| Author |
 Replies: 179 / Views: 10,145 |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
4375 Posts |
After reading through this thread, I got inspired to assemble my own collection of International Birthyear Sets (1973). To start, I made a Google Sheets spreadsheet with every World Proof and Mint set available from the year 1973. In addition to those, I also looked for countries that had minted circulation coinage in 1973 but did not offer Proof or Mint sets for that year. I limited myself to those countries that had minted at least five different denominations. The result is a list of about 55 countries that had either made a collectors Proof set (P), a Mint/FDC set (M/FDC), or offered a series of business strikes (B). Note that some countries offer both Proof and Mint sets. In those cases, I opted/will opt for the Proof set: Argentina (B) Australia (P) Austria (P) Bahamas, The (P) Bangladesh (B) Barbados (P) Belgium (FDC) British Virgin Islands (P) Brunei (B) Canada (PL) Cayman Islands (P) Colombia (B) Cook Islands (P) Denmark (M) Finland (M) France (FDC) Fiji (P) Germany (P) Greece (B) Guinea-Bissau (B) Hungary (M) Iceland (M) India (P) Iran (B) Isle of Man (P) Israel (M) Italy (B) Jamaica (P) Japan (B) Kenya (P) Kuwait (M) Liberia (P) Malaysia (M) Mauritania (M) Mozambique (B) Nepal (P) New Zealand (P) Nigeria (P) Norway (M) Pakistan (B) Panama (P) Peru (B) Poland (B) Portugal (B) Qatar (B) Reunion (B) Singapore (P) South Africa (P) Sweden (M) Switzerland (M) Trinidad & Tobago (P) Turkiye (M) United Arab Emirates (B) United Kingdom (P) Vatican City (M) |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
 United States
94367 Posts |
So you are looking to acquire all of these?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
4375 Posts |
First up is the Proof set from The Bahamas.   Note that I do not plan to keep the coins in their respective wraps and cases, because it seems that over time the wrap discolors the coins. I have also noticed that some cases start rusting. Instead, I plan to store the coins in coin flips which in turn will be placed in a coin album (a BIG album). |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4375 Posts |
Quote:
So you are looking to acquire all of these? Yeah  Although I have noticed that some Mint and Proof sets are very expensive (e.g. India). When that is the case, it might be more economical to buy the coins separately.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Zowie, good luck and keep us up to date!
|
|
Moderator
Australia
16181 Posts |
Just one thing to keep in mind. 1973 was the beginning of the peak operating period for the Franklin Mint, so many of the proof sets you've listed above are going to be Franklin Mint products.
Not that there's anything wrong with Franklin Mint coins and sets, themselves; everyone agrees that the Franklin Mint made good, high quality coins. But they had two flaws: the mintages were way too high due to their mass-marketing tactics, and they were let down by their packaging. That cheap pseudo-velvet plastic lining they used in their proof sets, in particular, is notorious for destroying coins, especially in a warm and/or humid environment. They were mass-marketed to non-collectors, and the little instruction sheet that came with the coins told you to get some scissors, cut open the blister pack the coins were shipped in (which was actually pretty good quality), take the coins out (carefully, while wearing the PVC gloves they also supplied) and place the coins directly into the pseudo-velvet-lined case. The people who obeyed Franklin Mint's instructions have most likely ruined their coins. So when you are buying intact sets, especially online, make sure there are good pics of all the coins in the sets, and of the packaging.
One of the reasons why prices for Franklin Mint sets are no longer basement-dwelling like they were up until the mid-2000s is that a large percentage of the original mintages of these sets have self-destructed; the survivors are sets that were bought and kept in cool dry places, and sets that were bought by actual coin collectors and disassembled, the coins having been removed from the packaging and stored in 2x2s.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Moderator
Australia
16181 Posts |
And yes, that Bahamas set is one of the Franklin Mint ones. I can see in this case the coins are still in the blister pack, but that red-coloured pseudo-velvet was the worst offender. I would strongly recommend not storing that blister pack in that case.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4375 Posts |
Quote:
And yes, that Bahamas set is one of the Franklin Mint ones. I can see in this case the coins are still in the blister pack, but that red-coloured pseudo-velvet was the worst offender. I would strongly recommend not storing that blister pack in that case. Agreed. And as mentioned earlier, I plan to remove all coins from any blister pack and move them into 2x2.
|
|
Moderator
United States
32709 Posts |
Sounds like a pretty cool collecting goal @numis. I'm looking forward to seeing regular updates here.  "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
6983 Posts |
Can't wait to see your collection. Good luck.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
570 Posts |
What did you use to look up which sets you needed?
|
|
Moderator
United States
157664 Posts |
A nice start! I look forward to watching your progress.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4375 Posts |
Quote:
What did you use to look up which sets you needed? I bought a Krause catalog and went through the whole thing, page by page. That took me a while!
|
|
Moderator
United States
157664 Posts |
Quote:
I bought a Krause catalog and went through the whole thing, page by page. That took me a while! 
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4375 Posts |
The second set I want to show is that from Trinidad & Tobago. I like the font of the denomination and I think the theme with the drums on the 50 Cents coin is pretty neat as well.   |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4375 Posts |
Next up is the set from Barbados. From this set I like the 5 Dollar coin best.   |
| |
Replies: 179 / Views: 10,145 |
Posted 11/30/2022 6:09 pm
