First, some basic info:
-Tell much, please! This will be an interesting thread.
-When other people write, you can also tell what you have from their country.
My country: Finland
I will tell a bit only because I have 1293 coins from Finland. Finland has had 4 different eras in coins, 6 in banknotes and 5 in stamps.
First: the coins.
Pre-independence (1864-1917):
From this era of minting I own a lot of copper pennies (penni, denominations 1, 5 and 10), and smaller .750 silver coins I own 2 25 penniä coins and 5 50 penniä coins. From the large silver coins I own two 1 markka coins and two 2 markka coins.
And not to forget, a golden 20 markkaa coin.
Still collecting these, im missing a Alexander the third 5 penniä, 2 Alexander II 1 penni, an thicker text 25 penniä and a golden 10 markkaa coin.
Finland 1917-1963
From this era, my collection is complete. I have all different designs. I own a hundred or so (maybe a bit less) of these and the only ones I do not have are the gold coins of the twenties if the 2 commemoratives are not counted.
Finland - later markka 1963-2001
I own about more than half a thousand of these! I keep them in a shoebox. The 10 penni coins of the 90s: I have 378 of these. I own all basic coins and a kekkonen silver commemorative...
Finland - euro 1999-
These I do not keep in a shoebox, but a pickle jar. The jar is full that means there is a few hundred of these two. The pickle jar is worth about 200€ (not the ACTUAL pickle jar, but whats inside) I also own most of the commemorative 2€s and two 5 euro commemoratives.
Banknotes
These arent my speciality, but I still have them!
Pre-independence:
I have 5. 1909 banknotes: 5, 10 and 20 markkaa. 1915 banknotes: 2x 1 markka.
Old markka:
I have some wartime notes, but nothing worth anything or very rare. 5, 10 and 20 markkaa, one 50 markkaa and two 100 markkaa.
New markka:
Few 70/80s banknotes and 90s banknotes, about 15 pcs. Got most for free.
Euro:
Yes, there is a pile of 25 euro notes hiding in the cupboard. I saved one of each of the small denomination old notes.
Stamps:
The only ones I own are pre-1917 stamps. Over a hundred of cheap early 1900s stamps and a 1880s 5pen, a 1889 specimen 1 markka. Then helsinki banknotes which I still need 1 to complete the collection.
What Im going to get more: pre independence stamps and notes, and the coins that im still missing.
France
Pre Revolution/Franc (-1795)
My earliest French coin is from 1636, Double Tournois of Louis XIII; I only have a handful of coins from before the (first) French Revolution, and 4 of them are crownsize Écus. Some copper types too, like those issued 1791-92 when Louis XVI was still King but of a constitutional monarchy rather.
Franc Germinal (1795-1920)
Building up this part of my collection at the moment - very difficult when most of the smaller denominations (20 centimes to 2 Francs) of the 1795-1870 regimes have low mintages and are hard to find at a good price, although I have taken advantage a few times of dealers who didn't know what they had and I received good prices for their goodies. Highlights are my 5 Franc type series, and couple of gold coins (Rooster). Post 1870 coins are easier to find at good prices, and the silver 1898-1920 Semeuse types are very common.
Franc Poincaré/WWII Franc (1920-1960)
A mostly completed by type part of my collection; love the modern designs on the ~1929 generation of coins. Sadly does not include the small 1929-36 100 Francs type. The post-war 1945-46 10 and 20 centimes in zinc are also quite elusive, but this was quite a cheap part of my collection, the second part of my collection I assembled.
New Franc (1960-2000)
Mostly old circulating coins from French relatives and friends, although I have been actively trying to build a collection of the pre 1990 100 Franc commemoratives (missing 1985 Germinal), as well as circulating low denomination commemoratives.
Euro (2000-)
Not much here, other than a few 2€ commemoratives I plucked out of circulation.
Colonies: I focused on East Asian colonies previously, so I have an almost complete French Indochina type set; am now trying to do the same for the 1948 aluminium Franc issues for other French colonies, and the earlier 1896-1922 French colonies issues (Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique).
Banknotes: Building a type set of French and French colonial franc/piastre/rupee banknotes issued by the Banque de France from about 1900 to 2000, which is coming along very well. Sadly no 5000 Francs Flameng, or anything from before 1900 (French banknotes from the XIXe century are VERY expensive in any condition unless they are cheap revolutionary paper money issues).
Stamps: Only a few older issues that came with coins or caught my eye, some colonial issues too. Also TONS of French stamps from the 2010s up to the 1960s that came to me on packages from Ebay sellers that I keep in a box unsorted for now.
United Kingdom
Pre Unification (-1707)
My earliest English coin is from 1568, a sixpence of Elizabeth I; most of my coins here are from England, but I have a Scottish bawbee; my type collection of English sixpences, shillings and crowns are sadly unaccompanied by any half crowns (other than a 1709 Anne).
Unification to Reform (1707-1816)
Pretty much the same as my Stuart monarch pre 1707 coins; I have many coppers especially the Soho mint ones from George III's reign; the silver sixpences and shillings I have type-collected are again unaccompanied by any crowns of the first two Georges (sad!).
Reform to Decimalisation (1816-1970)
My first area of collection focus; received a whole bunch of Edward VII and George V/VI silver denominations that started off my collection, so the first thing I did was try to do a British silver/bronze/copper type set, which I have (mostly) completed, with almost 60 different types in my collection. The uniformity of British coinage during this era made it a great starting point for a new collector!The Wreath Crown and Gothic Crown are sadly, still excluded, however.
Post Decimalisation (1971-)
Mostly old 'New Pence' coins from friends/relatives in the UK, with some interesting coins picked out of change sometimes. Highlight is a 2012 Silver Britannia which was a birthday present.
Colonies: I focused on East Asian colonies previously, so I have relatively complete type sets for the Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Hong Kong, and British India (post 1862). Also have quite complete sets from pre 1960s Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Currently looking to do the same for British colonies in the Caribbean and Africa. Highlights are my Straits Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, and British Trade Dollar.
Banknotes: Trying to do a type set but most British banknotes are expensive, such as any white note. Began turning to colonial issues recently in light of this. I have most of the lower cost denominations.
Stamps: A sizeable amount of British Empire stamps, most from George VI/early Elizabeth II, but a few dating back to Victoria. I have Penny Black, Two Penny Blue and a few unperforated Penny Reds; I don't really actively look for stamps, but they are still appreciated.
Poland time!
Now. I will only do the eras from the Second zloty up to the modern times since i do not have any coins earlier than 1928.
The Second zloty or the age of probas
The very first coin made by poland was 1919 the 50 groszy and they started to make coins back again in 1922 the 100 zloty coin, and so on, there denominations from 1 groszy to 5 zloty and becomes rarer from there on, i also have my oldest coin, the 1928 5 groszy
The Third era of zloty. Or hmm, why do we have so many zeros?
The third era, starting from 1949 produced 1 groszy, 2groszy 5 groszy, 10 groszy, 20 groszy and 1 zloty to begin with
1949 were the time to experiment and use copper nickle and other metalls other than Aluminum on coins with the denomination of 10 zloty or below
they did not mint more coins until 1958 where they intorduced 2 zlotych 5 zlotych and 10 zlotych, tehy also stopped mniting the 1 groszy and th 2 groszy for the rest of the third zloty era.
The year is 1975 and 2 Zloty and 5 Zloty get a new Metal! Brass. And also some other proba coins but that dosent really matter.
The year is 1977 the economy is starting to crumble, after Poznan, Gdansk and Radom revolts 1958, 1970,1976 Respectivly.
It would only go down hill after 1976, in 1982 The 10 groszy and 20 groszy would go away, 1985 was the first time the one thousand zloty was introduced
The year is 1989 where we are thrown back to the fifties! As the 2 zloty and 5 zloty become aluminum for a while
The year is 1990, The 1 million zloty coin is introduced, the rarest one in the era as only one was minted.
1990 is the year where we are looking into the past and seeing the future.
I have most of my coins here
Some notable coins from this era. https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=1960PL00700&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=1990PL04100&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=1970PL01000&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no The fourth zloty era. Or The future?
And now that we fixed the problem in 1995 Also ending the Third zloty era for good
we got new coins! And also alot more commeratives the first time where the 2 zloty get commemoratives.
There were some good error like in 2006 a aluminum 10 groszy sold for almost 180 dollars.
in 2013 The government decided to switch metals to steel That is brass plated
That will possibly even change the desgin on the 2 zloty and 5 zloty
Notable coins https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=1994PL01500&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=2006PL00021&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no https://www.fortresscatalogue.com/index2.php?cat=2017PL01900&page=Coin_Details&details_menu=no Stamps!
Sadly i only have stamps from the 60s the 70s and the 80s nothing really to talk about here becuase there is not that much i know about them. Banknotes!
Well i do not have any other banknotes other than the modern ones.
Bangladesh/East Bengal
Coins -
Taka is still used today dating back to 1972.
There has never been inflation and the monetary unit seems to have been stable.
I have a complete collection of coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 Poisha and 1, 2 and 5 Taka with an exception of some commemorative ones. Banknotes-
I saw 1 Taka banknotes when I was still small, but they really vanished today, none of them are in circulation.
I have a bunch of old 2 taka and a few old 5 taka with old letterings printed from 2000-2008. Any other notes of 10,20,50 and 100 taka with an exception of 500 and 1000 taka are in my collection. Philately/Stamps
I have Bangladeshi stamps of 3 tk and 10 tk, there are pretty old, cheap stamps available here.
There are some Indian stamps of 5, 10 and 20 rupees too.
I have many stamps from Russia commemorating the cities and towns of Russia.
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (previously British Hong Kong) Coins
From the start of the late 1800s, the British introduced the Hong Kong dollar. Still, no luck with any of the older coins since I am a new collector, with the earliest one by WW2 for me. After that, I have one for each type, especially the Queen Elizabeth II coins. I also have many 5 cents in my stock. If you are wondering, the HKD never seemed to rise or fall a lot, with the price always between 7.7 and 7.8 HKD per USD. Therefore, it remained our currency for a century. (and one more to come) Queen Elizabeth II-headed coins are still legal tender in Hong Kong, and by chance, you may get 5 cents returned instead of 10 cents. (happened to me twice)
Look out for 1993 10 cents and 10 dollars - they are rare, if not extremely rare in circulation! The first and the latter are both incredibly rare and could only be seen usually in sets.
Banknotes
There used to be smaller denominations, but now we have 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 dollars.
It's not technically a country anymore but here it goes for Newfoundland:
(I hope this doesn't break the rules )
COINS
Technically the first Newfoundland coin is a token. In 1840 the Rutherford brothers issued what's now called a Rutherford Halfpenny, it was minted in England and featured the Rutherford family crest on one side and a suspended sheep on the other. The sheep was a design that had been in use in England and was simply reused for the Rutherfords, it didn't actually have any significance to them or to Newfoundland.
Previous to this Newfoundland was stuck using old worn foreign coins, which weren't found in enough abundance to sustain the economy. After the Rutherford token was made other merchants followed suit. Finally, in 1865, Newfoundland adopted the gold standard and changed to a decimal currency, the dollar, to fall in line with Canada and the United States. Interestingly, the Newfoundland dollar was 2 cents to one penny sterling, so that it was also still in line with the British pound. It was also lined up well with other British colonies.
Between 1865 and 1949 Newfoundland minted 139 different coins. My hope is to have one of each, excluding the $2.00 coins, which are gold and typically cost hundreds of dollars, and the 1946 5 cent piece, which had a mintage of 2041 and technically shouldn't exist.
BANKNOTES
Newfoundland banknotes are fairly rare to find, but were issued by two banks between 1865 and 1894 before both crashed. And starting in 1901 the government issued notes of its own. I've never personally seen a Newfoundland banknote in real life, but maybe someday!
STAMPS
Newfoundland issued its own stamps from 1857-1949. I'll have to check my book for the exact number, but like the coins is a finite and attainable collection, so I hope to one day have a full set. I still have living relatives who remember when Newfoundland was independent so I have a fair number of stamps that they had when we joined Canada. I have stacks of the common ones and some of the less commons.
Coins:
After the division of Korea, the South introduced Won, which was curculted between August 15, 1945 to February 15, 1953. There was 100 Jeon to one Won. In February 15, 1953 the Hwan was introduced and also the Hwan was divided into 100 Jeon, but no coins were ever struck in the subunit. The Hwan circulated until June 9, 1962, and was replaced by the second Won, which is the circulated until this day. The subunit was still Jeon, but even this time there were no Jeon coins struck.
• The first Won had no coins, only banknotes.
• The Hwan had three coins, 10, 50 and 100 Hwan. In my collection I have the 10 and the 50.
When the Second Won was introduced in 1962 the 10 and 50 Hwan coins were revalued and continued to circulate as 1 and 5 won, These were the only coins until 1966.
• In 1966 the second Won had its first coins was struck in the denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50 Won. In 1970 the first 100 Won coin was struck and in 1982 the 500 Won coin came. Today the 10, 50, 100, and 500 Won coins are circulating. The 1 and 5 Won coins are still struck but only for the year sets.
Banknotes:
• The first Won had only banknotes, and was in the denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 Jeon, and 1, 5, 10, 100, 500, 1000 Won.
• The Hwan had the banknotes in 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 Hwan. Out of these I just have the 10 Hwan, after my mom found it among my grandfathers stuff. He was a neutral UN soldier at the border in the 1950's.
• When The second won was ontroduced in 1962, the denominations were 10 and 50 Jeon, and 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 Won. In 1972 a 5,000 Won banknote was introduced, and in 1973 a 10,000 Won note was released. In 1975 the first 1,000 Won banknote was released, and in 2009 the 50,000 Won banknotes was printed.
The current series of the Won banknotes is like a family, since on the 5,000 Won note we find Yi I, and on the 50,000 Won note we find his mother, Shin Saimdang.
Of the second Won, I have the 10 and 50 Jeon as well as the 1 and 10 Won of the first series, the 500 Won of the fourth series, the 1,000 won of the fifth series, and the complete set of the seventh (current) series.
On December 11, 2017 the first 2,000 Won banknotes was issued to commemorate the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018. Of this I have an uncut sheet of two pieces.
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