1964 Indonesia 10 Sen

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Taking a quick break from U.S. notes to talk about my oldest foreign note. I got this from a Cheerios box back in the 1980s when they had a special in box promotion.Cheerios has been doing this for year in the 1950s they had replica confederate money and the most famous is the Sacagewea coins from the 2000s.

BANK INDONESIA 10 SEPULUH SEN 10 1964

If I recall correctly they had 5 or 6 different notes you could collect from around the world. Of course all were worth less than a penny, yet they were uncirculated. For year I kept this one in perfect condition but one day when I was very young I found out it was the least valuable of all the cereal box money so I decided to fold it up and keep it in my wallet.

Those were the years I stopped collecting. After the state quarters came out I decided to revisit the bill and saw it is still worth little in uncirculated ($0.50) or circulated ($0.10). Still it is a neat tiny note from a time that something so small could fascinate a young collector.

Here's the stats for this bill...
Type/Country: 10 Sen / Indonesia
Year: 1964
Printings: Unknown
Printed: Unknown
Run: Unknown 
Value:  $0.05 in Fine

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1971 Indonesia 50 Rupiah

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The second and last of my Indonesian coins from the vaults. Except for national tragedies or the banning of Lady Gaga there is little news from Indonesia around this area. I think I got this one from a relative who use to work for the airlines back in the 1970s. From what I recall he said that these countries were very groovy and free, that has changed since his last visit.

The bird on the coin is the Greater Bird of Paradise one of the most beautiful birds in the world.

This coin was the first in the 50 Rupiah series and over one billion were made. So many were made that they waited until 1991 before they made the second 50 Rupiah. It is rare that small countries produce coins into the billions but when they do it satisfies them for decades.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 50 Rupiah / Indonesia
Year: 1971
Mintage: 1,035,435,000
Metal: Copper-Nickel
Value: $0.25 in VF

Do you have any Indonesian coins 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.

Lightweight Alternative

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When the economy gets tough the coins get lighter. Sure you can do the old standard of making the coins smaller but that is a temporary solution at best. Nope you must do something drastic like change the metal composition or in some extremes abandon metal all together. Not having any legal plastic money from any country in my collection I have the second lightest thing.

Aluminum: Some nice and nerdy facts...

• Aluminum is the most abundant metal on Earth
• Aluminum is the 3rd most abundant element on Earth
• Aluminum is commonly found in mixtures and must be always be refined
• It is non-toxic
• Once in metal form it is easily recycled

Here is a nice one from Indonesia slightly larger than a standard U.S. quarter but less than half the weight.

This was back in 1955 when we were using silver the U.S. 25 cents weighing 6.25 grams each while this 25 Sen weighs 2.22 grams. Almost one third the weight on a coin slightly bigger. Currently Aluminum is about $0.65 per lb while the only other cheaper coin metal is Zinc at about $0.55 per lb. (Sorry for mixing English and S.I. units).

Why not everyone switch to Zinc? Well it is highly reactive and can be unhealthy.
So then why not Aluminum for all? Again it is highly reactive and bends easily.

By highly reactive I mean it will oxidize and bond with any other element very easily. Finding a WWII aluminum franc is easy but in perfect shape it's rare. Time is not good on most of these coins.

Here's the stats...
Type/Country: 25 Sen / Indonesia
Year: 1955
Mintage: 25,767,000
Metal: Aluminum
Value: $0.35 in Unc

Air tight containers are best for storing these coins, they tend to haze over when exposed to air for any length of time.

Do you have a world 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.