What about coinage of countries that no longer exist?

[Golden Oldie]

We have some coins from Yugoslavia. What happens to the collector value on coins on countries such as this when they no longer exist?

 

Just curious,

 

Pat

[World Colonial]

I do not see any difference between these and any others because collectors do not buy coins with the intent to spend them. And the fact that it would no longer be legal tender is the only implication I can see from the question you asked.

 

From the standpoint of the question you asked, think of it this way. Does it matter that coins from ancient Greece or Rome do not have the issuing authority around anymore? Or what about the Central American Republic?

 

The answer to this question is no. The collector value will still be determined by supply and demand and how much the collector base is willing to pay for them.

[Golden Oldie]

Thanks for the info. After I posted the message I thought about ancient coins. The old wheels in the brain don't engage as fast as they used to.

 

Thanks again,

 

Pat

[World Colonial]

Don't worry about it.

 

There is one comment I have to add. I would say that the more remote in time these coins are, the more likely they are to be forgotten. I cannot say it is more true than for a series that no longer circulates (say for a US denomination such as the two cent or three cent nickel) but it should be at least equally true.

 

There are all kinds of issues from countries that no longer exist and some of them have been lost into oblivion and others not. The ancient Greek and Roman coinage and those from the Central American Republic are among those that are still popular. I cannot think of any offhand that are forgotten because they are mostly from countries that I know little about generally or about their coins specifically. Probably most of them are from countries where there are few collectors today, such as central Asia..

 

The only coins I collect from an extinct entity are the 1790 Austrian Netherlands Insurrection issues. This is an eight coin issue commemorative of which I have seven (one duplicate) in NGC MS-63 or above. The Austrian Netherlands was located in modern day Belgium and to my knowledge, is collected by numismatists all over Europe. But while I do not see it falling into obscurity in the near future, I do not see a surge in popularity either.

[RI AL]

Golden Oldie

 

My wife and I worked with the American Embassy in Belgrade from 1979-81 and I worked on a set of coins from Yugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro as well as paper money. The Montenegro coins seemed to have increased in value some but the others are just kind of languishing. Coins from obsolete countries are of interest to some collectors (my one time goal was to have at least 1 coin from every country that ever was) and I still have coins from some pretty funky places but all in all, unless they are rare, prices don't seem to move much.

 

RI AL