If you had to start a non-U.S. collection today, what are some foundation coins?

MrBreeze

I am becoming more and more tempted to dip my toe in the world coin waters. I do not have a great reference book, but I plan on acquiring one at the Baltimore show. I am a big believer in the, "buy the book before the coin," theory, and I also have researched different coins at auction and on the web. If you were to advise me on some foundation coins for a world coin collection, what would you recommend? In order to provide some parameters, I will list some things I consider important.

1. History/Historical significance
2. Representative of the country/culture/great leader, etc.
3. Artistic/Aesthetically pleasing
4. Relation to minting process, and its history - (I think it would be cool to have a hammered coin)
5. Gold/Silver
6. Certified/Certifiable - As a complete rookie, I would have to depend on TPGs at the outset.

Also, if you have a book to recommend, I would love to hear that, also.

Edited to add: Pics would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.

FilamCoins

Why not pick up a few nice pieces from the Philippines. Fascinating history as a U.S. territory from the turn of the century until World War II. I would suggest the silver peso crowns minted from 1903-1912 in both business strikes and proofs. Spectacularly beautiful and low mintages. Sure to appreciate over time as you enjoy them!

laurentyvan

There are safe countries, mostly the European countries, France, Germany, Great Britain, etc.

Without spending a lot of money you could go with the German marks, French Francs, English pennies or shillings, etc. A couple I might suggest:









There are so many coins I could suggest that I figure I'll go blind before you see them all.

theboz11

"Krause standard catalog of World Coins", for the century that you intend to collect.Krause Catalog

kwmorgan

If you want a very affordable grayside (Canadian) set to put together you could do a pure nickel coinage set. I am working on 10c, 25c and 50c. The RCM is pulling them out of circulation due to thru the roof nickel prices. They'll have history to them in 5-10 years when all the pure nickel coins are removed from circulation in Canada.

MrEureka

What is a "foundation coin"?

I would advise against buying any coins until you know what you want to collect.

As for books, the Krause catalogs are certainly a great start. And once you know what exists, it's easier to figure out what you want to collect.

farthing

What is your family heritage? Your spouses?

Ever been in another country that you really enjoyed?

Is there someplace in the world you've always wanted to go to but haven't had a chance to?

Is there a country or a place that you enjoyed reading/studying/learning about in school?

Many people find enjoyment in collecting non-US coins by tying the coins to a personal interest or memory. Answering the questions above may help you determine where to begin.

newsman

Order a Krause catalog from Amazon and you should have it in time for the Baltimore show. It's cheaper and then you can start buying the coins right away.

wybrit

From England, a Gothic Florin or the Gothic Crown.

rhound1977

Europe is a good choice, but there are so many others as well, many of which I do not follow too closely, I'm hooked on British, my WEB site has some nice examples from my collection.

Silvereagle82

MrBreeze,

Very simply put GOLD
You will find it meets all the collecting perimeters in your list and more!!

Certified vs uncertified +++++ I suggest you go TPG for anything over $100
Reference Books +++++ You have to have Friedberg's "Gold Coins of The World" 7th edition and/or (I say and) Krause's "Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins" 5th edition.
Examples +++++ I suggest you visit my NGC Signature registery set of world gold, a link is below. Hopefully this will give you some idea of what's out there.

Preussen

<< <i>If you had to start a non-U.S. collection today, what are some foundation coins? >>

That's like asking us what you should have for dinner, or who to choose as a mate.

JMO - Preussen

spoon

I think you'll find that while some of us are able to muster enough discipline to focus (for the most part!) in one small area like Britain or Germany, most of us are all over the map with several "mini-collections". I have a WWI collection as my "primary" focus. But I also have collections of colonies, arab hammered coins, random medieval stuff, etc, etc and on and on...

MrBreeze

Thank you for all of the ideas. I have ordered three books to further my education. Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated. For some reason, I am drawn to the coins of Europe from 1200-1600. My other interests seem to be the colonial periods(I assume that is what it is called) of Central and South America. I don't know why, but I like these periods in history.

Zoins

I would go as far as to say there are NO foundation coins for a darkside collection and that no darkside collection is typical. There isn't a darkside Dansco 7070 or anything similar that I'm aware of. The number of coins is just too large and collecting interests too diverse.

I would look at a lot of coins and do research on them and then decide what YOU want to collect. There are many beautiful coins posted in this forum to give you a start. I personally don't collect by country but collect by specific design/themes. This helps me build a collection that remains somewhat cohesive by coin design/theme but spanning multiple countries.

Seems like you already have a few areas you are interested in

DesertRat

Obviously a diet deficient in iodine back then eh?

That's some goiter he's got going on there

bidask

<< <i>


Why not pick up a few nice pieces from the Philippines. Fascinating history as a U.S. territory from the turn of the century until World War II. I would suggest the silver peso crowns minted from 1903-1912 in both business strikes and proofs. Spectacularly beautiful and low mintages. Sure to appreciate over time as you enjoy them!


>>

That coin is beautiful.

bidask

I'd start on world crowns.

TwoKopeiki

I say - start slow. Thalers in AU or better

skingspan

I'm working on a collection of world silver crowns. Many 19th and 20th century silver crowns can be purchased for less than $100 some modern stuff at close to melt. Big, beatiful coins, whats not to like. I have have been trying to pick up mostly slabbed examples in AU58 or better. The one drawback is that it is a collection that I know I will never finish, but it is a lot of fun.

Have Fun