~~~ Lord Marcovan's Alphabetical OFEC Collection ~~~

lordmarcovan · August 17, 2011 8:43AM

Here's an OFEC collection of sorts.

What in the world is OFEC?, you may be asking. Does it have something to do with oil and the Middle East?

No- that's OPEC. But an OFEC collection can include a coin or two from the Middle East, if you like.

It's as simple as ABC, really. OFEC stands for "One From Each Country", as many of you know. But this is a simplified OFEC- One From Each Category.

In other words, one coin from a country beginning with each letter of the alphabet. An "A to Z" collection.

This is an easy, concise way to collect a varied world coin collection around a theme that's not too complicated or restrictive. You only need 26 pieces to complete it. I really want to try this in gold, but my budget won't allow that. If you like the theme, feel free to grab my idea and run with it. For me, I'm going to use slabbed coins, and at least initially, some of the coins from my other collections will serve double duty as stand-ins here. (You'll see a lot of Victorian coins "borrowed" from my daughter's 1901 British Empire type set to begin with, but as I flesh this collection out, it will become more diversified.)

If the "Alphabetical OFEC" idea catches on, I predict a sudden uptick in demand for coins from Qatar! Of course there is no country that begins with "X", but that slot can be filled by a piece of eXonumia- an attractive medal, jeton, or token of some kind.

Want to try this yourself? Feel free to join me. Hey, it could be fun. You can use coins from any geographical area or period, as long as the country, state or authority that struck them corresponds to the proper letter of the alphabet. That's it!

Photobucket slideshow

Now I know my ABC's... won't you come collect with me...

is for Australia.

is for British Honduras.

is for Canada.

is for Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, etc.

is for East Africa, Ecuador, Egypt, etc.

is for Finland, Fiji, France, etc.

is for Great Britain.

is for Hong Kong.

is for India.

is for Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, etc.

is for Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, etc.

is for Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, etc.

is for Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, etc.

is for Netherlands, New Guinea, Norway, etc.

is for Oaxaca, Oman, etc.

is for Palestine, Peru, Philippines, etc.

is for Qatar (and not much else).

is for Roman Empire.

is for Straits Settlements.

is for Tanzania, Tonga, Turkey, etc.

is for United States.

is for Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam, etc.

is for West African States, Wurttemberg, etc.

is for eXonumia. (I'll have to find a pretty medal or jeton).

is for Yemen, Yugoslavia, etc.

is for Zaire, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, etc.

The illuminated capital letter gifs are from retrokat.com and are free for noncommercial use.
(Just make sure to save them to your own image server if you use them. Or design your own, if you're really slick!)

Master index of my collections, treasure hunting tales, and other stuff.

WorldTypeSet · August 18, 2011 7:07AM

Okay, I'll play. Here's my set. All letters are covered, except X and Z. But, I guess the eXonumia would be covered by the 1915 Algerian 10 Centime Bougie Token, or the 1965 Canadian 10 Tokens. Z would be covered by the c.1827-41 Zurich 3 Haller, though I list that under S as a Swiss Canton.

Q was a challenge, obviously. Finding a slabbed K was surprisingly difficult.

Someday, I'll have enough time to add pics to the set.

lordmarcovan · August 18, 2011 4:47PM

WOW.

Here I can barely fill out the alphabet, and you've got it three or four times over!

Excluding one or two letters, of course. Maybe you need more Qatar. (That sort of sounds like "needs more cowbell".)

Sapyx · August 18, 2011 4:53PM

<< ...Of course there is no country that begins with "X", but that slot can be filled by a piece of eXonumia... >>

Quitter.

Here's my list of "most interesting countries" from my collection, A-Z.

Aachen
Belgian Federation
Central American Republic
Danzig
Euzkadi
French India
Greenland
Hawaii
Isle de France & Bourbon
Jerusalem (Crusader kingdom)
Kiau Chau
Liechtenstein
Montserrat
Navarre
Ostrogothic Kingdom
Parthian Empire
Queensland
Ragusa
Seljuqs of Rum
Trebizond
Umayyad Caliphate
Van Diemen's Land
West Irian
Xi Xia Empire
Yemen Democratic Republic
Zeeland

I'll try to get pics of them up over the weekend, if folks are interested.

TwoKopeiki · August 18, 2011 11:58PM

<< Xi Xia Empire >>

Nice!

Love the sets posted so far! It's an awesome idea, but I'm not that adventurous anymore

lordmarcovan · August 19, 2011 3:57AM

<< Xi Xia Empire >>

Whoa.

I wondered if the Chinese had any "X" offerings. And I thought about Queensland being a "Q" alternative (but a rather rare and pricey one, no?)

You guys are really showin' me up, here.

But of course you had a head start, by apparently pursuing much more far-ranging OFECs. I only just tossed my hat in the game, so to speak. And for some reason, I've decided to just do slabs for this set. (One reason being, if I stick with PCGS and NGC slabs, this collection can be entered as a custom set on the NGC Registry, where I'm already working on the Victorian and Roman collections.) Without plastic, I could of course fill out a whole lot more of the alphabet.

Sapyx · August 19, 2011 5:17PM

<< I thought about Queensland being a "Q" alternative (but a rather rare and pricey one, no?) >>

Queensland government banknotes are the price of a medium-sized house, but Queensland tradesman tokens (like the ones listed in the 1800s Krause) are cheap and plentiful - here in Queensland, at least.

And for others seeking "X countries", there's also the ancient Greek city of Xanthos in Lycia. And using the same Pinyin spellings for Chinese words that gave me "Xi Xia", there's also Xinjiang Province. Unfortunately, the German notgeld-issuing cities of Xanten and Xions and the Spanish town of Xerta only issued paper notgeld, not metal tokens.

WorldTypeSet · August 20, 2011 4:50AM

I'll try to get pics of them up over the weekend, if folks are interested.

Yes, please.

Sapyx · August 20, 2011 9:01PM

<< Yes, please. >>

No worries, then.

Aachen 3 marck 1754

Belgian Federation 1 florin 1790

Central American Republic 8 reales 1826NG

Danzig 5 pfennig 1932

Euzkadi 2 pesetas 1937

French India copper doudou, late 1700s-early 1800s

Greenland, Ivigtut cryolite mine token, 10 kronur 1922

Hawaii 1/4 dollar 1883

Isles de France & Bourbon 3 sols 1779

Jerusalem (Crusader kingdom) denier of king Baldwin III, 1143-1163

Kiau Chau 10 cents 1909

Liechtenstein 2 kronen 1915

Montserrat 4 dollars 1970

Navarre liard of king Henri II, 1516-1555

Ostrogothic Kingdom, copper follis for city of Rome, circa 500 AD

Parthian Empire, drachm of king Phraates IV, 38-2 BC

Queensland, halfpenny token of John Pettigrew, Ipswich, 1865

Ragusa, silver grosso, the dealer I bought it off said "circa 1300" but I haven't confirmed the date yet.

Seljuqs of Rum, silver dirham of Kaikhusro II, haven't read the date on it yet but should be in the range 1237-1245.

Trebizond, asper of Grand Comnenus John II, circa 1300.

Umayyad Caliphate, dirham dated AH 103 = AD 722, Damascus mint

Van Diemen's Land, penny of R. Josephs, New Town 1855 - the only token to bear the old name for "Tasmania".

West Irian (Indonesian province of West Papua) 1 sen 1962. The coins are the same type as issued for Riau Archipelago but have no edge inscription.

Xi Xia Empire, tian sheng yuan bao cash, Chinese script, 1149-1171

Yemen Democratic Republic 25 fils 1982

Zeeland 6 stuivers 1785

Whew. All but the Trebizond coin were fresh downloads. I just about doubled the amount of picture space I've used in posting this. Enjoy.

lordmarcovan · August 21, 2011 5:25AM

Sapyx- thanks for takin' the time and trouble. Supercool stuff!

You've got an excellent variety of not only countries, but periods and contexts, there, and that to me is one of the appeals of the Darkside.

I find the Van Diemen's Land token particularly interesting. Funny, I heard Van Diemen's Land mentioned somewhere recently. Probably in a Midnight Oil song. (I'm a longtime Oil fan, or whatever we're supposed to call ourselves. Oilers? And I don't mean the American football team by that name.)

~*~*~ Lord Marcovan's Alphabetical OFEC Collection ~*~*~

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~~~ Lord Marcovan's Alphabetical OFEC Collection ~~~