Options
Cheapest "century" set?
BoggledMind
Posts: 144 ✭✭
Looking to do a short set of coins by century. Would like to keep it one denomination and one country if possible, but I'm not too familiar with the dark side of coins, I just know a lot of countries go much further back with coinage than the US, and are usually a lot cheaper (I will likely never own a 1652 shilling minted in Massachusetts).
The oldest dated coin I have is 1499 from the Netherlands and is probably the most expensive coin I own at about $250 or so. Not looking to spend anywhere near that amount, and there probably aren't many other countries around that have coins bearing a 14XX date. So skipping the 1400's, what country would have coins minted from the 1500s to today with the same denomination (or at least into the 1900's since a lot of countries in the east switched to the Euro)? Looking for a set in the ~$30 range per coin, so obviously nothing rare. As long as the series is dated 15XX, 16XX, 17XX, 18XX, 19XX and on a decent sized planchet I'll be happy.
And a good website or two that sells them, aside from ebay.
Any help and advice is appreciated.
The oldest dated coin I have is 1499 from the Netherlands and is probably the most expensive coin I own at about $250 or so. Not looking to spend anywhere near that amount, and there probably aren't many other countries around that have coins bearing a 14XX date. So skipping the 1400's, what country would have coins minted from the 1500s to today with the same denomination (or at least into the 1900's since a lot of countries in the east switched to the Euro)? Looking for a set in the ~$30 range per coin, so obviously nothing rare. As long as the series is dated 15XX, 16XX, 17XX, 18XX, 19XX and on a decent sized planchet I'll be happy.
And a good website or two that sells them, aside from ebay.
Any help and advice is appreciated.
0
Comments
Will drive me somewhat mad while I get the other centuries, though.
Here's an out there question; what are the cheapest coins to get with Roman Numeral dates for the 1300's and 1200's? I know they exist, but I've no clue what they cost. Any insight on the 14th and 13th centuries?
<< <i>
Here's an out there question; what are the cheapest coins to get with Roman Numeral dates for the 1300's and 1200's? I know they exist, but I've no clue what they cost. Any insight on the 14th and 13th centuries? >>
The earliest dated coin in the Christian era is I believe a coin from Denmark that was dated in Roman numerals to 1324 - there are/were six known examples of the coin. Generally speaking, go before 1500 dated coins and they get considerably scarcer - I think the earliest dated in Arabic numerals are from the 1470s from Lorraine or Burgundy. It might be possible to find coins with Arabic numerals with just the last two digits that go before that.
Putting years on coins did not arrive to Britain until 1539 when the new renaissance side portrait gold coins were minted in Scotland. English coins were not dated until 1551, but really sporadically until 1662.
<< <i>The earliest dated coin in the Christian era is I believe a coin from Denmark that was dated in Roman numerals to 1324... >>
It's actually "1234", and the date takes up the entire reverse legend: MCCXXXIIII and with "ANNO DOMINI" on the obverse, the entire legend is taken up with the date.
Check out this website for pics of the coin and of other pre-1400 AD-dated coins. There's also a book on the subject if you're interested in the theme.
As for the question in your OP...
<< <i>...what country would have coins minted from the 1500s to today with the same denomination (or at least into the 1900's since a lot of countries in the east switched to the Euro)? Looking for a set in the ~$30 range per coin, so obviously nothing rare. As long as the series is dated 15XX, 16XX, 17XX, 18XX, 19XX and on a decent sized planchet I'll be happy. >>
...I'm afraid you're going to have to remain unhappy, because there aren't any. Very few denominations still in use today go back to the 1500s. 500 years is a very long time for a coin denomination to last; it would probably start out large and end up either small or as NCLT. 500 years is a long time for a country to last without an invasion, regime change or other political event that would cause the currency to be reformed.
The British pound was first struck as a coin in 1489 but was not struck every year from then till now (it wasn't issued at all between 1663 and 1817), the early types are all scarce and gold, and they weren't dated until the 1640s. The silver penny is quite small in it's modern incarnation but it goes all the way back to before the Norman conquest in 1066; dates didn't appear on them until 1670, but if you include the "Maundy pennies", they're still struck today. The modern versions are ceremonial NCLT coins, not circulation ones.
The Dutch ducat might also be a good contender for a close match - issued somewhat irregularly but at least once ever century from the founding of the Dutch Republics in the 1500s ad always with the same design. However, these coins are also gold, and the modern ones (from the 19th century onwards) were purely for trade/bullion purposes rather than as a circulating coin, since the "ducat" was an obsolete denomination.
The Mexican 8 reales is also a good century-spanning denomination; the earliest dated examples are from the 1600s and they go up to almost the 1900s (I believe the final year of issue was 1897), crossing over from Spanish colonial to independent Mexican series. Mexico continued striking 8 reales as a trade dollar even after they switched to the peso and the 8 reales denomination became obsolete in the 1860s.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
Apparently I have been awarded the DPOTD twice.
You can pick up a lower grade Elizabeth I coin with a visible date from the late 1500's for under $50 (I got mine for under $30), a lower grade Charles II or William III from the late 1600's for about the same (my 1600's example is an undated Charles I hammered coin, which was also under your budget) . George III sixpences dates 1787 are quite common, and 1800's and 1900's examples are very inexpensive.