Friday, October 28, 2011

East Caribbean States - 5 cents 2010

New circulating type:

Letters are of different style than in previous years, as clearly seen in "QU" of word "QUEEN", and in the year. The numeral (marked in yellow) is quite different also. Finally, 2010 type is a bit thinner.



Numeral "5" in detail:



All these probably is because of a different mint making the 2010 pieces. Further details and information will be very welcome :-)

(information and scan by Ante Jeroncic)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Ethiopia EE2000 type varieties

New circulating varieties:

A series of Ethiopian circulation coins is available with year EE2000 (2007/2008). These coins were minted by the Royal Canadian Mint. The 5 and 10 cents were previously minted by the British Royal Mint (with years EE1996 and EE1998).
In these EE2000 types the lion's head is smaller, so, because of it, and because of the different mint, they should be considered new subtypes.



Understanding the Ethiopian date EE2000 in these latest coins:



(images by Gijs Vlothuizen)
(information by Gijs Vlothuizen and Wolfgang Schuster)

LINK: Ethiopia date translator

Ukraine 2 hryvnia 2011 - 20 years of the CIS

New commemorative:

"20 years of the Commonwealth of Independent States"



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNiZn
Weight: 12.80 g
Diameter: 31.00 mm
Mintage: 30 000


(information by Gijs Vlothuizen)

LINK: National Bank of Ukraine

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Rwanda 20 francs 2009 - New inscription

New circulating type:

While in 2003 item (KM25) the text was "BANKI NASIYONALI Y'U RWANDA", this 2009 item bears the text "BANKI NKURU Y'U RWANDA".



(image from eBay seller liolikas99)

Australia 1 dollar 2011 - Presidents Cup

New commemorative:

"The Presidents Cup"



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Al-Bronze
Weight: 9.00 g
Diameter: 25.00 mm
Mintage: Unlimited


LINK: Royal Australian Mint

Australia 50 cents 2011 - Triple Zero Emergency Call Service

New commemorative:

"50th Anniversary of the Triple Zero Emergency Call Service"



(news from Egon Conti)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: CuNi
Weight: 15.55 g
Diameter: 31.51 mm
Mintage: Unlimited
Designer: W. Pietranik


LINK: Royal Australian Mint

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Canada 2 dollars 2011 - Boreal forest

New bimetallic commemorative:



(news and image by Pabitra Saha)

LINK: Royal Canadian Mint

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Portland Coins "Coin collecting kit"

This is an off-topic to talk about a great product I've just tested, from my good friend Tyler, of Portland Coins.

If you're looking for an easy way to get yourself or someone you know started with collecting world coins, you should check out the coin collecting kits made by Portland Coins. They are designed for people just beginning to get into the hobby.

Tyler sent me a kit to take a look at, the one on the image below. Each kit includes a large 3-ring binder labeled specially for coin collectors, a bunch of flips to protect coins, some pocket pages to store coins in the binder, and a magnifying glass for better viewing of coins. Because new collectors may not be familiar with how to use flips, there is a step-by-step instruction sheet for how to properly secure a coin in a flip. And because it isn't always easy to tell what country a coin is from, it includes several pages of common world coin words and pictures to help identify coins. It even comes with a pack of 30 different world coins so that you have something to put in the collection right away.

The Portland Coins Web site has even more coin identification words and pictures to help collectors, and sells additional flips, pages, and packs of coins to add to a collection.

I think these kits would be a great way to introduce someone to world coin collecting. They seem especially kid-friendly because of the instructions and coin-identification help that come right inside the binder. World coin collecting is an easy, inexpensive, and exciting hobby, and with one of these kits it's dead simple to give it a try.



LINK: The Coin collecting kit

Kazakhstan 50 tenge 2011 - Aitys

New commemorative:

"Customs and national games of Kazakhstan: Aitys"



(news by Gijs Vlothuizen)

SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 11.37 g
Diameter: 31.00 mm
Thickness: 2.00 mm
Edge: grooved with 10 sectors of corrugation
Mintage: 50 000


LINK: National Bank of Kazakhstan

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Canada 50 cents 2011 - Winnipeg Jets

New commemorative:

This unique coin depicts the New Winnipeg Jets team to join the NHL.



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: nickel-plated steel
Diameter: 27.13 mm
Weight: 6.90 g
Edge: serrated
Artists: William Woodruff (reverse), Suzanna Blunt (obverse)


LINK: Royal Canadian Mint

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Canada 1 dollar 2011 - Parks Canada Centennial

New commemorative:

"Parks Canada's 100th anniversary"



(news by Pabitra Saha)

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Nickel electroplated with bronze
Diameter: 26.50 mm
Weight: 7.00 g
Mintage: unlimited
Artists: Nolin BBDO Montreal (reverse), Suzanna Blunt (obverse)


LINK: Royal Canadian Mint

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Finland 5 euro 2011 - Lapland

New bimetallic commemorative:

"Historical provinces: Lapland"



SPECIFICATIONS
Core composition: CuNi
Ring composition: Nordic Gold
Diameter: 27.25 mm
Weight: 9.80 g
Designer: Nora Tapper
Mintage: 100,000 (plus 20,000 proof)
Issue date: 2nov2011


Link: Mint of Finland
Link: Lapland in Wikipedia

Coins of this collection released or planned so far:

2010 - Finland Proper
2010 - Satakunta
2011 - Tavastia
2011 - Savonia
2011 - Uusimaa
2011 - Karelia
2011 - Ostrobothnia
2011 - Lapland

Monday, October 17, 2011

East Caribbean States 2 dollars 2011

New circulating commemorative:

The coin is being issued as part of activities to celebrate 10 years of Financial Information Month.



(news by Pabitra Saha and Adam Mrzyglod)

Friday, October 14, 2011

Isle of Man 50 pence 2011 - Christmas

New commemorative:



(information and image by Andrew)

Poland 2 zlotys 2011 - Care of the Blind

New circulating commemorative:

"100th Anniversary of the Society for the Care of the Blind"



LINK: National Bank of Poland
LINK: Polish State Mint

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Nordic gold, CuAl5Zn5Sn1
Weight: 8.15 g
Diameter: 27.00 mm
Mintage: 800 000

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Burundi 10 francs 2011 - New type

New circulating type:

This is the new 10 Francs coin issued in September 2011:



(image from eBay seller liolikas99)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Djibouti 500 francs 2010

The 500 francs KM#27 was last minted with year 1999 (mainly for sets, as happened with 1997 issue, although some spare pieces were released for circulation as well). Circulation issues in big quantities were minted only with dates 1989 and 1991. In those 4 issues the mint marks were placed on both sides of "UNITÉ" word. In 2010 issue the mint marks have been moved to both sides of year "2010", as for the other denominations.

Although Krause catalogue number is expected to be the same, for Mint Mark collectors it can be a new attractive issue :-)



(information and scan by Gijs Vlothuizen)

Monday, October 10, 2011

East Caribbean States - 1 cent 2011

New circulating type:

Letters are slightly smaller than in previous years. But the most evident difference is the shorter "1" in the 2011 issue:



(information and scan by Ante Jeroncic)

Friday, October 07, 2011

Burundi 50 francs 2011 - New denomination

New circulating type:

This is a new 50 Francs coin issued in September 2011, replacing the 50 francs banknote.



(information by Wolfgang Schuster)
(image from eBay seller tribalfigures)

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Czech Republic 200 koruna 2011 - JirĂ­ Melantrich of Aventino

New silver commemorative:

"500th anniversary of the birth of JirĂ­ Melantrich of Aventino"



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Silver 925/1000
Weight: 13.00 g
Diameter: 31.00 mm
Edge: reeded
Artist: Jan Smrz


(information and image by Gijs Vlothuizen)

LINK: Czech Mint

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Lithuania 50 litas 2011 - Vilnius Upper Castle

New commemorative:

"Historical and Architectural Monuments of Lithuania: Vilnius Upper Castle"



The Upper Castle:



(information by Ovidijus Giniotas)

LINK: Bank of Lithuania
LINK: Upper Castle in Wikipedia

SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: Silver Ag 925
Quality: proof
Diameter: 38.61 mm
Weight: 28.28 g
Mintage: 5,000
Artist: Rytas Jonas Balevicius

Monday, October 03, 2011

Kazakhstan 2011 Hawk Owl varieties

The first 10 percent of the coins were made with a polished die, and the
remaining 90 with a matte die. The polished die (the coin is the one on the left) was considered as an error but these coins have gone mixed in circulation.



(image from Johann Siemens)
(info from Gijs Vlothuizen)

Russia 10 roubles 2011 - Elets

New circulating commemorative:

"Cities of Military Glory: Elets"



SPECIFICATIONS
Composition: brass plated steel
Weight: 5.63 g
Diameter: 22.00 mm
Thickness: 2.20 mm
Edge: reeded and plain sections


(information by Antony)

LINK: Bank of Russia