Strange Pocket Change

My brother discovered a small oval ceramic box Mom made for him many years ago. Inside it was a small pouch and inside the pouch was a small pile of foreign coins. I've just spent a couple hours sorting and identifying them.

Most are your standard pre-euro European change, the kinds of things tourists might bring home, with an emphasis on Spain and U.K.. South and Central America are also well represented with samples from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Guatemala and Mexico. But . . . there's some kind of neat stuff here, too.

(Sri Lankan 2 cent piece)

For instance, there are two coins from Bulgaria, a 1974 20 stotniki from the People's Republic version, and a 1992 2 leva from the current incarnation. Ditto a 1980 1 koruna from Czechoslovkia and a 1993 10 haleru from the Czech Republic. Also a couple of 2 pfennig coins (1979 & 1992) from West Germany and a 1969 20 pfennig from East Germany.

(The oldest coin in the "collection")

(South African penny)

On the "who brought that home front," there are two 1 kyat pieces from Myanmar (both 1999), a 1933 5 piastres piece from Syria, a 1982 1 kopeck from the Soviet Union. also 2 cent and 50 cent pieces from Sri Lanka. And Vanuatu (1995 20 vatu). Nobody I know has ever been to Vanuatu.

The one I had virtually no clue on until I could track it down, however, was a small, 1 cent copper coin with the legend "ISEWULA AFRIKA" on the front. Turns out that's the name for South Africa in the Ndebele language.

So I learned something today.