Familiarity breeds contempt

It is an old British saying that over familiarity breeds contempt. So it is true among coin collectors. If, like me, you acquire bulk lots of modern foreign coins then you will be familiar with finding hundreds if not thousands of French centimes and francs dating from the start to the end of the 20th century. So many that you are probably, like me, so familiar with them that you are now utterly contemptuous of them. Quickly log them in Numista, and then cast them into yet another ice cream box to lie with the other 2000 until you can find a scrap metal dealer to buy them.

So, if I tell you, that several of these coins are worth as much as a Lundy Puffin, or more than a British silver shilling, might you reassess your opinion of them?

Take the 10 franc coin, minted in 1954. Not the 1954 B, but the plain 1954 KM# 915.1with a mintage of 2,207,000. Doesn't look special. The mintage is not particularly low. But this coin sells for between £20 and £100 (thats $30 and $160 in US money). The same as a Lundy Puffin, and more than a silver shilling.

And yes, I have found two of these in boxes of "worthless foreign coins" sold to me at the wholesale price of the equivalent of 4p (6c US) per coin.

Less impressive is the 1931 2 franc coin, KM# 886 with a mintage of 1,717,167 but still worth about £4 ($6) and the 1945 B 2 franc coin with a mintage of 1,726,144 or 1945 C 2 franc coin with a mintage of 1,164,705 borth of these are worth upwards of £3 and again can be found in boxes of worthless foreign coins.

Oh and watch out for the 1950B 20 franc G. Guiraud km# 917.2 three feather variety. You have to look carefully to see the feathers on the wing are different to the common four feather variety, but it's worth about £15 in just a fine condition and as much as £30 in extra fine condition (these are conservative estimates, eBay prices are typically double those in Krause).

So, before you cast that common French franc into the junk box, check it carefully with Krause. Some of them are worth a lot of money and most dealers are unaware of them, just sorting out the silver blissfully unaware of the treasures they are leaving behind.

Matt

Hey Matt,
I've had the same experience this summer : bought 28 kilos of coins for a nice price    and I' m still sorting them (there's only 24 hours in a day   )
I already found several coins in it worth 10 to 35 euros each (current market value) ! I find these lots more interesting to buy, rather then buying on ebay (or other sites) where prices are more elevated.

Well, I think you are obsessed with Lundy Puffins!  

You are right of course. I myself usually check every new coin I get in the big books and have found some rarities in bulk coins too. On the other hand I've bought coins for a pound on ebay that are listed $20+ in the big book. I often wonder what the obsession is with silver coins...GOLD yes..but silver..pff. 2000 5,10,20 scrap centime coins is probably worth more than say 15 scrap silver coins!

So, check the Centimes and Francs for rarities..yep!

You never know when you will stumble upon a metal type error, too.  Within the last year, I've found two such coins from the Caribbean.  Krause doesn't know about them.

Consider the very common Italian 10 Lira coin. We find dozens of them in bulk lots here in the UK, they are made of aluminium and are so common you probably think they are worthless. And most are. But not all!

Those minted prior to 1967 are worth keeping (they are listed as being valued at about $0.50 in VF grade). Indeed the 1965 issue is listed as having a value of $10 in VF condition, and $20 in XF. Not a fortune, but contrasted to other common coins....

Matt

Quote: Matt ProbertSo, before you cast that common French franc into the junk box, check it carefully with Krause. Some of them are worth a lot of money and most dealers are unaware of them, just sorting out the silver blissfully unaware of the treasures they are leaving behind.

Matt

 So where do dealers get bulk coins that still have silver in them?  that's what I would like to know.

I have 45 pounds of extra coins but don't know how to move them, I hope they are worth more than scrap, but if every collector decided to melt down one type of coin, then it would become valuable. We could just find a way to get about 4 million new people into coin collecting, then there would not be enough coins to go around.

Quote: redsmithstudiosSo where do dealers get bulk coins that still have silver in them?  that's what I would like to know.

Here in the UK they get them from house clearances when some one dies. House clearers here are sharks at best. When my grandfather died, he posessed a LOT of Queen Victoria diamond jubilee coins. He never explicitly left them to anyone (I was the only collector in the family and we used to look at them and chat about them when I was very small), no one inherited them, and they disappeared during the house clearance. At my local car boot and flea market I encounter house clearers shifting boxes of stuff, sometimes they have missed silver coins (or Lundy Puffins), but not often!

Auctions are another place. Some people place their dead relatives boxes of old coins into general auctions, and the dealers sniff them out.

Quite why I don't know. Many silver coins are worth less than scarce bronze or copper coins, but I guess they are just scrap metal dealers looking for a quick buck.

Matt

Quote: redsmithstudiosSo where do dealers get bulk coins that still have silver in them?  that's what I would like to know.

Have you tried a coin show?

Coin shows are a wonderful place. I bought about 5 pounds for $12 a couple weeks ago, and found 3 silver coins in the mix.

Quote: ctuckerCoin shows are a wonderful place. I bought about 5 pounds for $12 a couple weeks ago, and found 3 silver coins in the mix.

Good price. I pay £10 per kilo (£5 per kilo if I'm lucky) wholesale (or rather I have done in the past), and there are NO silver or gold coins in the mix, the dealers having stripped them all out.

Matt

I look for the one who has the biggest bucket of foreign coins but only has US coins set out individually for sell . I usually find silver coins that are written in arabic (dates are harder to id), or coins that are nickle silver and the like. Nothing to make me jump up and down, but it's fun.

I generally get a better deal by waiting till mid-afternoon of the last day of the show.

These days it's hard to find bulk coins at reasonable prices. But when you want to sell, no-one is offering....  
I still have about 40 kilos for sale, unsorted, but shipping cost is high !