Another "Discovery": Guyana 1978 Royal Mint 5 Cents

7Jaguars

Ebay is still a valid hunting ground, and interesting things that are also rare can be found. The intriguing thing about this coin is that it has apparently been lost because of some curiosities and coincidences.

Guyana had a contract with the Royal Mint to strike circulation coins in the smaller denominations. At the same time they had a contract with the Franklin Mint to strike "collector coins" in proof condition - both silver and gold and also the minor bits. These are rather attractive designs but evidently never really saw circulation and some are quite rare in uncirculated condition, values evidently on the rise.
In any case, the Royal Mint struck coins for circulation, and after research saw that only 2,000 were struck of the 1978 5 Cents a coin that was worth at the time less than 1/2 cent USD. In any case these were struck and evidently released to circulation & NOT held back. In case you are not aware, Guyana is a hot and steamy country in South America that was a British Colony at one time. So a pot metal coin of dubious metal and very little value except maybe in rural marketplaces was unceremoniously dumped into circulation almost 40 years ago.
The Guyanese dollar then plunged even further in years to follow & to the point that now there are about 200 per USD. Evidently the contract with the RM was still in effect and many years were struck up into the millions with many saved in the equivalent of roll quantities (I don't know if they were worth putting into rolls!), and so many more of this denomination and others are now available. This denomination and date? Not at all.

I recently got this on French eBay (God knows how it got there!) for the princely sum of 6.50 USD:

JBK

No doubt a rare coin, but what is the demand for them? (I have no idea myself).

7Jaguars

Probably next to nil. However, the hunt is rather fun and where its at to me. And since I also like British Colonial, not really a stretch.
Also entertaining to think of the history and the fact that this coin is point blanc far more rare than any 1893 S Morgan could be.

Stork

@7Jaguars said:
Probably next to nil. However, the hunt is rather fun and where its at to me. And since I also like British Colonial, not really a stretch.
Also entertaining to think of the history and the fact that this coin is point blanc far more rare than any 1893 S Morgan could be.

Crazy isn't it!

edited to add: and doesn't that just show what the demand side of supply/demand and what's in fashion does to a price. Like all those Hummel figurines/more fad collectibles...once the collectors aged out they became worthless. Coins may or may not go that route (cough, stamps, cough). Rarity is not a guarantee of price and demand can always change things drastically.

It's a cool looking coin though, and I would consider it a real treasure!

7Jaguars

Thanks, these things are so much fun to run down. Not out a lot at 6.50 though....

Stork

Yep, my husband just asked me why I'm not collecting those instead of what I normally do . Silly husbands.

cladking

@Stork said:
Yep, my husband just asked me why I'm not collecting those instead of what I normally do . Silly husbands.

He probably just likes the idea it's only $6.50 and hard to find at that.

Stork

Exactly!

desslok

Interesting! What do you make of this coin? Same denomination, later date, interesting pedigree:

https://ma-shops.de/worldmoneyshop/item.php5?id=362&lang=en

7Jaguars

Ah yes, the King's Norton distribution. These are fairly scarce coins struck in specimen (nearly proof finish). I have a few of Belize, none of Guyana. They are around now in the midst of secondary and tertiary distribution so available for now.
Not as scarce as the OP coin however, IMO. Karl Stephens was instrumental in distributing these and probably still has a few, although don't know his stock at the moment.