Just another harebrained idea that popped into my head...

lordmarcovan

An "OFEC" set, as you may know, is a "One From Each Country" world coin collection.



For some bizarre reason, I just had the idea (perhaps not an original one) that it might be fun to do an "OFEY" set.



That is, "One From Each Year".



Starting off in 2016 and working my way backwards.



I'll try to complete most of the 20th and all of the 21st century first, before tackling the 19th and earlier centuries.



If I don't get bored and move onto something else, this set could conceivably include one dated coin for every year from 2016 all the way back to 1500. Maybe back to 1492. (Using AD dates, of course, not Hijra or other calendars.)



And while I'm at it, I might as well go for all silver coins, to pile up a little bit of bullion at the same time. I'd buy everything I could at or near melt (at least for the 1900-up stuff).



This collection would be another "good cheap fun" sideline, so I'd not be chasing after crowns or rarities or anything. Just a good mix of countries and types; common but attractive coins, bought at or near melt.



BU and proof silver for the 20th and 21st centuries. Better circ stuff for the 19th, and pretty much anything for the earlier centuries, as long as it's affordable and decent looking.



More on this later, maybe, if I continue with this. Anybody else done it?



By assembling date sets of some series (French or Swiss francs, for instance), you could cover a lot of this one-a-year real estate, but I want to mix it up a bit more rather than having long runs of the same type of coin.

lordmarcovan

(Pix, links, etc. later)



2014

lordmarcovan

(Pix, links, etc. later)



1974

1973

1972

1971

1967

1966

1965

1963

1962

1959

1958

1946

1945

1944

1941

1918

lordmarcovan

lordmarcovan

lordmarcovan

lordmarcovan

OriginalDan

Cool idea, will take some patience for sure. I thought about doing a chopmarked set for every date within the Canton period (1700-1842) but realized 90% of the coins would end up being Mexico 8 Reales. Started a type set of chopped coins instead, which accomplishes a similar spread throughout the period but won't cover every date.

Nap

I've heard of this before but I have to see the results of anyone seriously doing it.

I think it's a set that should be planned out on paper before considering buying coins. Optimally would want to obtain examples of as many cultures and places as possible, so would focus on newer countries for the late 20th and 21st century, maybe North and South America for the 19th century, European colonial possessions for the 18th century, and mostly European issues before then?

STLNATS

I'm pursuing a variation of this, with the papal/vatican Annuale medals. Since the mid 1500s to the current day and for most years, the popes issued an annual medal during the feast of SS Peter and Paul near the end of June. Within this category there is a ton of variation, artistic styles, similar themes reappearing, etc. Generally the subject is either a significant event during the past year or a theme to be stressed in the coming 12 months. For instance, the current "2016" or year IV, medal (which just arrived as I was writing this) reinforces the current "Holy Year of Mercy" proclaimed by Francis late last year. These are documented in Modesti's 2 volume Annuale catalogs.



My initial objective was silvers from 1800 (still need about a dozen altho I have half of these in bronze as hole fillers). I found that I also have a number of the earlier Annuales, altho generally not in silver which can be crazy expensive, and am considering working the pre 1800 issues in bronze or silver if affordable.



I think it's kinda fun and a bit of a challenge to have a unifying theme (such as the chopmarked coins mentioned by OriginalDan, crowns or maybe something like German/Italian states) but to each his own...

MrBreeze

Here is mine.

OFEY

That collection plus the NGCs/ANACS/etc. puts me at 62 coins from 45+ different countries. It is actually a very enjoyable collection. When i find a design that I like, I try to find an example to fit a year that is empty. I have(and like) several one year types so it sometimes leads to duplication of a few years, but so be it.

STLNATS

Originally posted by: MrBreeze

Here is mine.



OFEY



That collection plus the NGCs/ANACS/etc. puts me at 62 coins from 45+ different countries. It is actually a very enjoyable collection. When i find a design that I like, I try to find an example to fit a year that is empty. I have(and like) several one year types so it sometimes leads to duplication of a few years, but so be it.

Impressive batch of coins. Even includes one of my favs, the 1959 20 p.

RockyMtnProspector

Sounds like a fantastic and fun-tastic endeavor. Can't wait to see your progress and, heck, let me know if you need any help!

carabonnair

Will follow this with interest. One from each century would be more my speed.

lordmarcovan

Nap- thanks for the suggestions.



MrBreeze- excellent! That's precisely the idea! I figured surely somebody else had to be doing it. I'll go along very similar lines to you, except raw, and on the cheap. Might rethink my "all silver" stance later, but for now, I'm running with that.

Jinx86

Ive helped a customer do a two from each country set. One silver and one base metal.
We started with the 20th century, it took about 3 years.

Then he thought it wise to try and collect one of every type from each German State.
That is where he lost me. I only have so much time to devote to one customer. This set may take him another decade or longer.

I personally think one gold coin from every country would be an interesting set. 10 Mark or Half Sov sized pieces for the most part.
Most could be had for melt + a few %.

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: Jinx86

Then he thought it wise to try and collect one of every type from each German State.

That is where he lost me. I only have so much time to devote to one customer. This set may take him another decade or longer.

I've wondered about that, but knew I'd never have the budget or stamina for such a daunting undertaking.

I personally think one gold coin from every country would be an interesting set. 10 Mark or Half Sov sized pieces for the most part.

Most could be had for melt + a few %.

See prior comment about budget.

amwldcoin

I had a customer who basically completed what I consider a very challenging set 2 times! I purchased the majority of his 1st collection and wish I could get it back! He collected a coin from every mint in the world from I think the 1700's on. You would be surprised how challenging and extensive an endeavor like this is!

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: amwldcoin

I had a customer who basically completed what I consider a very challenging set 2 times! I purchased the majority of his 1st collection and wish I could get it back! He collected a coin from every mint in the world from I think the 1700's on. You would be surprised how challenging and extensive an endeavor like this is!

I don't think that would surprise me, actually. It sounds pretty daunting!

TwoKopeiki

Ambitious undertaking! I'll follow this thread to see your progress



You can apply that approach to Spanish Reales and have OFEY for the period they have been minted. That would be a roughly 500-coin collection.

BillyKingsley

I've been quietly working on this set for several years now. I made up a paper listing of my collection and have a page where I tally how many I have from each year. I realized that I was only missing two years of the 20th century and eventually I got them. One of them I received as a gift from someone on this forum but I can't remember who anymore as it's been about 5 years now. It was a 1905 centavo from Mexico. 1891 proved tough to find but I eventually found a British farthing at local show that unfortunately was only a one time event. I have not looked into my binder OR chased new additions in a while but I think I have 1887-2016. the crazy thing is that I've found 1932 to today in circulation. I include USA issues of course. Once you get earlier than the 1880s I am missing more than I have. someday!

LochNESS

Love the graphics banners. Excited to see the coins fill in as they come.



Depending on the circumstance, Date can be the first or last thing we look for on a coin. For example, if you seek a specific variety (cherrypicking known double-dies?) you hunt for that special date. However if you are building a type set, the date may not matter to you at all.



In short ... Filling this OFEY set will magnify certain aspects of collecting/hunting/buying more than others. And I will be interested to see what they are, if they are expected, or a total surprise.



edit: Be sure to set your priorities now, before buying begins. Decide what you'll do when you come across a lovely coin for which you already have the year (buy it and replace the other? or skip and keep what you have?). Otherwise it could be headache and much delayed.

MrBreeze

Here is where I started


Hard to believe it's been 2 1/2 years.

Sapyx

Personally, my "one from every year" goes back quite a way. My first "missing year" is 1770. Coins from 1770 tend to be a bit pricey here in Australia...



On a couple of other coin forums, there are threads where the forum as a whole is attempting to work their way back year by year, in effect to form a collective OFEY collection. They tend to get stuck in the late 1400s, as AD dates on coins are very thin on the ground back then and converting from other calendars is less than optimal.

Sapyx

Personally, my "one from every year" goes back quite a way. My first "missing year" is 1770. Coins from 1770 tend to be a bit pricey here in Australia...



On a couple of other coin forums, there are threads where the forum as a whole is attempting to work their way back year by year, in effect to form a collective OFEY collection. They tend to get stuck in the late 1400s, as AD dates on coins are very thin on the ground back then and converting from other calendars is less than optimal.

Sapyx

Personally, my "one from every year" goes back quite a way. My first "missing year" is 1770. Coins from 1770 tend to be a bit pricey here in Australia...



On a couple of other coin forums, there are threads where the forum as a whole is attempting to work their way back year by year, in effect to form a collective OFEY collection. They tend to get stuck in the late 1400s, as AD dates on coins are very thin on the ground back then and converting from other calendars is less than optimal.

LochNESS

I don't see what the big deal is about calendar conversions, honestly. Dates are dates. If I were going to attempt this kind of collection, I would welcome coins from all corners of the globe and convert calendar dates as necessary.

Sapyx

Personally, my "one from every year" goes back quite a way. My first "missing year" is 1770. Coins from 1770 tend to be a bit pricey here in Australia...



On a couple of other coin forums, there are threads where the forum as a whole is attempting to work their way back year by year, in effect to form a collective OFEY collection. They tend to get stuck in the late 1400s, as AD dates on coins are very thin on the ground back then and converting from other calendars is less than optimal.

MrBreeze

For me, there is no question that all forms/types of dates are welcome. I already have several coins that are part of the set that do not have "western" dates. North Africa, the Middle East and Japan are already represented in the collection with their respective dating.

Also, having every date back to 1771 is impressive. How many different countries/states/governments would you say are in the run from 1771-present?

lordmarcovan

Originally posted by: LochNESS

I don't see what the big deal is about calendar conversions, honestly. Dates are dates. If I were going to attempt this kind of collection, I would welcome coins from all corners of the globe and convert calendar dates as necessary.

This is a good point. I just tend to prefer a nice 4-digit AD date, is all. But that does preclude a lot of the Arabic, Middle Eastern (including Israeli) and Asian cultures, so I may rethink it, in the interest of variety.



Sapyx- I saw a "let's go back in time" thread like the ones you mentioned, over on CoinTalk, where I only recently started posting. Maybe we should start one here.



BTW, there is someone over there who collects ancients and goes by "AncientAussie"- made me wonder if it could be you.



(Then again, I suppose there just might be more than one person who collects ancient coins in Australia, huh.)

element159

One 'complication' might be that, I assume, if you pick one specific year in a non-Western calendar, that does not cover exactly 1 Jan to 31 Dec in a Western year. So your single year on a coin in the Arabic calendar, say, could be one of a few years on the Western calendar.



But I think that you are doing pretty good if that is the biggest problem!

lordmarcovan

I really don't have any idea if I'm going to pursue this or not.



I have my Box of 20 and my Oddball set. I probably shouldn't go tearing off in yet another direction.



But it seems like fun, and I had fun making the little century banners.



(Don't much like the title banner, though. And not so sure about "OFEY" for a collection name, though it strikes me as an okay cat name.)

SYRACUSIAN

Originally posted by: carabonnair

Will follow this with interest. One from each century would be more my speed.

That's more like it. Otherwise, 516 coins (FOR STARTERS) sounds so scary to me, that I'll never open this thread again. EVER!

asheland

This would be fun to do with London hallmarked silver!
You'd have to have a piece from 1478 to now...