This
2 Pound coin from the
British Indian Ocean Territory features a turtle etched into blue
crystal and surrounded by a sterling silver ring. The 38.6mm
sterling silver ring features Queen Elizabeth on one side and a series
of pictures showing the life and development of a sea turtle on the
other. The coin was struck four times
to create a brilliant Proof finish. The coin is dated 2009 and has a
mintage of only 5000 pieces. It comes in a case with a
Certificate of Authenticity. The British
Indian Ocean
Territory is also known as the Chagos Archipelago and includes Diego
Garcia, the site of a
joint
military facility of the United Kingdom and the United
States.
PENGUINS
ON WORLD'S FIRST CRYSTAL
AND SILVER COIN
This
unusual odd-shaped, jeweled, gold on silver coin was issued to
commemorate Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Valencia, Spain in July of
2006. The sterling silver coin pictures the famed Valencia
Cathedral in gold, with seven Swarovski crystal jewels in location of
the cathedrals great stained glass window. The unusual shape
outlines the odd shape of the entrance of the Cathedral, which was
built upon a mosque. The Cathedral contains what is claimed
to be
The Holy Grail, the chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper.
The
2006 dated coin was struck by the Cook Islands for sale to collectors
in Europe. It is denominated as 5 Dollars and pictures Queen
Elizabeth on the obverse. The impressive looking coin comes
in a
custom hard plastic capsule and has a mintage of just 2500 pieces.
TELEVISION
COIN - WITH A MOVING
IMAGE! 
This 36.1mm 5 Dollar
coin from
the British Virgin Islands was struck in an unusual bright yellow
titanium alloy. The 2008 dated coin commemorates the Beijing
Olympics. The reverse features two tennis players hitting a
tennis ball over the Great Wall of China. At the top the five
stars from the flag of China appear next to an image of a
dove. In the foreground the Chinese symbol for lucky number
eight appears on the left and a rat appears on the right, as 2008 is
the Year of the Rat. The obverse pictures Queen
Elizabeth. The coin has a mintage of only 7500 pieces.
A portrait of Princess Diana
wearing a tiara that includes real diamonds is featured on this
gold-plated 5 Pounds coin from Tristan da Cunha. Each coin
includes 3 to 5 small diamonds embedded into the design. The obverse of
the 2007 dated coin pictures Queen Elizabeth. The coin is
Brilliant Uncirculated It is an unusual coin at a reasonable price.

This
unusual silver and gold two-part coin from Nauru features Pope John
Paul II. The coin comes in two parts: a one ounce .999 fine
silver Proof base and a gold plated image of Pope John Paul
II.
The coin is designed so the capsule may be opened and Pope can be
placed in a special slot so that the Pope is standing. Each
piece
is numbered and dated. The reverse of the silver base bears the Nauru
arms. The coin is denominated as 10 Dollars and is dated 2007.
It has a mintage of only 5000 pieces and I expect it to be
popular. It features a popular Pope, it is from a nation that
has
issued few coins, and its two-part design is quite unusual.




Not long
after Somalia came out with their set of six
SILVER-plated
Guitar coins in 2004, a major promoter requested “something different”
that he could promote, so they came out with a limited issue set of six
GOLD-plated Guitar coins. The designs are the same as the
silver-plated version, the only difference is that the coins are
gold-plated rather than silver plated. The designs include the classic
red and white Fender Stratocaster, an American Flag Stars and Stripes
Gibson Flying V, a black Gibson Flying V, a pink star Guitar used by
various rock stars including Gary Glitter and Abba,
a blue
Gibson
X-Plorer and a yellow Klein. The coins are 1 Dollar legal
tender
coins
issued by the Somali Republic (though they never actually circulated in
Somalia). They are approximately 45mm (1.75 inches) long and
are
dated
2004. Only a limited number of the gold-plated version was
issued.
When they were minted the original dies were starting to wear out, so
some coins may show minor die cracks. It is an attractive and
unusual
set of coins. 

Brazil issued this
aluminum-bronze 1000 Reis in 1922 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary
of their independence from Portugal. The coin pictures Emperor Pedro I
who proclaimed Brazil's independence and Epitacio Pessoa who was
Brazil's President in 1922. Unfortunately, somehow the "R" in the
name of the country got changed to a "B" so the legends "BBASIL" rather
than "BRASIL", leading to a very unusual and very popular error coin.
A "mule"
coin is a coin struck with dies intended for two
different coins. Recently a small hoard of "mule" 1 Dinar
coins
appeared on the market. The obverse of the coin is from the
commemorative 1 Denar issued in 2000 commemorating 2000 years of
Christianity (KM9). It features an ornamented
cross.
The
reverse is from the regular issue 1 Dinar coin that has was last minted
in
2001 (KM2). Presently it is one of the most affordable "mule"
coins available. I am not sure how long that will last.
MACEDONIA
4 COIN SET FEATURES NATIVE ANIMALS
MACEDONIA
ANIMAL COIN SETS COMMEMORATE FAO
In expectation of Kurdistan gaining independence from
Iraq after the
second Gulf War, Kurdish groups in exile authorized the first modern
coins of Kurdistan. After the initial batch of 10 Dinar coins
were
struck, Kurdish officials discovered that the name of the country was
misspelled using the Arabic alphabet. To the untrained eye,
the
difference is that the correct version has two squiggly marks in the
bottom of the legend on the coin while the error version has only one
mark. Only 300 pieces of the error version were
struck. A new die was prepared and a corrected version was
issued. Unfortunately the United States did not allow Kurdish
independence, so this remains a government in exile issue. The 10 Dinar
coins are 39mm in diameter, are struck in copper-nickel and picture a
Persian Fallow Deer. It has a
catalog value of $45.00, however our price is MUCH less. Also see:
NEW
KURDISTAN COINS

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