintages. Because sometimes these reported just don't seem to add up.
I agree with you too! It is so exciting to find a coin with a low mintage! When I get "rare" dates of Swiss coins I'm really pleased and it gives me a buzz. I can't wait for the next tin, bag, or rummage that brings about another scarcity!
like this 2 lepta i have https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces5456.html
it says theres 9 million of them minted. i find it hard to believe there are this many of them still around.
I'd bet there isn't even close to a million but no-one knows.
So if you come across one you consider it a nice find in any condition.
But according to the books there could be a great deal of them floating around -
but where are they all
I haven't seen one single specimen in person in 12 years besides a few on eBay
so I'd consider this a low minted coin even though the numbers seem to lie.
Απόσπασμα: 0gramzlike this 2 lepta i have https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces5456.html
it says theres 9 million of them minted. i find it hard to believe there are this many of them still around.
I'd bet there isn't even close to a million but no-one knows.
So if you come across one you consider it a nice find in any condition.
But according to the books there could be a great deal of them floating around -
but where are they all
I haven't seen one single specimen in person in 12 years besides a few on eBay
so I'd consider this a low minted coin even though the numbers seem to lie.
I know exactly what you mean...that's where the representative heuristic comes in, just because you haven't seen one doesn't mean it doesn't exist! But that is the thing, somewhere someone is sitting on a number of these coins in great condition, some people have worn coins of this type but just recognisable, and some people have a planchet ready for the scrap heap.
I guess in the case...being rare to you...is what makes it rare. A non common occurence to happen to you. Say for instance today....first time ever...I got a St. Helena and Ascension Island £1 coin in my change. Mark has mentioned that, that has happened to him before...but not to me!
Απόσπασμα: 0gramzI consider pretty much any coin under a million as rare. I just love when I come across a coin and come to find out it's say 800 thousand I feel like I've won the lottery or something. Like one time I went into this antique store and all they had was a showcase with typical U.S. coins that they no longer mint and I asked if they had any foreign coinage and the man said he had a few junky world coins not worth anything in the back. He brought them out and had about 2 handfulls. I bought them all for 5 bucks and got home looked through them and found a Danish West Indies five bit coin https://en.numista.com/vous/vos_pieces.php?pays=antilles_danoises
At the time I was so amazed I hadn't even realized there was a Danish W. Indies that existed; still to this day that was one of my favorite finds that came unexpectedly. Ain't nothing like that feeling when you stumble upon a coin you don't know of or happen to get a country you havent had before, or a hard-to-get coin gets passed over and thrown in a junk pile that you discover for next to nothing. Maybe it's the whole mystery of it all but to me that's what I consider a rare coin to myself. Not exactly the mintage but for instance it could be any coin design that strikes my eye as "I havent seen this" when I'm rummaging through the mounds that coins dealers throw together and label worthless. This thread asks what's {your} lowest minted coin and I have a lot to go through to find this answer, and still may be incorrect because as you know a lot of these countries don't even release info on mintages, so we all could be sitting on a gem and not even know it yet. Some people think just because a coin isn't worth much it doesn't make them rare. Well I think those are the most intriguing ones. This is just my opinion and everyone else is entitled their own also for I'm sure of their own reasons. But who knows of the true mintages - we weren't there - these are all just reported mintages. I'd like to see some facts on accounted for mintages. Because sometimes these reported just don't seem to add up.
I completely agree. It's always a nice surprise to find a coin with a mintage of under 1 Million or a nice looking one I've never seen before. I guess part of the reason I like to buy assorted world coins is because I want to find that million dollar coin that everyone dreams of. Haha this just reminded me of a sort of unrelated story I heard from my favorite coin dealer at the flea market. He said he bought a pile of random coins from some guy and when he went through it he found a gold German 5 Mark coin. Ugh my day can't come soon enogh.
Those finds will probably become more and more rare as the internet becomes easier to use and more prevelantly used. 30 years ago if people were left coins and they didn't know what they were, they'd need to rely on the honesty of coin dealers not to rip them off if they had something worthwhile. These days with websites like this people can easily look up their coins to find out what they have.
Απόσπασμα: neilithicWhy do you have to bring down the tone of the thread? I started it off so people can list the nice low mintage coins that they've come across, which pretty much everyone else has done. But your posts have a tone of scoffing arrogance, belittling the posts of other people.
Sorry for that, surely that was not my intension.
Just looking for some common measures on what shall be considered rare and what not.
And thanks ZacUK for adding that link that is what I was looking for.
I totally support Phil's idea on this:
If you're specialist collectors then sure you can set up a scale to rate the rareness of your coins. But since probably 99% of coins have mintages over 1,000,000 then anything that has mintages in the thousands or tens of thousands could well be seen as rare by the everyday joe collector like me.
I was thinking for quite some time how I should reply to this thread...
I guess mine is this one at 5,000.
But I have this one as well and I could not find the mintage data anywhere. Looks like I'm the only proud owner of it on Numista.
Απόσπασμα: smoked_caramelI was thinking for quite some time how I should reply to this thread...
I guess mine is this one at 5,000.
Nice coin, my father-in-law would be most jealous. His family's originally from Latvia and collects stuff from his homeland, he was eying up my 5 Lati coin https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6595.html Last time he was round at our place.
Of the 7220 coins in my collection at the moment, about 5,000 of them have reported mintages. The lowest mintage is a 1975 proof New Zealand 2c at 10,000 minted.
The lowest minted 1% of my collection have mintages below 800,000.
For the kinds of coins I collect, 5,000,000 is what I would call a low mintage.
Απόσπασμα: 0gramzlike this 2 lepta i have https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces5456.html
it says theres 9 million of them minted. i find it hard to believe there are this many of them still around.
I'd bet there isn't even close to a million but no-one knows.
So if you come across one you consider it a nice find in any condition.
But according to the books there could be a great deal of them floating around -
but where are they all
I haven't seen one single specimen in person in 12 years besides a few on eBay
so I'd consider this a low minted coin even though the numbers seem to lie.
Snap - i have one 1919 --- and yes they are extremely hard to find.
Απόσπασμα: neilithicNice one, is your copy as shiny as the one in the picture too?
Sadly, no. It has a somewhat yellow tint to it and it also looks more dull. It was only $1.00, though, and with a $12.00-ish catalog value I couldn't let it go.
I got it after my wife's grandmother passed away 2 years ago. She had some really beautiful coins (also some coloured USA quarters with Elvis) and lots and lots of stamps.
under 10000 is just peachy 
