"Coins Sets of All Nations." Are they real coins?

RobinGoodfellow

Hi all. I've always collected coins from the foreign countries I've visited (16 so far) and would like to expand my collection. I've seen the "Coins Sets of All Nations" for sale on eBay and a local dealer has several sets for sale too. My question is: are these real coins or copies or what? I'm aware the Franklin Mint issued sets under this name a couple of decades ago and other companies too. Most of the sets I've seen on eBay seem reasonably priced--maybe TOO reasonably priced, hence my question. What's the skinny on these sets?
Thanks!

Stork

Real coins and from I've heard (and the few sets I've seen) the coins are pretty nice. Common coins but generally well selected. Might be a nice way to pick up nice quality 'common' coins---I have found it is sometimes a bit harder to find so called common coins in good shape.

edited to add: I was about to give you one of those 'welcome to the board' signs but I see you joined in 2002!!??!! I think you have the record for fewest number of posts PER YEAR for someone actually making a post . Well, welcome anyway!

CIVITAS

I've never known these to contain anything but genuine coins.

RobinGoodfellow

@Stork said:

edited to add: I was about to give you one of those 'welcome to the board' signs but I see you joined in 2002!!??!! I think you have the record for fewest number of posts PER YEAR for someone actually making a post . Well, welcome anyway!

Ha! You're probably right. I joined a long time ago but lost contact soon after joining--you know, Life gets in the way of the important things. Getting back into the swing of things.
Thanks for the re-welcome!

RobinGoodfellow

Thanks for the advice CIVITAS and Stork. I had a feeling they are probably OK, but wanted to get some expert advice before diving in.

amwldcoin

If you stumble upon a Chinese set jump on it! They have been known to bring $2-3000 on ebay!

Stork

Any year? I saw an enormous box of these at a hole-in-the-wall seller in Tokyo once. I wonder if he had any Chinese ones? I'll never know. I'd never find the place again even if I was fortunate enough to be back in Tokyo.

7Jaguars

Very nice and often specimen quality coins!

Sapyx

Yes, these pre-assembed world coin sets always contain genuine coins, though not necessarily coins that actually saw circulation in the country of issue. Most of them are coins that were very cheap and common back when the sets were assembled. Many of them that I acquired back when I started collecting were made up of FAO coins, which were cheap, mass-produced fundraisers.

amwldcoin

I don't think it maters. The sets are always random dates.

@Stork said:
Any year? I saw an enormous box of these at a hole-in-the-wall seller in Tokyo once. I wonder if he had any Chinese ones? I'll never know. I'd never find the place again even if I was fortunate enough to be back in Tokyo.

MrBreeze

The value in the sets is dependent on the specific coins within that set. The sets do not contain exactly the same coins.

Stork

@MrBreeze said:
The value in the sets is dependent on the specific coins within that set. The sets do not contain exactly the same coins.

So probably not a good idea to hop a plane to Tokyo and try and find a place I was in maybe 7-8 years ago and hope they might have any old random Chinese coin set . Though hopping a plane to Tokyo sounds nice, except for the actual flying part.