I went to enter in a Canadian coin that I received in a swap and I was surprised to see that the Canadian catalogue on Numista, not including states, contains 1233 coins That's double the number that her near dear neighbour USA can boast, which has many times the population of Canada. That number of coins is going to make it hard to track down an individual coin.
Dear Canada......STOP MAKING COMMEMORATIVES!!!!!!!
Is there any country that has more (and don't say the German States because that's different)
But Canada's number is ridiculous because they only have a 150~ year mint history. Too many comms mean they don't take their coins seriously.
USA has over 240 year minting history; and Mexico almost 500, and we are already under them.
Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
Circulating commemorative coins are fine, although with the low mintage of some of the Eurozone "states" coins, makes it an impossible task for the cheapskate, or should I say frugal, collector.
What I find hard to understand, is the amount of non-circulating commemorative coins that get produced. I'm guessing they're only produced for investment purposes? Although stunning coins with beautiful quality finishes, I can see that aesthetically they're amazing, and possibly a great investment for the future, I have no numismatic interest in them.
For example this.
The Royal Birth 2015 £5 coin.
Apart from it being quite a dull design (in my opinion)
It's not a £5 coin, because it will never be in proper circulation, I will never get this design of coin in my change, it's just a coin with £5 stamped on it.
And for £13, I think overpriced for a base metal coin.
Even the Silver Proof has a crazy price tag of £80, how much over spot is that? I find it unlikely it's an 8oz coin!
I don't collect these kinds of coins, and I'm not putting down anyone who does, but are these two particular coins overpriced for what they are?
http://www.facebook.com/NumismaticsUK
I'm not an expert in any kind of coins, but I reckon I'm good at research and will do my best to help. Feel free to tell me my identifications/valuations/gradings are wrong. It's the only way I'll learn.
Cita: erdvillaBut Canada's number is ridiculous because they only have a 150~ year mint history. Too many comms mean they don't take their coins seriously.
USA has over 240 year minting history; and Mexico almost 500, and we are already under them.
Agreed, its rediculouse. Mexican coins are awesome because of their history. Canada coins are just a bunch of commoratives. I love the older us and canada coins but nothing after the 1960s. Except for the maple leaves. I am kinda in love with those....funny l dont have one.
Taking a break from swapping for a while, but still interested in pre 1799 Spanish coins, I will make time for that!
Yes, I noticed that myself. Canada has gone crazy with commemoratives and gimmick coins. The U.S. Mint, and many others, have done the same to some extent. I like commemoratives as long as they are released into circulation-such as the Canadian province 25 cent series or the U.S. state and ATB quarter series. Otherwise, it is just a business.
A lot of other smaller countries have jumped on bank wagon-such as Isle of Man, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Niue, and a bunch of others. They usually contract out to private or government mints in larger countries, such as U.S or Great Britain. They are just trying to make revenue. Some of these countries even try to attract American or British buyers by commemorating famous historical events or people. I guess you can't blame them because they don't have many economic options, but it is still just a racket.
As far as Maple Leafs, Pandas, American Eagles, and all the rest, I do buy them as bullion investments because they are coins as well.
I was meaning the amount of coins in the Numista catalogue, not the total number of coins produced otherwise it would likely be Austria. At the moment France has just over 900 coins in the catalogue.
Cita: frncsbrennanWell, on the most coins in the catalog. I would bet on China. China has more cash coins than most countries have in their whole catalog.
yes, but they are from different provinces. It is like counting canadian provinces coin for canada.
Cita: frncsbrennanYes, I noticed that myself. Canada has gone crazy with commemoratives and gimmick coins. The U.S. Mint, and many others, have done the same to some extent. I like commemoratives as long as they are released into circulation-such as the Canadian province 25 cent series or the U.S. state and ATB quarter series. Otherwise, it is just a business.
Yeah. The provincial quarters where an excellent idea; easy to get at -or close to- face value. But then they started minting a lot of semi-circulating ones; they are legal tender but not released as such. So instead of a 25¢ - 1$ range you end up in the 5-8$ range; which is an insult to your wallet.
Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
The absolute worst for pumping out commemoratives is the Cook Islands. They only started minting coins in 1972, they didn't hit KM#100 until 1988, then in the 27 years since then they have issued almost 2000 different coin types!! That's an average of 74 different coins every year!!!!!!
The money is too good to pass on. They sell a 1 oz silver commemorative proof for $100+. They even make money on their "$20 for $20" program because, even though it's "legal tender", businesses don't have to take it, so it's $20 for 1/4 oz silver worth less than $5.
Cita: BizzoDoesThe Royal Birth 2015 £5 coin.
And for £13, I think overpriced for a base metal coin.
Like all Brilliant Uncirculated coins, and don't forget crowns (£5 since 1990) are quite huge coins... What about £25 for each UK coin set (4th & 5th portrait), or €35 for a French euro coin set? It's the same... Just depending on every mint habs...
Administrateur du catalogue, référent de nombreuses nations antiques et de la Lorraine.
Catalogue administrator, numerous Antique nations and Lorraine referee.
Well, Hungary has now 1120 coins registered on Numista, and was leading the gang for a while.
These are fruits of 1150 years of history and commemoratives are healthily distributed in recent years, say 4-5 per year. another 1350 coins needs to be added to complete Hungarian coinage on Numista, and we are working on that.
There shall be around 2500 coins at the final countdown.
No German States, but that is a different game, as indicated above.
I miss the good old days.. Like hundreds of years before I was born my country and many others were pumping out some of the finest coins today. One of my favourites being the guinea's but even the early milled coins are extremely pleasing due to the oddness. SSC, roses in the angles, feathers in the angles, roses and feathers, Vigo & Lima below the busts. They all appeal to me so much. Especially Lima and Vigo since basically they are a bragging rights coin.
yes Canada makes alot of coins, even though I am Canadian i find that recently some of the coins are just ridiculous and the quality of some of the designs are to be questioned in my opinion but thats coming from a person who loves the 1900 european style coins like UK florins and German 5 marks, but on the flip side of that coin its great to find so many different coins in circulation on a regular basis.
Austria just produced KM# 3123, with a history of cataloged coins going back over 300 years- the fist KM# in Numista is #122, dated 1705 (maybe supposed to 1605?- or 1505?- the catalog looks sketchy here). I am not sure if they had individual states producing coins like Germany, but they have a very high coin count.
The Canadian coin market is ridiculous and I'm just waiting for it to crash. They have really managed to pollute every aspect of collecting and this year's hot rumour is that the Mint is going to release more than 365 coins in 2015. But really!
- If you like circulating commemoratives: the water is muddied by coins that have the exact specifications of circulating issues, but can only be found in sets and cost much more.
- If you like sets: you'd better save up, because you'll need the normal uncirculated set (which goes for $20!), the specimen set ($50), I think there's another specimen set ($50 or more again), the proof set ($60?), the silver proof set ($225!), and the various sets of mint-wrapped commemoratives (which are, mercifully, sold at face value). Oh, then there are the thematic gift sets, which cost about $20 each and come in multiple themes. And you'll need to buy all of these every year.
- If you like silver dollars: BU costs about $50 and proof costs about $60. Why not buy both?
- If you like getting non-circulating coins for face value: prepare to spend $80 on the four annual $20 coins, then you'll have to also pay for multiple $50, $100, and $200 coins. Oh, and only a few banks will accept them as money. Don't worry: you can always redeem them at one of three Mint boutiques in exchange for even more Canadian Mint products! (The nearest boutique to me is 1,160 kilometers away.)
- If you like investing, tough: the Mint's beautiful kilogram pieces of gold and silver never go for anywhere near melt value.
- If you like 1-ounce bullion coins: you'll want to get all the privy-marked 1-ounce Maple Leaves (which have a little mark in the corner of their design and are produced in tiny numbers). Then, you'll want all of the 1-ounce coins produced by the Mint with different designs, many of which are sold for more than twice their bullion value.
- If you're a completionist, you're screwed: someone found out that the total cost of just one year's Mint products is in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands. One year!
Some of them are very beautiful, but the majority are merely average: I go on driving trips, I have pictures, I'm sick of nature scenes. Also, the Mint often doesn't even follow through on finishing its sets.
The Royal Canadian Mint has two branches: Ottawa and Winnipeg. (The Ottawa branch is right next to the U.S. Embassy: guess which building has far greater security) Anyway, Winnipeg strikes the circulating coins, while Ottawa does the commemoratives. I'm inclined to say that the Ottawa branch should just be combined with the Bank of Canada Museum: the presses can go to Winnipeg or any deserving private mint.
As far as canada is concerned (and I suppose this also applies to Australia), It was quite hard to understand the difference between a circulation commemorative and a "special" mint coin because the dimensions are exactly the same and in Krause, it isn't well classified as such(ie the loonies & Twoonies).
In India, which area I also have a special interest, recent years have seen an increased churn out of commem issues. These last 12 months have seen some 12-13 coins, all destined for circulation as well. This is in contrast to on average 2 coins a year till about 2004. Politics plays heavily into this though as every party wants to have its day in the sun. The SPMCIL (the company in charge of minting coins) has recently been privatised and I believe its only a matter of time before they follow the canadian example in their quest for higher profits. They already started issuing uncommon denominations for the special mint sets (Rs25,75,125,150,1000)
That's double the number that her near dear neighbour USA can boast, which has many times the population of Canada. That number of coins is going to make it hard to track down an individual coin. 
