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Another stupid question from Steve

stevereecystevereecy Posts: 203 ✭✭✭
in World & Ancient Coins Forum

Hey guys,

Ya'll are just going to have to forgive me for all of my questions. I've loved coin collecting my whole life, but got out of it for a long time because I chased U.S. stuff and found myself chasing widgets. This time I'm terribly hooked and found I can reach beyond the widget stage. My real problem is that I don't know anyone in my day to day life who collects darkside, so I'm relying too heavy on this board to learn things. If I'm a PITA, I humbly apologize.

Here's what I'm wondering. Among the British coins, how do the denominations rank in terms of collector activity?

If you asked me this question for light-side coins, I could easily answer it. 2 cent and 3 cent pieces are seldom collected. Buffalo nickels, Lincoln cents and Morgans are heavily collected. How does that translate over to the British stuff?

I assume the most populated series is the Crowns. Then Sovereigns (#2 due to affordability), then what? Are Shillings next? Or Farthings? Pennies seem popular...where are they in the pecking order? In summary, what denominations do most people chase after? What denominations are seldom chased after?

Thanks,

Steve

Really enjoying collecting coins and currency again

My currency "Box of Ten" Thread: https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1045579/my-likely-slow-to-develop-box-of-ten#latest

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    TomBTomB Posts: 20,733 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Of course you're a PITA, but it doesn't mean that you didn't ask a good question! ;)

    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

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    BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,485 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My guess would be it's like the U.S. - the bigger the better. I imagine that crowns, once they became available are quite popular. I'm a gold bug myself, but that can get very expensive, but not as bad as the U.S. series.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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    Jackthecat1Jackthecat1 Posts: 1,122 ✭✭✭

    One popular area of UK collecting are Maundy sets. They are small silver coins in the denominations of 4, 3, 2 and 1 pence. They are distributed by the Sovereign or his/her designee on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter. Like many things British, there is an interesting history and set of traditions surrounding this ritual.

    Member ANS, ANA, GSNA, TNC



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    PatARPatAR Posts: 347 ✭✭✭

    Asking questions is good!

    I would humbly point out one of the advantages to collecting world coins. Namely, shifts in demand do occur, but there is not the same pressure on individual denominations of most world coins as you described for U.S. coins. From a collector standpoint this is part of the reason that you can collect world coins of far greater rarity than many U.S. coins at a fraction of the price. Certainly, when a good number of collectors compete for truly scarce world material, price jumps can and do occur. However, this most often occurs for specific pieces of great rarity and is not tied to any particular denomination.

    In short, collect what you like! :)

    Coins of Isabel 2


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