Suggestions for purchasing world coins connected to my grandparents.

SanctionII

My grandparents were born in in the latter third of the 19th century (maternal grandfather with a surname derived from Scotland; maternal grandmother with a surname derived from Ireland; paternal grandfather with a surname derived from Germany; and a paternal grandmother with a surname derived from England).

I am looking to purchase a single coin from each of these countries, preferably from the years that my grandparents were born. I would like to acquire MS examples of larger sized coins made of either copper or silver. I will be looking at reference materials on World Coins to come up with ideas for coins to purchase.

However, I post this thread and ask that you world coin collectors give me suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help.

TomB

You may want to go to the PCGS search feature of collectors.com and search the countries of interest to see what is currently in the market and the price level of each piece.

https://www.collectors.com/coins

John Conduitt

England, Scotland and Ireland were the same country in the 19th century (the United Kingdom). They didn't have separate currencies or coins. There were different banknotes, because they were issued by banks, although they were all versions of the pound.

harasha

Maybe for England, Scotland and Ireland there were separate mints? I know at some point, there was an Edinburg mint, but I don't know if it was in operation during the latter part of Victoria's reign.

bidask

Make sure you buy something nice made of gold and/or silver 😊

Still circulating in their day I suspect

lordmarcovan

@harasha said:
Maybe for England, Scotland and Ireland there were separate mints? I know at some point, there was an Edinburg mint, but I don't know if it was in operation during the latter part of Victoria's reign.

I don't recall, either, but it wouldn't have had a distinct mintmark like the ones seen on Anne's coinage in the early 1700s.

If you want to cover Scotland and Ireland as separate entities, tokens or medals are probably your best bet.

coinkat

One could look and seek a coin from the German State your grandfather's family is from if that information is available- good luck with the project

yosclimber

Were they born in the US, or lived in the US?
You should be able to find them on familysearch.org (free site) and find out what actual countries they or their
ancestors came from.
If you need help, PM me.

Exbrit

@SanctionII said:
My grandparents were born in in the latter third of the 19th century (maternal grandfather with a surname derived from Scotland; maternal grandmother with a surname derived from Ireland; paternal grandfather with a surname derived from Germany; and a paternal grandmother with a surname derived from England).

I am looking to purchase a single coin from each of these countries, preferably from the years that my grandparents were born. I would like to acquire MS examples of larger sized coins made of either copper or silver. I will be looking at reference materials on World Coins to come up with ideas for coins to purchase.

However, I post this thread and ask that you world coin collectors give me suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help.

@SanctionII said:
My grandparents were born in in the latter third of the 19th century (maternal grandfather with a surname derived from Scotland; maternal grandmother with a surname derived from Ireland; paternal grandfather with a surname derived from Germany; and a paternal grandmother with a surname derived from England).

>

You could buy a very nice shilling which has the Scottish, Irish and English symbols on the reverse. That would cover three of your grandparents. Go further back in time and you could even add some German symbols on the British coins.

I think it’s great that you want to honor your grandparents.

MrEureka

Do you know where exactly they lived in those countries? Depending on the specific cities and states, there's a good chance you can narrow the search and put together a more personally tailored collection. And if you want to go wild, maybe go back another couple of generations and expand the collection!

SaorAlba

Scottish reverse shillings date from 1937-1970, Irish coinage is available from 1928. With gold I'd suggest sticking to British Sovereigns and they are easy to find nice examples of.

With Germany up until 1922, you can be reasonably specific as there were several kingdoms, principalities etc that issued coinage ie Prussia, Wurttemberg, Saxony, Bavaria etc. I have an ancestor who started in Hamburg, which then was a Free Hanseatic City and issued 20 marks in Gold which I have an example of.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

I suggest gold sovereigns for their birth years. Lots of nice examples available at not too dear a price.

Sapyx

@harasha said:
Maybe for England, Scotland and Ireland there were separate mints? I know at some point, there was an Edinburg mint, but I don't know if it was in operation during the latter part of Victoria's reign.

No, it was not - the Edinburgh mint was shut down in 1709, a few years after the Union was enacted, once all the old Scottish coins had been withdrawn from circulation, melted down, and turned into British coins (you can find British coins from 1707-1709 with the "E" for Edinburgh mintmark). The closure of the Mint was something of an early bone of contention with the Scots, given that Article 16 of the Treaty of Union required that "a Mint shall be continued in Scotland".

The English found a sneaky way around their treaty violation: find a Scottish noble, declare them to be "Governor of the Mint of Scotland", and pay them, as well as continuing to pay wages for a few of the former Mint administrators - even though they had no actual Mint to be Governor of, since the sole remaining Scottish Mint facility in Edinburgh had been closed down and all the mint equipment sold off or shipped back to London. This ruse of a theoretical on-paper "Scottish Mint" continued until 1971, when the title was finally abolished.

You can find "Irish coins" from the early 1800s, when Ireland briefly had a separate coinage, or from the early 20th century on the establishment of the Irish Free State. But for Scotland, your only options are the pre-1707 pre-Union coins, the 1707-1709 E-mintmarked coins, or the 20th century British coins given a "Scottish theme".

Germany is easier, and perhaps even more interesting: prior to 1871, "Germany" didn't exist; instead, there were dozens of kingdoms, principalities and duchies, all of which regarded themselves as "independent countries" and all of which issued coins of their own. So if you know which part of Germany your ancestors came from, it would probably not be difficult to obtain coins from that specific German state.

SanctionII

Thank you all for your assistance and informative replies.

I have a family history book tracing my paternal grandfather's ancestors back to the 14th century and to a specific area in Germany.

Will have to do some sleuthing for the ancestors of my other three grandparents.

SanctionII

Reviewing the family history book last night was helpful. My paternal grandfather's ancestors trace their history (possibly to the 14th century and even earlier) to Crossen, Germany which is located in Saxony. The first person in that family to migrate from German to North America was born in the early 1720's and arrived in what is now Pennsylvania around 1750-1752.

Any suggestions for coinage minted in Saxony?

neildrobertson

@SanctionII said:
Reviewing the family history book last night was helpful. My paternal grandfather's ancestors trace their history (possibly to the 14th century and even earlier) to Crossen, Germany which is located in Saxony. The first person in that family to migrate from German to North America was born in the early 1720's and arrived in what is now Pennsylvania around 1750-1752.

Any suggestions for coinage minted in Saxony?

I would suggest that era or the eras before it, but there are a lot of options. Thalers are a natural go-to. Here's a 1629 Saxony Thaler. There are a number of Saxon thalers from the 1600-1700s in the $200-500 range.

Another different example that would be ~$500:

Bob13

Some nice Talers from Saxony, which was a powerful electorate/kingdom.

3 Brothers Taler

Or, go for even more brothers:

Lots of this kind around, too (this is not mine).