Coin Collecting Club

In today’s world there are many important coins that collectors love to get their hands on. One of the most popular types of coins is the British gold sovereign. These are coins that came into existence about 500 years ago and continue to be produced today. It’s the British Gold Sovereign Coins’ beauty and their interesting history that fascinates people.
British gold sovereign coins were first minted in 1489 to honor King Henry VII. When these coins were first produced they were 96% gold, which means they were 23 carats. However, Henry the VIII reduced the gold content to 92% or 22 carats. That’s what’s considered the gold standard (crown gold) today in both the United States and in England.

The actual weight of the British gold sovereign continued to be lowered more and more until it was locked in at just under a quarter of a Troy ounce (0.2354) in 1816. This remains to be the weight of a British gold sovereign coin today.

The British gold sovereign coin continues to be made today but it was discontinued for many years at a couple points in history. From 1604 to 1817 other coins were made in place of the British gold sovereign coins. The coins that were produced instead included guineas, Laurels, and Unites. Also, British gold sovereigns weren’t produced between the years of 1933-1956.

Though British gold sovereign coins have been minted over a billion times through out the last few centuries that number is actually misleading. This is because during Victorian Times the Bank of England would remove half sovereigns and worn sovereigns from circulation. They would then take these coins and make them into new coins. This means that there are far less British gold sovereigns in existence.

Also, these coins were often used by Britain to pay debts to other countries. Then when the other country received the sovereigns they would melt the coin down for the gold. So this also produced a result of far fewer coins existing.

What this means is that there are not very many British gold sovereigns for collectors. In fact, it’s estimated that only about 1% of coins that were produced are still in mint condition. The scarcity of the coins, along with their rich history, makes sovereign coins very valuable to many collectors.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the sovereigns’ history is the use of the coins as “emergency money”. During World War II fighter pilots - both British and American - carried British gold sovereign coins in case they were downed during battle. This piece of military history makes these sovereigns particularly valuable to some collectors.

Napoleonic period (1803 – 1810). Resolving the problem of paper money

Article of Raymond d’Unienville (article extrement technique et complique)

Paper money (debts) introduced.
The problem of circulation of money was a regular problem in the Mascarene isles F.I.E.C only accepted money which was recognized. In Ile De France the Piastre was used only for paying the employees of the company. They were rarely given their wages or late due to lack of coins in circulation.

At the beginning of colonization it was accepted because the colonists were debtors (debiteurs) to the company and the company gave them everything and they paid ‘in espece’ and it was a barter system. When the colonists were free from their debts they wanted to be paid in money instead of livelihood. They could satisfy them only partially.

The excess of products were sold in cash and that is the source of the probability. Isle De France was to be a port of call so the Company sent no gold or silver money but copper money, BILLON was a mixture of copper and Silver of low value refused by colonists.

If the colonists had to accept they were annoyed. The company had fixed the Piastre of Spain which had the value of 102 soldes but in Isle De France its value was lower imposed by the Company, 60 soldes. The colonist were exploited.

The colonists understood that the coffee bought in isle de France for 20 pound for 50 KG of Coffee but the company sold this same coffee between 70 pounds to 80 pounds. The company realized benefits of 250% to 300%. So the colonists were not interested to sell their product. The colonists wanted cash money which had value.

This money was 1/3 of the value in France. The money disappeared systematically. The commerce interlop (black market – clandestine par rapport a l’exclusif). The company had tried to introduced in the islands, isle Bourbon and isle de France a money made of copper which was marked at Pondicherry. Piastre of one or two soldes with the courrones de Marquis and nine Lys leaves.

Having to face the absolute refusal of the colonists to use this money in America. This new copper coins were brought to Mauritius. But even this money was not accepted as its predecessor though it had a certain value.

The governor Lenoir chief of the Compteurs des noirs, would on his own introduce in Bourbon island the Pagode D’or and Fanons d’Argent made in Pondichedrry. With their initiative of Pierre Lenoir the company found itself in front of an accomplished act. It sent regularly these coins in the Mascarene : the probability would not be regulated easily. Those islands of Bourbon and Ile De France would find themselves without a single coin. Each time a new coin was issued all of them would be taken.

Each time people would come to the island to buy their products and return to France. When Mahe De Labourdonnais came he found the island without any money. There cannot be money in this isle – the greatest amount of money went to “particulier commerce”’ “Amassing” was not a real solution for them.

In March 1738 the Consul Superieur De Bourbon reassured colonists. He established a great circulation. The copper money was made for the colonists in France especially for Ile De France. The coins would have the value of 6 to 12 Denier. The monetary circulation problem was complete. The company did not know what to do, there was insufficient money and the ‘creancier’ received Spain Piastre, lots of copper money. The company had to pay in cash and copper was given preference over silver, and the situation started to get improve this ………. Of lack of money. Those who trade with outside with European ships would diminish in Ile De France and the ‘interloppe’ (black market). To facilitate the commerce Labourdonnais would have an original and ‘audacieux’ idea. He would put paper money of equivalent value in circulation. These money would be valued by “café et vivre’ and ‘volaille’.

The barter system, the people would keep these notes. The islands were the granaries of the Compagnies des Indes. The mission of France was accomplished. February 03, 1737, the consul would incite ‘a la volaille’, ‘tout habitant…………’ The ‘Piece D’inde’ – 600 pieces for a female Negro and 300 for a young female Negro.

Labourdonnais would give their notes to captains of ships which had food and bring “pieces d’inde’. These notes did not have real value “6 Volaille per note” a crafty way of pursuing the barter system – Labourdonnais will introduce a ‘vente a l’encan’ Cossigny also became Governor.

Co-existence:

1- paper money.

2- Coppermoney

3- Pagode D’or and Fanon D’argent.

There is no rules of which money is worth what - Big speculation. Three years later the directors are going to stop their expansion but they were still important because of lack of money: They had to encourage the continuation of circulation of the paper money through trade with the Company.

In 1740 – 1741: there were more paper money. 1744 – a solution – The St Gerant sank with 54,000 piastre from Spain on board. The lack of this sum of money was more badly felt. In l’ile Bourbon made paper notes from ‘parchemin’ and from that time it became of the culture of the island to use paper money. Piastre would get more value 3 pound at the beginning of 1760, 11 pounds in 1764 at the end of the 7 years war and 33 pounds 2 soldes and 5 denier. The conditions were ideal for the speculators to do whatever they wanted with the increase in; price of the goods, the piastre and the paper money. It was a vicious circle. They could buy the paper money and the goods and the propriety at a lower price and sell at a very high place. These people would make great profits. People would hire from money lenders who impose great interests, the colony ‘ ne fit plus qu’un gros corps enfle d’endettement et d’interet’

With the emission of the ‘Parchemin’ at Bourbon isle in Piastre the shipwreck of the St Gerant and the billet de caisse. Notes for 30,000 piastre which the company should return with the arrival of a ship. When ile De France will be under the Royal administration the commissaire liquidataire there would be greater general consternation on the inhabitants. Particular trade was interdicted from 1764 . the inhabitants had to be paid in notes when the denree were paid in shops. P. Miller with those who were indebted to the company at very high rate. Each time there was a lack in liquid more and more coins.

In 1785 the administrators scattered among the population 57,600 Fanons from Pondicherry and they thought that these coins would in the company was equivalent to 1/16 of a piastre. There was use and abuse of the paper money .

In 1781 – try to stop emission. Suppress paper money. In 1785 there was a great financial crisis. The paper were replace by receipts which will be paid by the treasury ‘recepisse’ of the Marine in Paris. They are going to send piastre in the island – lots of people thought they were rich but were not really all those paper money were absorbent. Disproportionate inflation was not able to create a stable economy because of speculation so as to enrich rapidly. After the revolution the problem increased and was very ‘tenaces’ in the islands.

So you’ve got a bunch of old dirty pennies. Few things seem to age as poorly as pennies, and it’s amazing that they can stay as dirty as they get in circulation. So, you may decide you would like to try cleaning your pennies.

First things first. Make sure that your pennies are not valuable or collectibles. Get a copy of a coin guide, or take them to a collector or coin dealer. If you’ve got some valuable coins, the last thing you want to do is clean them. This will destroy their value, and you would be left holding just pennies.

After you’ve determined that the coins are not worth more than the face value, then determine if you have copper coins. Basically anything minted since 1982 is actually 97.5% zinc, with the remaining 2.5% being copper. If you have zinc pennies, you need to stay away from any cleaning technique that uses acid, and the zinc is generally more affected by those than the copper pennies. The zinc is used in coins these days since the value of the copper in a penny started to surpass the one cent mark.

Once you’ve decided that it’s alright to clean your pennies, you’re faced with the choice of cleaning methods. If you look around the web, there is a surprisingly large number of ways that folks suggest to clean copper coins.

For example, one suggestion is to use a pencil eraser, and simply rub them with the eraser until they are clean. This sounds like a lot of work, and the abrasive in the eraser probably is not the best thing for the penny.

Similarly, there is a suggestion that a Dremel tool with a wire brush attachment, coupled with the use of Brasso can be effective. Once again, this sounds like it will be pretty hard on the coin.

First, the best thing is to step back and make sure you want to do anything at all. Some of those old coins can be fairly valuable, and cleaning them will devalue them as much as 90&. They like keeping that old patina in place. So take the time to look at them enough to identify them, and then use a coin guide or take them to a coin dealer to make sure that you don’t have the family heirlooms in the bag.

There are at least a half a dozen ways to go about cleaning a penny. And obviously some are going to be easier on you and the coin than others

In the nineteenth century, coin bags came around to replace the wooden kegs that were used for coin storage. Maybe they came about because they were easier to haul around than a wooden keg, but to this day, they are still in use in some places.

Coin cloth bags should be used for storing coins that are easily obtainable or coins that are still in circulation. Many banks I have noticed use these bags to store coins and to haul them around.

This is an okay mode of storage for coins that are not overly unique and coins that you can easily get if you need to replace them. When you store your coins in these bags, you need to be well aware that coins sitting in a bag like will decrease in value because of the scuffing and abrasions that will occur when they rub against each other. With time your coins end up being scratched and worn down, and most times this completely takes away their value, no matter how little.

Coin cloth bags also have another side effect. Sometimes the dye used in the fabric might react with the coin, and you find there is staining that leaves marks on the coin or discolors it altogether. This is known as bag toning.

In short, what I am saying is this. No matter how attractive the idea to store your coins in these bags, you should resist the urge. Invest in proper storage for the coins you paid good money to acquire. Save your coin cloth bags for coins you really wouldn’t mind losing, if any.

The hobby of coin collecting is a fun and anyone having some time can do it. The most easy way to learn about the history of the coin is to start collecting them.

Between the period of 1838-1933 the United States of America used to issue the gold coins. Can you believe it? Yes its true. The design for the coin until 1907 was that of the Liberty head bust. The design was later changed to the Saint Gaudens Motif and Indian Head up till 1933,when the great Depression has started. This great Depression led the coins to be recalled which is very rare to find now-a-days.

1933 Double Eagle can be considered as the most important and valuable coin in the world. This coin was a 20 dollar coin of gold. It was made as early as 1800’s after the gold rush in California. This coin was debarred from being used in the 1930’s and when the same coin was put into auction in 2002 it fetched a whooping sum of 8 million dollars.

The gold coins are very rare and therefore the coin collectors prefer other coins to collect.

The unique collection of coin you can consider is that of the coins which were not minted correctly at the time of minting. The coins having flaws will also be very valuable. The coins with a wrong date, misspelled word,double-punched marks, off-center characteristics, are very precious. These mistakes can increase the worth of the coin by nearly 50 dollars to a good 1000 dollars.

The coins which were in circulation for a very short duration of time can also be worth collecting.

If the coin collection is focused on a particular type of coin then it is the best. The choice can be from dimes,dollars,nickles or pennies.

The other of focusing on coin collection is to consider the period during which the coins were made or circulated. Coins having different mint marks and if you have the collection of coins that were struck on the same area can also be very exciting. The most important thing is to complete the collection of your coins. If you are able to do so then its fantastic.

The subscription to a coin publication like that of Coinage Magazine or Coin World can be a good idea to start with. These can give you a lot of relevant information about the coins. The other source of information can be internet or for that matter the local coin shop can also be of great help to expand your search.

To have a substantial collection of coins you will have to be patient and it may take months or even many years. After all there is so much abundance of coins in USA. By deciding on the coin(s) you want to collect, the challenge to complete that collection begins.