Any 1 Coin Per Country Set Collectors Out There?!!!

BodieB

I recently started a One Coin From Every Country Set to see how many countries I could acquire. I set a modest goal of 200 different countries which I met and surpassed in about 3 months. I then set a goal of 250 countries. Once you surpass 200, new countries become few and far between because of rarity, price, and scarcety, some are nearly non-existent. Over the last 6 months I have managed to acquire at least one coin from 255 different countries (past & present, including wartime protectorate states). Now it's starting to get EXPENSIVE!!! I Would love to hear from any fellow collectors that are attempting the same type set!!!
My whole country set is catalogued at numista.com under the user name - JDRMCB, Check it out!!!

Does anyone by chance know what the current Guinness Book of World Record for the One Coin From Every Country is?

My Collection

DorkGirl

STLNATS

If you search on OFEC you'll find a number of threads and collectors related to this topic.

olmanjon

Awesome collection in just 6 months. I started 7 years ago and as of 11/12 had 256. This includes German and Indian states though, so technically not all different countries. Most of mine came from quarter boxes at the local brick and mortors. Welcome to the game.
Olmanjon

LochNESS

I Would love to hear from any fellow collectors that are attempting the same type set!!! My whole country set is catalogued at numista.com under the user name - JDRMCB, Check it out!!!
As a fellow OFEC collector, I am glad to hear from you! Welcome to the forum and please post some photos of your favorite (or perhaps your hardest-to-find?) coins Yes I know you posted a link to your collection but I was unable to view without signing-in perhaps I did something wrong? do you have to register for an account to view the webpage?

Does anyone by chance know what the current Guinness Book of World Record for the One Coin From Every Country is?
Didn't even know there was a category for that. Is there? or just speculation?

I have found a new favorites bookmark for my browser, though Country and territory list - Numista

TheRaven

This is something I have played around with a little bit.

My wife is interested in this as well.


We have some coins, have to figure out what the plan of attack is.

Sapyx

Here's a recent thread on the subject.


<< <i> Does anyone by chance know what the current Guinness Book of World Record for the One Coin From Every Country is? >>


Going to the GWR website and typing "coins" or "countries" does not return any results regarding OFEC collections. I assume there is no official record.


<< <i> This includes German and Indian states though, so technically not all different countries. >>


I would say they technically were different countries, so it's perfectly OK to include them. They certainly regarded themselves as different countries; they were far more independent from each other than, say, the current members of the European Union (which are still regarded as separate countries) are independent from each other today. The same goes for ancient Greek city-states, and there are thousands of those to collect.

I haven't added any new countries in the past month, so I'm still at the 715 number I quoted in the earlier thread. My last new country was Nauru, though the "coin" I purchased "from" there is actually not legal tender. Just for the record, Nauru has never issued a legal tender coin; the Nauruan government has never gotten around to granting itself permission to issue coins. All coins allegedly from Nauru are therefore unofficial and non-legal-tender.

BodieB

Upon further research on the topic I found this on the official F.U.N. Website. A collector from UAE is about to submit his OFEC collection to The Guinness Book of World Records for authentication in an attempt to establish a world record in that category. Click on the link below and let me know what you think about his collection!!!

F.U.N article on GBWR's involving coins.

LochNESS

"Since then he has been building his collection, which now weighs around 70kg. Roshan says he does not have a count in numbers."

Interesting. I've never weighed my collection. I guess I could sum the weight column in my spreadsheet but I've never qualified a collection by its total weight.

So, what is an "erstwhile kingdom?" Can you name an example?

This line kinda bothered me, "But the hobby verging on obsession …"

LochNESS

<< <i>The same goes for ancient Greek city-states, and there are thousands of those to collect. >>


For my OFEC, I chose to treat kingdoms and empires as countries. I already have a couple Greek coins and no intention of acquiring more. Certainly not from every single city-state. IMO those are on a sub-tier. I mean, you're not going to add a quarter from each US State are you? US States have their own governments and laws, and are independent from one another, but they are united as one nation. IMO the thousands of Greek city-states were all part of the singular Greek Empire and thus should be represented by a singular coin. That may seem impossible but that is the whole challenge of OFEC collecting.

Sapyx

<< <i>So, what is an "erstwhile kingdom?" Can you name an example? >>


According to Google, "erstwhile" means "former". So, France would be an erstwhile kingdom - it was a kingdom once, but isn't anymore. Prussia would also be an erstwhile kingdom - it was a kingdom once; now not only is it no longer a kingdom, but its very existence has been revoked.


<< <i>IMO the thousands of Greek city-states were all part of the singular Greek Empire and thus should be represented by a singular coin. >>


There was never any such thing as a "Greek empire". Being "Greek" was a cultural and philosophical concept, not a political and national one. Alexander the Great carved out a "Greek empire" of sorts, but most of the places he conquered were not Greek to begin with; most of the Greek city-states in what are now Greece, Turkey and southern Italy survived the Macedonian Hellenistic period with their independence intact, only to eventually be assimilated by Rome. A modern equivalent might be representing "Latin America" in an OFEC collection by just one coin.


<< <i>I already have a couple Greek coins and no intention of acquiring more. Certainly not from every single city-state. IMO those are on a sub-tier. I mean, you're not going to add a quarter from each US State are you? US States have their own governments and laws, and are independent from one another, but they are united as one nation. >>


No, for two reasons.

First, the Greek city-states were never similarly united. If the American states had been as disunited in 1941 as the Greek city-states typically were, then only a quarter of the states would have declared war on Japan; another quarter of them would have allied with Japan and Germany and helped them conquer everybody else, while the remaining half of the states would have said "this war is none of our business" and tried to remain neutral. This lack of unity and willingness to betray their neighbours to side with an invading enemy was the reason why the Greek city-states were such easy pickings for the true Empires of their day, Persia and Rome.

Secondly, although the American state quarters have designs representative of the states, they are not issued under the authority of the states nor were they issued specifically for circulation in those states and those states alone. Specifically, the US Constitution forbids states from issuing their own coinage. Greek city-state coinage was issued and paid for by the city-state government and the coins were not interchangeable with the coinage of other city-states. You could not have taken your bronze coins from 350 BC Syracuse and have expected to be able to spend them in Athens (where they did not use bronze coins), nor in Sparta (where they still shunned the use of coins completely). You had to go to the moneychangers to get your foreign coins converted into locally acceptable currency. So in every meaningful respect, they were separate coinages from separate countries.

coinlieutenant

I am, but I think I have to sell mine to focus on other things. Very difficult task....good luck!

DBSTrader2

I do. Started quite a while ago, but not really kept up with in several years, unfortunately.

Started off as 1-per-country.

Then expanded to 1-per-"phase"-per-country (like the Egypt example below):

EGYPT:
-- BRITISH: (1882-1922)
-- KINGDOM: (Fuadi: 1922-1936 & Farouk: 1936-1952)
-- REPUBLIC: (1952-1958)
-- UAR (w/SYRIA/YEMEN): (1958-1961)
-- UAR (just EGYPT): (1961-1971)
-- ARAB REPUBLIC: (1971+)


Then expanded to "MORE-THAN-ONE-per..........." as I found new and interesting designs/denominations/etc for countries...........


.. to the point where I have almost a dozen fat binders full of 2x2 sheets worth of them!!


I even tried to accumulate "1-per-denomination-per-mintmark-per-country-from1999to2001" in Euro coins, falling just a few shy of completion......


The ONLY O-P-C drill-downs which I did NOT pursue were, for the most part (unless I just happened to come across them) the "city-states" of Italy, Germany, India, China...... just not familiar enough with them, or had deep enough pockets for or access to them.

So right now, I believe my count is stuck at 405 different "entities". I'd be more than happy to swap "haves" & "needs" lists with other Forum O-P-C collectors, to see what we each include, and might even swap an extra coin for somewhere I don't currently have on my list.

- - Dave