Commemorative Coins

United States commemorative coins are coins that were designed to commemorate an event and were not intended for circulation. The United States has minted early commemorative coins and modern commemorative coins. The early commemoratives are, in general, the most desirable.

The early commemorative coins started with the Isabella Quarter in 1893, to commemorate the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Most of the early silver coins were half dollars, and were minted starting in 1915 with the Maine Centennial. There were numerous half dollar coins minted through 1954. The lone early commemorative silver dollar was the 1900 Lafayette Dollar.

These coins were minted in very small numbers compared to most modern coin mintages, and, while it was intended as a keepsake, they were occasionally spent. Commemorative coins are legal tender. As a result, not all of the original coins survived in a shape that would satisfy a numismatist.

A few issues of gold commemorative dollars were struck, and one quarter eagle, a two dollar fifty cent coin. The quarter eagle was struck to commemorate the Panama-Pacific Exposition, along with two gold fifty dollar coins, the round and the octagon versions.

As with the early commemorative coins, one quarter started the commemorative coinage of modern times. The George Washington Quarter was issued in 1982. It was soon followed by a myriad of dollar and half dollar coins. These coins occasionally are found in sets. Both silver and clad coins were minted, so it is important to know exactly what versions of a coin exist, and place a value on it accordingly.

Modern five dollar gold coins have also been produced for many issues, and sets combining gold and silver abound.

One way of getting some modern commemorative coins is  to collect Prestige Sets




A Guide Book of United States Commemorative Coins: History-rarity-values-grading-varieties (The Official Red Book)




A Guidebook of United States Coins 2014: The Official Red Book

Perth Mint Coins and History

Perth Mint Coins and History

Black Spaniel Gallery Coins

The Perth Mint is a world class prestigious mint, located in Western Australia. The Perth Mint produced numismatic coins for collectors, and bullion coins. The coins minted are for Australia, as well as several small nations.

Australian circulating coins are not produced at the Perth Mint. Instead, they are minted at the Royal Australian Mint, which also produced some nice numismatic coins.

Andorra Coins

Andorra, a small European city-state, is currently part of the European Union, so its currency should be the Euro.  But, when Andorra tried to cash in on the current trend of small governments minting low mintage, high quality collectible coins, it minted its collectible commemorative coins in dinars, its old unit of currency.  Below are examples of these treasures.  These represent art masterpieces.

These are part of the Renaissance Madonna series.

Botticelli Andorra - 2012 - 15 Dinars - Madonna Silver Proof Coin








 Andorra - 2011 - 15 Dinars - Madonna Raphael- Proof Coin

 

The above images are clickable links to these coins, which are currently on Amazon.

Products of the Royal Australian Mint

The Royal Australian Mint is different from the Perth Mint, yet both coin money for Australia.  The Royal Australian Mint handles circulating coins, both make commemorative coins, and the Perth Mint makes a large quantity of bullion coins.  For a collector, it is important to know what is available from each mint.

Black Spaniel Gallery

New Zealand Mint Our Friends Kittens Silver Coins

The New Zealand has announced the "Our Friends Kittens" silver coin series.  There are three coins to choose from, all in fine silver and magnificantly colorized.  These coins are being produced for Niue, a small island nation that uses several major mints for its commemorative coins.

There are only 8,000 of each coin being minted, and they are all PROOF coins.  These are 1 ounce coins, and have a denomination of $2.

One coin is the Kurilian Bobtail, another is the scottish fold, and still another is the Bengal tiger.  In the tradition of the New Zealand Mint, these coins are uniquely housed in a container made especially for them.  It has the shape of a ball of arn.

These coins are dated 2012.