Collecting Foreign Coins

By Tom Becker | Wed, 29 Mar 2006

While I used the term foreign in the title of this report, I prefer to call coins minted in another country by their specific name or to refer to them as world coins or coins of the world. As a German coin dealer once reminded me, what I was calling foreign was like home cookin? to him.

Examining coin from another country is like trying to speak a new language. Learning the proper pronunciation of denominations, monarchs names, mint names and the like, obliges you to know something of the language and the culture of these different lands. One of the first "serious" world coins I purchased was an Austrian taler that featured a 3/4 bust of Leopold the Hog Mouth. I'll admit that the ruler's nickname helped influence my purchase. The effigy on the coin looked a lot like the guy who sold it to me.

Legend has it that one famous numismatist, when thoroughly annoyed, would curse using the names of Mexican mints instead of popular profanity. Zacatecas! You worthless son of a Chihuahua from Tlalpujahua!

Have you noticed? I really enjoy world coins. Like most Americans, I started out collecting domestic coinage. When I became a dealer I bought and sold United States coins. Seeming to need more of a challenge, I switched exclusively to world coins. Now I'm back selling United States issues. While I loved the coins, and enjoyed the people who collected them, I couldn't seem to make a decent living dealing exclusively in the world issues. The real truth is I just wasn't good enough at it.

Some of my most memorable experiences occurred when I was dealing with world coins. Many of the nicest people I?ve met in the coin business are world coin dealers. Some of the smartest people I know are world coin dealers. It's really too bad these attributes don't always mate with one other. Sit me down in front of a box of unattributed world coins and immediately you'll see a smile on my face. I like to be puzzled. I like to be surprised. From time to time I enjoy letting out the clutch and putting the mind in gear. If you have not investigated the coins of other countries then you are missing much that numismatics has to offer. There is nothing quite like holding a three hundred year old taler in your hand. You need only look in my driveway to see I'm as much for buying American as the next guy, but for collectors skipping past all the A to T countries to get to the U is like throwing away the hot dog and eating just the bun.