Principat D'Andorra? Awsome Gold! Please Help

[Rick.S-migration]

Well to Start it off, I have had this coin for alittle over a year now. I walked into a Local coin shop I use to visit daily as a kid, Good freinds with the shop owner at this point! He had told me about some gentlemen being in there earlier(He was Foreign and thats all he could describe him as), The man aparently spoke little english and Had only been in the country for alittle time now. He went over to his desk(at this point we were in the back of the shop seeing nobody else was in there) Removing this Red Passport type package. He began to telling me he had spent all afternoon searching it up on the internet and couldn't find anything, I asked him if he was interested in selling it?? He Kindof Mumbled and grumbled before I spitted out a offer knowing he almost couldn't resist and he said take it. haha

 

Well Finally acquiring it almost a year ago in april, I dug it back out of my safe and was Finally able to get my son to take some decent pictures! I am asking for any help to find out the backround of the coin and Help translate this coin and Parcel Peice that Came with it! The parcel I was able to translate alittle bit to find out some unique stuff, But Ive nearly lost all of it over time!!! I have taken it to a couple coin dealers whom have tried to rip me off and get me a boot in the rear end, One dealer even removed the coin out of the package and was touching it with his bare hands when I was looking in the display case with my son(We wouln't go there right now, Lets just say a huge lawsuit and son ended up in the back of a police cruiser because he was so upset a coindealer would touch the coin he knew we wanted to get alittle research on without using proper equipment to examine the coin!)... I really Just wana send this Coin in the get graded, but I Have also Heard that it is not a Coin because There is no Denomination.

 

 

[Rick.S-migration]

Here aare the Pictures, Since I don't Think The attachments worked!

 

 

 

 

[pendragon1998]

It was produced in the Principality of Andorra, a small nation between France and Spain. I didn't see the same coin in my 2007 krause, but it looks similar to a number of Andorran issues. The language isn't quite spanish; I think it's Catalan. From what I can make out, I think the gist of the paper is that the coin (or medal, more likely?) was issued by decree of the episcopal vegueria (principality?) on Feb 23 1978. It's .918 fineness gold. The issue limit was 7000, I think, and I think there's something about 3,500 of those having Catalan legends?

 

I don't speak Catalan, but that is what I guess at. I've likely botched some of that.

[RI AL]

The mintage is 7000 pieces in total, 3500 are in catalan, the rest will be in Latin. Catalan is the official language of Andorra, though it is spoken in bits of France, Spain and Italy.

 

Translation from inside the folder, "Official issue according to the law (directive) of the Episcopal vegueria." What I was able to search online is that at least with stamps, the episcopal Vegueria servei d'emissions printed collectibles with no concern for their usage as actual postage. They were printed for collectors only. I would suspect the same for your "coin". They went into "business" in 1978 and ended in 1992 and the issues are not "official government issue".

 

 

"Les peces tindran valor...."

I am going to have to guess at the rest of the text...

The value of the coin will be determined by .....(the issuer??)

 

As stated in an earlier reply, the obverse is very similar to other Andorra issues, and the reverse coat of arms also resembles that of Andorra. I can find no listing for your coin in 2008 Krause catalog, nor "Unusual World Coins". My guess...it is a fantasy piece issued for collectors with no denomination nor official sanction by Andorra.

 

RI AL