Coins that aren’t round

dan1ecu

Can you think of any coins that aren’t round? The octagonal fractional gold coins come to mind. There are probably others.

I guess we need coins to be round these days so that they will work in vending machines. Why do you suppose coins long ago were made round? It seems to me that if you have a sheet of metal, it would be most efficient to cut it into squares or rectangles; that way, every bit of the metal is used. Cutting it into circles always leaves behind metal, which then has to be re-melted.

What do you think?

Dan

ANACONDA

Norse medals and Lesher Dollars are also not round. Another benefit of octagonal coins is when you drop them, they don't roll as far away as a round coin.

Here's a link to a norse medal and an octagonal pan pac.

Norse

Octagonal

adrian

LucyBop

When I read this thread I thought of Adrians Pan Pacific, what a stunner!

bulloncoins

I have a cousin who collects coins. I remember him showing me a square coin once, and an oblong shapped coin. I don't know what kind they were or where they came from. Next time I talk to him I'll ask.

WhiteTornado

Sri Lanka (Ceylon) has some square coins with rounded corners. I also have one that is similar shape but haven't been able to identify the country yet, possibly Turkey or Algeria (has the crescent moon with a star symbol).

shirohniichan

Here are a few.

nwcs

I have a Malaysian coin that is bumpy and several Arab country coins that are not round. Personally, I don't care for them as a matter of commerce.

crito

Bermuda Triangular Proof

MadMarty

Aruba!!!!

trozau

obans and kobans of Japan

paigowjohnny

Old Hong Kong $2 coins have neat scalloped rims.....nice giveaways for our local "Coins for Kids" project...kids love 'em.

shirohniichan

For those of us who don't have the big bucks like trozau and can't afford ohbans and kobans, there are always the less expensive "classic" Japanese coins like these:

trozau

Shiroh, no big bucks here I wish there was

Woodwind

Last year I purchased a nine-sided (nonagon?) Austrian 5 Euro commemorative coin. It commemorates, I think, the 250th anniversary of the Schoenbrunn Zoo in that country. The coin is about the size of a quarter, and I am very pleased with its lack of marks and a nice, clean strike.

satootoko

Shiroh - is that silver ichibu the Ansei, or one of the teensy bit heavier Tempo or Meijis?

There was a very nice one on either E-Bay or Yahoo that closed a couple of days ago that I'm 99 per cent certain was Ansei even though the seller said it weighed 8.7g. The buyer either got an Ansei or Tempo at significantly over the 2003 Krause value , or a real steal on a Meiji!

Edited to correct a typo

Conder101

I'm surprised no one addressed his second question Why long ago did they strive to make coins round? The reason was because coins were made of precious metal and it was believed that all coins should have their full face value or ALMOST their full value in metal value contained in the coin. If the coin was irregular in shape or say square with part of the design often off the flan, it was very easy to clip, trim, or file some of the metal off of the coin without it being visually. Over time if you do this with every coin that came through your hands you would eventually accumulate a quantity of "free" precious metal. With a round coin though, any mutilation of the edge, especially if the edge had an inscription or milling, was easily visible and clipped coins could be immediately identified and either rejected or only accepted at a reduced rate. (Until the late 1700's or early 1800's coins were not just accepted in trade by tale or count, but were often also weighed and valued proportionally according to their weight.)