Starting a Collection of
Guernsey Coins

Notes for Bailiwick residents

 Large-size 50np 1970, 30.0mm
You should be able to locate this coin without too much
difficulty, so ask your family & friends to help you find
one.  Uncirculated examples are much less common.

Compiled by Steven Gibbs

Some Notes

  1. Take a print-out of the Guernsey Coins List page.  You can then tick coins you have found, noting the condition of each piece.  Beginners may also wish to take a print-out of this page here.

  2. Look through your small change to find coins from circulation.  You will be able to build a collection comprising a good proportion of our decimal coins.

  3. Seek coins from family and friends.  You should be able to find
    • some copper & bronze 1830-1959, with values 1, 2, 4 and 8 Doubles;
    • 3 pence 1956 (thin) & 1959 (thick);
    • 10 shillings 1966 (square);
    • ½np 1971;
    • large-size (23.6mm)  5np 1968,     5p 1977-82,  5p 1985-88;
    • large-size (28.5mm) 10np 1968-70, 10p 1977-84, 10p 1985-89;
    • large-size (30.0mm) 50np 1969-70, 50p 1981-84, 50p 1985-92;
    • some crown-sized, with values 25p 1972-81, £2 1985-98, and £5 1995-.

  4. There are many coins (especially commemorative gold & silver) which were issued only as proofs or issued only in mint or proof sets; these you will have to purchase if you wish them to form part of your collection.  An example is the large-size 50p 1997, issued only in 1997 mint & proof sets; its reduced-size companion is now common in circulation.

  5. Constantly look for specimens in improved condition to upgrade your collection.  See if you can find UNCIRCULATED pieces, as originally minted.  Check any shiny coin to see if it is a recently-issued new date or type.  Naturally some pieces are quite difficult to find in the best condition.

  6. Careless cleaning can destroy a coin's value.  Never attempt to polish, brush, scour or impart a shine to a coin.  Coins with deposits of dirt or corrosion can be carefully washed with water & weak detergent using a soft cloth.  Residual dirt with products of oxidation which together form a patina are best left uncleaned.

Some Definitions
for beginners

TYPES
Coins which are the same, except for date (or for mintmark, but this doesn't apply to Guernsey), are said to be of the same type.  Many collectors form collections by type, and do not seek every date or mint. Guernsey coins are catalogued by type & date in The Standard Catalog of World Coins by Krause & Mishler.  Here, this site uses these KM-numbers to identify types.  For example, Guernsey 20p 1985 & 20p 1992 share the same KM-44 type number. Other reference books have their own numbering systems for our coins, but these are not shown at this site.
SUB-TYPES
When there is a change of metal, a letter is suffixed, thus Guernsey 1p 1989 (bronze) is KM-40, and 1p 1994 (copper-plated steel) is KM-40a.  When there is a change of size, the type number is suffixed by a further number.  For example, in 1997 when the Guernsey 50p was reduced in size, 50p 1985-97 (30.0mm) was renumbered from KM-45 to KM-45.1, and the new reduced-size 50p 1997 (27.3mm) became KM-45.2.
VARIETIES
Change in design detail caused by change of die during minting is examined in Currencies of the Anglo-Norman Isles.  There are many varieties in our Double coins but few, if any, in our decimal series.
MIS-STRIKES
Occasionally a blank may be badly positioned during striking, resulting in an off-centred coin.  Also, a piece may be struck using a blank of the wrong metal.  Such pieces reaching circulation are rare.
COMMEMORATIVES
Crown-sized (38.6mm) coins of denominations 25p 1972-81, £2 1985-98 & £5 1995- have been available from time to time at face value from banks & Smith Street post office.  Less well known are £1 silver and high-value gold commemoratives available to order from time to time from the Philatelic Bureau.
UNCIRCULATED COINS
States Treasury issues coins to banks loose in large mint bags.  Banks re-bag in smaller bags for distribution to retailers, etc.  You will often see shiny coins of one denomination in a retailer's till, so this is a good chance of getting an uncirculated specimen of a recently issued coin, because from this time onwards as the coin circulates it will no longer be UNC!
GRADING
There is a good grading page which although dealing with US coins, has useful general information which can be applied to Guernsey issues.
PROOFS
Originally, taken to mean pieces struck for production quality control on polished dies using polished blanks, but nowadays proofs usually form specially-struck sets for collectors.  From time to time proofs or proof sets are available from Smith Street post office, or sometimes on order from Guernsey Philatelic Bureau.
MINT SETS
Sets of brilliant uncirculated coins incorporating all denominations of our circulating coins, all dated with the same year.  Coins in these sets will be free of the bag-marks (caused by distributing coins loose in bags) which can impair normal uncirculated pieces.  These sets often contain coins not issued to circulation in a particular year, and the 1997 set contains a type-coin (£2 bimetallic with Maklouf portrait) never issued to circulation.  From time to time mint sets are available from Smith Street post office.
PHILATELIC-NUMISMATIC COVERS
Stamp first-day-covers incorporating a themed crown-sized Guernsey coin, issued by Westminster Collections on behalf of Guernsey Post Office.

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