does anyone else collect non-US coins this way?

[JKK]

I'm curious if I'm the only bottom fish here.

 

I go to a dealer and look through their loose foreign coin bin. It's rare to see silver (though not unheard of), but I get a lot of late 1800s and first half 1900s stuff from around the world. Unless it's something I think I have too much of, I tend to set those aside and buy them. They cost me typically $0.17-.25 or thereabouts. I'm not expecting to get big bucks in value, just build up the diversity of the foreign collection. Usually there'll be at least one that puts me ahead no matter what else I got, because those just aren't worth most dealers' time to look up one by one.

 

If I can't read the coin easily or at all, but it looks old enough to be of interest, I'll buy it anyway and figure out later what I got. I can make out Hebrew, Arabic, Greek and Cyrillic without much trouble given time, and will puzzle out whatever Thai or Japanese I must. That's part of the fun for me, looking at a coin covered in Arabic calligraphy that I suppose is Saudi, and finding out what it really is.

 

I'll also ask to look through loose foreign silver, if they have any. Same basic method: go for older stuff that will sell for its Ag bullion value or thereabouts. Only difference there is that I'll have to have some kind of budget limit in mind, since silver can add up. Then I go home and find out what I got.

 

It won't build a multimillion$ collection, but it does build an interesting one with exposure to a lot of new information. Does anyone else do it this way? I'm sure dealers would rather have the big sale, but on the other hand I'm an honest and consistent customer who pays what they ask and treats them and their wares with respect.

[charon]

Every coin show I go to I look through a dealers 3/$1.00, 5/$1.00 or other bulk bins. I usually only take out pre-20th C. coins. I love the search!

[JKK]

Every coin show I go to I look through a dealers 3/$1.00, 5/$1.00 or other bulk bins. I usually only take out pre-20th C. coins. I love the search!

 

It has definitely been a numismatic education. I'll get some coin and then find out there are twenty varieties, and have to do some forensics to figure out (if I can) which one I've got. Privy marks? Indian mint marks? Small letters vs. large? It often means a lot of time and research, but as you go on, you get better at it. I find that I can do this at a given dealer's every 3-4 months or so, because I pick it over pretty good.

 

What's your best find? Mine was a 1R Spanish silver coin, rather beat up but identifiable, from the mid-1700s.

[coinsandmedals]

It's interesting that you bring this topic up, I started off collecting foreign coins because of this very process. My dad had already messed with foreign coins but I took very little to no interest in them. The first coin I pulled out a "junk" box was a well circulated and holed 1806 British farthing, this gave me the inspiration to pursue world coins on another level. As my collecting habits for U.S. coins greatly outgrew my budget I began to look back at foreign coins and now I can say that I have upgraded my 1806 farthing from AG details to MS-65, and I have since expanded my world coin collection. I haven't taken the time in many years to really hunt through the "junk" boxes but I think the next show I attend I will make a point to do so. Thank you for your post, and good luck hunting!

[JKK]

I would highly recommend it to YNs, because it's a low-cost way to learn a lot about coins. The only downside there is that one pretty much has to have Krause, which is not a budget-buster for an adult collector but three centuries' worth is spendy for the YN. Good hunting to you as well!