One from Every Country #8: Armenia

The first country that is not being posted in alphabetical order, Armenia would have been slotted in sooner had I gotten the coin scanned sooner. I received it for Christmas 2014, but I didn't get it scanned until August 2015. As I've noted, my scanner used for coins is not good so I put it off most of the time.

I generally only add to my collection at Christmas, and for Christmas 2014 I ended up getting 12 new countries, which is quite a lot at this stage of my collecting; 7 years in. While there are still plenty of countries left to add to my collection, the majority of currently issuing countries is now represented in my collection. I don't have exact numbers on how many currently issuing countries there are, or how many I need, perhaps someday I will figure it out.

The coin is uncirculated, which means it scans poorly- the low grade coins actually scan better. The higher grade issues tend to scan with lots of spots all over them that don't appear on the coin in hand. I remove most of them but it is impossible to remove them all. I do the best I can.

The denomination is 20 luma.

The other new countries I got for Christmas 2014 were: Bailiwick of Jersey, Kyrgyzstan, Ethiopia, Georgia, Gibraltar, Guatemala, Falkland Islands, Isle of Man, Lithuania, Laos and Uganda. They will appear in alphabetical order as I reach them in the OFEC project, and in fact, Bailiwick of Jersey will arrive within the next week or two.

Gifts from a World-Traveling Friend, Part 1: The Coins

A few days back I received a very nice gift package from a friend who is a world traveler. I know him from another hobby and I told him I would be very appreciative if he could bring me back some coins and currency...and he sure did! I got a nice box from him that included a lot of good stuff. So much so that I'm going to split it up into two posts, with the first being coins, and the second being currency. I have not even begun to scan the currency yet so it will be sometime in the future.

Scanning coins and currency is not a lot of fun- the scanner I use for them both is seriously damaged, but as it still turns on and works I'm too cheap to replace it. I have a backlog of stuff dating to last Christmas waiting to be scanned, but it's not usually worth the frustration to do so. But, occasionally, I'll feel up to it and pull out that scanner.

Below are the new coins he sent me-

Austria 1979 10 groschen

Belize 2012 dollar. This is only my second coin from Belize, and neither is round. Interesting to see how low condition some of these are, US coins that I see from 2012 are usually nearly new still.

Hong Kong 1991 20 cents

Hong Kong 1993 5 dollars

Hong Kong 1998 2 dollars

Pretty sure this is Japan but I can't read their writing- I have tried and failed.

Mexico 1998 10 pesos

Mexico 2011 5 pesos

Mexico 2014 peso. This is now my newest non-US coin.

Paraguay 2008 thousand guaranies. Not sure why they use mil for thousand.

Paraguay 2012 100 guaranies

Peru 2006 5 new soles

Philippines 2002 10 piso

Singapore 1989 dollar

Spain 2001 2 Euro. The largest Euro coin denomination, only the second or third in my collection.

Thailand. I cannot read Thai writing. I've tried, like Japan, often, but I cannot succeed. Any ID help would be appreciated!

Thailand

Thailand

Thailand

Thailand

Thailand 1996 bhat, a Circulating Commemorative honoring the current King Rama's 50th Anniversary on the throne. It was a one year type so I was able to determine what it was.

Turkey 2005 lirasi (?)

Turkey 2005 25 kurus

Turkey 2008 50 kurus. Note that the nickel (I believe) center is much more weakly struck than the brass outer ring.

United Arab Emirates 50 fils. I am not sure the year, I have a book that tells you how to figure it out but I have not gotten the book out yet. More importantly, this is my first coin from this country! It is the 164th different country in my collection, and someday you will see this coin again in my OFEC posts- although as I'm going alphabetically it won't be for several years!

USA 2007 D dollar, George Washington. In this country, it's REALLY rare to see these circulated, but he got this one in circulation...in El Salvidor! Apparently they use them there on a regular basis, the circulation certainly shows that here. He actually got me three different US dollars but the other two were duplicates- both Sacajawea dollars.

In addition to the coins, there was also this token:

It is from a video arcade in Yangon, Myanmar! He didn't know that I also collect video game tokens, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. It's quite large- about the size of a US half dollar.

I really really thrilled with this package he sent me, and this doesn't even touch the world currency, which was either my largest or second largest single-day collection increase ever! Those will be coming in the future, although I can't say exactly when, but I am most appreciative.

One from Every Country #7: Austria-Hungary

Back with another post, this time showing the Austria-Hungary combined empire. Most people would probably class these with Austria, or perhaps Hungary, but I am not most people and do things my way. In my eyes, the Austria-Hungary issues are their own separate entity.

The Austria-Hungary empire came into existence in 1867, and lasted until 1918, when it was broken up as a result of World War I. The history of the empire is somewhat convoluted and you can read more about it here and here.

This coin was issued in 1868, and it's a 1-heller, which is the lowest denomination they produced, I believe. It is the first coin from the 1800s to appear in the OFEC collection, but it is not the last.

It probably IS however the lowest grade, as it is worn nearly smooth on the obverse, and the reverse is so badly worn that I had miscredited as an 1858 issue- before Austria-Hungary existed as we know it! However, it is the only coin I have for the combined Austria-Hungary empire, so, it must be the example used in this rundown.

Originally the obverse would have had the dual-headed eagle that was a standard feature of Habsburg coinage.

One from Every Country #6 - Austria

I have a lot of coins from Austria. I prefer to buy by the pound, once a year on average, and there is always a wide supply of Austrian in there. This one, though, is an uncirculated example I was given as a gift. It's a 1993 10 groschen and is made of aluminum, my favorite coinage metal.

This design was used from the end of WWII to the dawn of the Euro. It looks better in person than it does in a scan, as well...but then again, they almost always do.

One from Every Country #5 - Australia

Back again with another update. Australia is a country I have several issues from, going back to the WWII era, but the one I chose to represent the country is a newer issue. I traded with a member of the Collector's Universe forum for it, I no longer remember what I sent to him. He lives in Australia so for him it was literally an item of his pocket change that he sent me.

Gotta love those kangaroos! I just wish it had scanned better.

One from Every Country #4 Aruba

Moving on to the 4th country alphabetically, Aruba comes next and the coin is square! I have a few square issues- from Aruba, India, and possible one other that I can't remember off the top of my head. This was the first square coin in my collection. I received it as a gift from a neighbor who went there on a cruise, as I recall. Actually, come to think of it, that may have been a different year of the same design. I know I have more than one.

It, too, is made of Aluminum.

There's not really much of a design to it, the big deal is it's squareness.

The first time I saw this design it sure did make an impression on me, that's for sure. I had never seen any square coins before.