Hi,
I've decided to suggest rearranging the Country list in one more way; that former colonies (e.g. Gold Coast, French Somaliland, Hong Kong, Macau, etc.)- essentially countries that only issued coins under colonial rule should be moved underneath their former colonizer; this would make looking for them easier.
I can also imagine a Vietnamese person not being very happy to see 'French Cochinchina' in the Vietnam section as well.
I like the current list, except I think Netherlands Antilles and its islands and groups should be listed under Netherlands, since the islands are currently constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands or politically parts of European Netherlands, in much the same way Faroe Islands and Greenland are part of Denmark.
With a colonial division what would you do with the British dominions such as Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia (in essence, independent countries in the British Empire). And Newfoundland would need to be listed as British, then independent, then part of Canada.
And countries like Martinique and Guadeloupe are best listed under France as they are regarded as part of France and use French coins now, not their own coins as previously as colonies.
A straight alphabetical list would be OK, but a listing under current names (and areas larger than current jurisdictions) is more informative to collectors, in my opinion.
I'd say maybe some places (dominions like Canada, Australia etc.) could be listed twice; or alternatively just Newfoundland listed twice under both Canada and the UK.
They say VOC coins are Netherlands East indies/Indonesia, but they were also legal tender in South Africa, Gold Coast etc (every oversea place the Dutch ruled).
Jelle, Just because something is legal tender somewhere does not mean that is where it is to be listed. The US dollar is legal tender in Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, Zimbabwe, East Timor, BES Islands, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands, in some cases along with other currencies.
Quote: "Coinman48"A straight alphabetical list would be OK, but a listing under current names (and areas larger than current jurisdictions) is more informative to collectors, in my opinion.
I agree that a listing under current names is more informative to collectors but the main purpose of an index is to find a country/territory as quickly and easy as possible and for that purpose nothing can beat a straight alphabetical list. I wonder how many beginners (and even more experienced collectors) will know they have to search for Dahomey at Benin, or French Afars & Issas at Djibouti, or New Hebrides at Vanuatu. Or they can find Bohemia at Bohemia, Moravia also at Bohemia, but Bohemia & Moravia at Czech Republic. Keep it simple and use a straight alphabetical list.
That doesn't mean more information isn't interesting. On the contrary, I also like history and geography very much but we have other means for that than our index. Like our numisdoc section for instance. Make there a topic and a list of all the colonies from Portugal, France, Great Britain, Germany and so on.
Quote: "Coinman48"A straight alphabetical list would be OK, but a listing under current names (and areas larger than current jurisdictions) is more informative to collectors, in my opinion.
I agree that a listing under current names is more informative to collectors but the main purpose of an index is to find a country/territory as quickly and easy as possible and for that purpose nothing can beat a straight alphabetical list. I wonder how many beginners (and even more experienced collectors) will know they have to search for Dahomey at Benin, or French Afars & Issas at Djibouti, or New Hebrides at Vanuatu. Or they can find Bohemia at Bohemia, Moravia also at Bohemia, but Bohemia & Moravia at Czech Republic. Keep it simple and use a straight alphabetical list.
That doesn't mean more information isn't interesting. On the contrary, I also like history and geography very much but we have other means for that than our index. Like our numisdoc section for instance. Make there a topic and a list of all the colonies from Portugal, France, Great Britain, Germany and so on.
