1912 Silver Rouble

1912 silver rouble, XF+ with traces of lustre, very attractive coin!

1803 Kopecks Copper

1803 5 kopecks copper. Scarcer type of Alexander I.

1750 Elizabeth Silver Rouble MMD

1750 Elizabeth silver rouble MMD, F+/aVF condition with planchet damage to the right of the portrait.

1911 Penny Coin

10 pennia 1911 XF, KM 14 even rich original chocolate color, rim nick obverse

1905 Penny Coin

10 pennia 1905 XF, KM 14 even lustrous chocolate brown color, light 'bag' marks

1874 Penny Coin

Penni 1874 XF KM 1.2 scarce year!

1732 Anna Silver Ruble

1732 Anna silver ruble, an attractive F+/aVF

1728 Peter II Silver Ruble

1728 Peter II silver ruble, obverse is Fine, the portriat is quite worn, the reverse is aVF

Great Copper Kopeck 1712 MD

Yasin 7

Look at photos carefully for details. Picture tells a thousand words

Yasin 9

Look at photos carefully for details. Picture tells a thousand words

Rm1 (1959 ~ 1969)

Siam Coins

Siam Coin

Look at the picture

1980 - 50sen Brunei Coins

Brunei became a British Protectorate in 1888, but regained independence in 1984. The same family has ruled Brunei for six centuries, the current ruler is both Sultan and Head of Government, Sir Hassanal Bolkiah. The Ten Dollar coin shown was issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Brunei Currency Board.

Yasin 7

Look at photos carefully for details. Picture tells a thousand words

One Cent

When I was a kid all the pennies had wheat on the back. Some were made of steel. Lifesavers, gum and candybars were a nickel; and cigarettes were a quarter. Each make of car had more than one model, but they were all the same except for the trim! Did I say life was simpler back then? Well, maybe.

Mercury

The rest of the coins in my pocket were a curious mix. There were two kinds of each. There were dimes with Roosevelt on them, like the present ones, but they were solid silver. There were also the older, Winged Victory dimes known as "Mercury" dimes.

Jefferson Nickels

In addition to the Jefferson nickels we have now, there were nickels with an indian on one side and a buffalo on the other. A nice big candybar was still a nickel, but a bottle of Coke was already a dime. Funny how marketing works!

Standing Liberty (Quarter Coin)

Yes, George Washington was on the quarter, but there were also the "Standing Liberty" type, with a different eagle on the back. These were pretty coins when they were new, but they were silver, and they wore out fast.

Miss Liberty

The older half dollars were another beautiful classic coin. They also had a standing Liberty on them. This was the last U.S coin that featured "Miss Liberty" instead of the likeness of an actual person.

Benjamin Franklin, and the Liberty Bell

But surprise! The newer half dollars didn't yet have Kennedy on them. They had Benjamin Franklin, and the Liberty Bell! The half dollar was used much more commonly than it is used today.

Silver dollars (Clad Coin)

Silver dollars weren't widely circulated, but if you went to the bank and asked for some, you weren't surprised if some of the dates were in the 1800's! These disappeared in the mid '60's along with all of the other silver coins when the "clad" coins came out.

The Indian Head 1860 to 1909

Back when my parents were kids, if they saw any coins at all, they looked like these. The Indian Head pennies were made from 1860 to 1909. Before that, there were Flying Eagle pennies.

Shield Nickels 1866 to 1883

This was the "Shield Nickel", only in use from 1866 to 1883. Before that, there were silver half-dimes.

Liberty Nickels 1883 to 1912

These were called "Liberty Nickels". They were in use from 1883 to 1912.

Liberty Seated Dime

The early dimes, quarters and halfs are known as the "Liberty Seated" type. The "Liberty Seated Dime" was minted from 1837 to 1891.

IN GOD WE TRUST

The newer type silver dollar was called the "Peace" type. These were not made in great numbers. By the 1920's the silver dollar was already becoming less popular due to the increasing use of paper money. Notice the Roman alphabet used in "IN GOD WE TRUST".

Liberty Seated Quarter and Half

These dimes, quarters and halfs were designed by the same man, Charles E. Barber, and are known as "Barber type". These dimes were thin to begin with, and got VERY thin as they wore out. This dime was minted from 1892 to 1916.

Liberty Seated Quarter

The Barber quarter was very similar to the dime. It was made from 1892 to 1916, preceeded by a "Liberty Seated Quarter", which looked like the dime, 1838 to 1891.

Nickel and NEITHER coin

There was a time when you could get change for a nickel and NEITHER coin would be a penny! The copper two-cent piece was only minted from 1864 to 1873. I wonder what they called it besides "the two-cent piece"?

Nickel Three-cent Piece

The other coin in your change for a nickel was a nickel three-cent piece! It was made from 1865 to 1889 and was smaller and thinner than a 5 cent nickel; just about the size of a dime. The confusion it caused must have hurried its demise. The mint makes this same mistake once every other generation or so.

Little U.S

The most curious little U.S. coin was the little silver three-cent piece! (1851 to 1873) I can't imagine what possessed the people at the mint when they came up with THIS one. Remind me to read up on it and report back to you later!

Poland Coin

You didn't expect my coin collection to be complete without some coins from Poland, did you? I know, this is supposed to be about OLD coins. In a country where inflation is as bad as it is in.

Penny Coin 1793 ~ 1857

This is the size our "penny" was from when it was first minted in 1793 until 1857. We call it the "Large cent", although I don't imagine they called it that back then. Large, as opposed to what? Hmm, I wonder how the Romans dated their coins in the years "B.C."?

Aluminum Coin

The coins above are older than the brass ones, and are made of aluminum. Groszy (GRO shy) means "peas". There were 100 groszy in a zloty. It was an impossibly small unit of money even when these coins were new! If you bought a book of matches with a zloty, you got some groszy as change. The larger 10 zlotych and 20 zlotych coins were made of a more durable alloy, like our nickels.

Front L.E.U

It came from Communist Romania in 1966!

Back L.E.U

Wouldn't you know I'd find a coin with a tractor on it?! It is a one leu piece, about the size of our quarter.

Back On Eagle

You didn't expect my coin collection to be complete without some coins from Poland, did you? I know, this is supposed to be about OLD coins. In a country where inflation is as bad as it is in Poland, every generation or so they lop off a few zeros from the ends of all their denominations and start all over again. This renders all of the previous coins pretty much useless, so they get thrown away. The 1960's and 1970's are the oldest I could find. Aren't these eagles beautiful!
The monetary unit is the Zloty. There should be a line through the l to make it sound like a w. (see it on the last 3 aluminum coins?) The o is pronounced like our o in "for", the y like our y in "rhythm". So the word is "ZWO ty". It is the adjective form of the word "gold" (the first coins pictured are made of brass) So, one zloty is "one golden". The plurals get complicated: 2, 3, or 4 are zlote, "ZWO te". And 5 or more are zlotych, "ZWO tyck" (the ck is like the ch in "loch")

Front On Eagle

Now! I want you to notice something. A lot has changed in the past twenty years. Sure, inflation has eroded the value of the old zloty, and now it has been revalued. But notice the crown is BACK on the eagle, just like it was in the old days. Look further! The very NAME of the country has changed. In the communist days it was "Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa" (Polish Republic of the People). Now, it's "Rzeczpospolita Polska" (Republic of Poland). The paper money used to have pictures of politicians on it; now it features the ancient line of KINGS!!
Dzieki Bogu!!!

Groszy Coin

These are all mixed up, I'll sort them later. The smaller groszy coins, 1, 2, and 5, are brass. The 10, 20, and 50 groszy and the 1 zloty are nickel alloy. The 2 zlote and 5 zlotych are bi-metal. Abe is there to show you the relative size.

Penny Coin

This is a handful of the present day coins from Poland. The U.S. penny is there for size comparison. These coins are worth much more than the old ones on the previous page. The groszy is now more like our penny than CHANGE for a penny!!

Zloty Coin

The present rate of exchange is about 4.33 zlote for a dollar. There are 100 groszy in a zloty. The largest denomination of coin is 5 zlotych. Everything from 10 zlotych on up is paper money.

In the late 1970's the "de facto" exchange rate was 100 to 120 zlotych for a dollar. It got MUCH worse in the years that followed, until the present currency was adopted.