Here's a map I've spent a bit of time putting together.
I was wondering, "why do Americans not use their dollar coin?". So I thought it would be interesting to make a map of how valuable the world's most valuable coins are, to see if any trends are detectable, and to see if the Americans should feel obligated to change. For instance, Japan's highest-valued coin is 500 yen, worth about $5 U.S., so on this map it's shaded bright red.
Blue countries should be treated cautiously - it seems very likely that in any country shaded bright blue, there are no coins in circulation because they are worthless and have all been melted down by enterprising citizens. But if the government hasn't officially recalled the coins, we can pretend that they still circulate there.
Gray means that there are no officially issued coins at all, or that the situation in that country is quite turbulent/obscure and it's difficult to find up-to-date information.
There are some patterns:
Asia is quite coin-poor, with the exceptions of the highly-developed Tigers.
Western Europe is clearly the part of the world with the most valuable coins.
Africa isn't as bad as you'd think. Some countries have no coins (or no governments), but the CFA unions have a good, stable currency.
South America is quite interesting because of the constant inflation going on there - at some point, all of these countries would have been shaded red. The best performer is Peru (the bright red is just French Guiana, a far-flung state of France - yes it's weird).
Again, until quite recently, Russia and others would have been shaded red. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
I have shaded foreign users of the U.S. dollar in red. Why? In Panama and Ecuador, locally-issued coins circulate that have a value greater than $0.25, and I've heard that the Sacajawea dollar is very popular throughout Central and South America. Let me know if you have any recent direct experience that I can use for updates.
The thing is that the coinage of the country is reflective of the average wage for the country. For example, you're not likely to have coins worth US$5 in African countries where the average wage is only a couple of hundred $US per month, but the buying power of a coin worth a few US cents might be similar in that country to a coin in the US worth a few dollars.
What would be interesting would be to make a map where you plot the highest coin as a percentage of the average wage.
Mexico has circulating 20 Pesos coins, they are made exclusively to circulate, even if they are commemorative the amount made is enough to see them every now and then in circulation. That equals to around 1.5$. We had the 100 Pesos ones; from which the ones from 2003 and 2004 where distributed as circulation coinage, but nowadays the silver content exceeds the face value, so those are no longer a circulation coinage per sé.
Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
Quote: erdvillaMexico has circulating 20 Pesos coins, they are made exclusively to circulate, even if they are commemorative the amount made is enough to see them every now and then in circulation. That equals to around 1.5$. We had the 100 Pesos ones; from which the ones from 2003 and 2004 where distributed as circulation coinage, but nowadays the silver content exceeds the face value, so those are no longer a circulation coinage per sé.
USA also has $1 coins made for circulation, but the $1 note is more common, so I treated the USA $1 and Mexican $20 in the same way. I only included coins that are seen more frequently than notes of equivalent denomination. (Of course, without experience in every country this is very difficult, but I knew for sure the Mexican $20 was uncommon.)
Quote: erdvillaMexico has circulating 20 Pesos coins, they are made exclusively to circulate, even if they are commemorative the amount made is enough to see them every now and then in circulation. That equals to around 1.5$. We had the 100 Pesos ones; from which the ones from 2003 and 2004 where distributed as circulation coinage, but nowadays the silver content exceeds the face value, so those are no longer a circulation coinage per sé.
USA also has $1 coins made for circulation, but the $1 note is more common, so I treated the USA $1 and Mexican $20 in the same way. I only included coins that are seen more frequently than notes of equivalent denomination. (Of course, without experience in every country this is very difficult, but I knew for sure the Mexican $20 was uncommon.)
Oh I thought you referred to commonly used coins. I've seen my good share of circulating 20$ with the new releases, but in all my time I've lived in the US (summer vacations mostly) I never say a single Half or Dollar coin anywhere.
Numista referee for the "Viceroyalty of the New Spain" (most of it).
History through coins.
Eli V
Half dollars rarely circulate here but 1$ coins do much more often. I get them in public transport and can get them readily in banks. They are clearly not as common as 1$ bills though.
I have had some swaps turned down in the last months mainly due to the perception of the 500 yen, I always ended up getting less...during the negotiation period.
I have complete a couple of swaps where I exchange 500 Yens for 5 Franken and both parties are happy.
Another thing that will be a good point is that the yen at the moment is a bit low as other currencies (Euro, Canadian dollar, etc) so many people will try to change at the actual price... I dont know if European collectors are changing their Euros for Dollars on the 1 to 1 rate, or waiting for the wind to blow in your direction...
US half and dollar coins circulate in relatively low numbers. Most people don't like them because halves and Ikes are huge, and the smaller new dollars are too close in size to quarters. Plus, cash registers don't have slots for them and most vending machines didn't take them until fairly recently. Pretty much the only places you'll find them are banks and casinos. Oh, and dealers sometimes give them as change at coin shows, as a way of promoting coin collecting. The same goes for the $2 bills.
Nice map, Aruba's florin and Netherlands Antilles' gulden highest denomination coin is the 5 florin/5 gulden which is US$ 2.80 so in all the Americas (excluding French Guiana with Euro) we have the highest valued coin circulating...that's pretty cool. And since we are at it...our highest denomination banknote is 500 florin which is US$ 280.00
Quote: demeykellyNice map, Aruba's florin and Netherlands Antilles' gulden highest denomination coin is the 5 florin/5 gulden which is US$ 2.80 so in all the Americas (excluding French Guiana with Euro) we have the highest valued coin circulating...that's pretty cool. And since we are at it...our highest denomination banknote is 500 florin which is US$ 280.00
Why exclude French Guiana? AWG5.00 = EUR2.58
Quote: Houseofhamps: the < and > are backwards on the map. :)
The Swiss 5 Francs is pretty common coinage. There is no 5 Francs banknote as far as I know.
In 1970 5CHF was only 1.25 USD, now it is worth 5. Still you can buy less for 5 CHF now than one could back then. Can you imagine what happened to the purchasing power of the buck.
Quote: "nalaberong"USA also has $1 coins made for circulation, but the $1 note is more common. I only included coins that are seen more frequently than notes of equivalent denomination.
Quote: "nalaberong"USA also has $1 coins made for circulation, but the $1 note is more common. I only included coins that are seen more frequently than notes of equivalent denomination.
That's why the US is black.
Oh, I see! I thought the coin vs. note was 50/50, or as in China, where they both have 1 yuán in both coin and note, that it depending on where you were. In Beijing the 1 yuán note was frequently used while in Shanghai the 1 yuán coin were more common.
Thanks for the info!
Quote: "dptashny"Nah - we almost never use dollar coins (ever).
The only place dollar coins are used is for public transportation (and even then mostly in the Northeast).
Alright, well that's too bad. I was hoping I could expand my USA collection a little with a few more dollar coins, since I'm going to the States this summer. Hopefully I'll manage to pic some up on my roadtrip from Arizona to Seattle Maybe they're all out there in the wild west?
Notice also that Kc 50 coins have rised over $2, making the map outdated.
Administrateur du catalogue, référent de nombreuses nations antiques et de la Lorraine.
Catalogue administrator, numerous Antique nations and Lorraine referee.
Quote: "dptashny"Nah - we almost never use dollar coins (ever).
The only place dollar coins are used is for public transportation (and even then mostly in the Northeast).
Alright, well that's too bad. I was hoping I could expand my USA collection a little with a few more dollar coins, since I'm going to the States this summer. Hopefully I'll manage to pic some up on my roadtrip from Arizona to Seattle Maybe they're all out there in the wild west?
When you are in the US, go into any bank branch and ask a teller if they have any $1coins. They probably won't be in uncirculated condition, but many tellers have them. Good luck and enjoy your trip.
Quote: "dptashny"Nah - we almost never use dollar coins (ever).
The only place dollar coins are used is for public transportation (and even then mostly in the Northeast).
Alright, well that's too bad. I was hoping I could expand my USA collection a little with a few more dollar coins, since I'm going to the States this summer. Hopefully I'll manage to pic some up on my roadtrip from Arizona to Seattle Maybe they're all out there in the wild west?
When you are in the US, go into any bank branch and ask a teller if they have any $1coins. They probably won't be in uncirculated condition, but many tellers have them. Good luck and enjoy your trip.
Funny fact as we were speaking a few days ago (with KennyG and an Ecuadorian guy) about dollar coinage and the fact he found a fake Sacagawea coin probably made in Ecuador, as this coin very popular in this dollarized country.
Administrateur du catalogue, référent de nombreuses nations antiques et de la Lorraine.
Catalogue administrator, numerous Antique nations and Lorraine referee.
