Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Il Papa

Do you have a Vatican coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

This week of the New Year has been dead for any finds so I'll sift through a small bag of coins I bought a while back that I wanted to post because they caught my eye. They were either odd or new to me or just in great shape. Again none are rare or unique but I like to share so for the slow times I'll post one of these.

Being one of the smallest countries in the world as well as the religious center of for a billion Roman Catholics most of their coins rarely makes it into change. Nearly every year brings a new design to Vatican City coins and the Pope is the supreme leader who approves every thing on this 0.17 sq. mi. (0.44 sq. km.) dot of land on Earth.

Each coin has two dates one the Roman date of the year of issue and the second is the year of rule of that particular Pope. In this coin pictured below you'll see:

MCMLXXXVII = 1987 A.D.
IX = The ninth year of rule by Pope John Paul II.

The reverse features The Annunciation which is when the angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her she's going to be a mom and God is the father. I'm sure he used more tact.

Of course these are older coins and now the Vatican City uses euros. They are actually up to a third euro design. Before 2002 it was all about lire and centesimi both are currently obsolete. Amounts of older coins in existence is hard to say because I've never seen any reliable mentions of mintage figures or recycling of old money so for that I'm stuck.

While the scanner is picking up every micron of dust and dirt this coin looks better in hand and has lots of luster so I'll say it's extra-fine grade.

Type/Country: 100 Lire / Vatican City
Year: 1987/IX
Mintage: Unbeknownst
Metal: Stainless Steel
Value: $3.50 in UNC

Do you have a foreign coin and want to know its value? Leave a comment/question and I will do my best to find out the price and history for you.

10 dollars worth, for Comments/Questions click here.:

James (UK) said...

I like the angels in that design... uncomplicated, if you see what I mean.

When you say "bought a bag of coins", where did you buy them from, out of interest? Thrift store / flea market, or a proper coin shop?

Man said...

From a catalog coin company, they stopped sending me catalogs and mailers so I haven't bought any since.

Also some are from eBay lots but again people have become wiser and now the eBay lots have been picked through. This is the reason I can't find anything in flea markets or coin shops.

Anonymous said...

Here's a question for you. I don't have a photo to show you, so you can't know the condition, but can you give me a rough idea how much a 1974 Roosevelt dime would be worth if it is only minted on one side (obviously the heads side)?

Thanks,
Steven

Man said...

1974 Roosevelt dime would be worth if it is only minted on one side (obviously the heads side)

Most of time this is a fake as this type of error is not truly possible but if it is some kind of cap or brockage it starts at about $25.00.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I have a coin/medal (I'm not sure which it is) that has 3 men on one side with some very scratchy writing on it that says VT VNVM SINT and on the other side it has a picture of a building and it says ANNO JUBILAEI ROME MCMLXXV. What is it and what is it worth?

Man said...

coin/medal (I'm not sure which it is) that has 3 men on one side with some very scratchy writing on it that says VT VNVM SINT and on the other side it has a picture of a building and it says ANNO JUBILAEI ROME MCMLXXV

This sounds like a medal non-silver it's about $10.00.

Anonymous said...

I wanted to id a token/coin for a person on treasurenet



http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/190340-coin-id-i-know-your-out-there.html


Thanks

Man said...

I wanted to id a token/coin for a person on treasurenet

Unfortunately expect for the Danish coin the others are unreadable.

I cannot say, one looks Roman but these are too worn to say.

Anonymous said...

Does the holed coin look Roman to you?

Man said...

Does the holed coin look Roman to you?

Not really, from what I see on the back it looks like a modern crest.

European 19th or 20th century but I see no marks or lettering so I can't be positive.