Three Djibouti ESSAI Patterns, and 375 More

It's been a busy week in the vault. 378 fresh coins just landed — spanning six continents and two centuries — but before we get to the full list, there's a standout at the top of this drop that deserves its own spotlight. Three rare Djibouti ESSAI patterns from the late 1960s, the kind of coins that don't come up for sale very often.

The Headliner: Three Djibouti ESSAI Patterns (1968–1969)

Djibouti 5 Francs 1968 — ESSAI (KME2)

€ 70.00

Djibouti 10 Francs 1969 — ESSAI (KME5)

€ 35.00

Djibouti 20 Francs 1968 — ESSAI (KME3)

€ 55.00

Every now and then, something lands in the vault that makes you stop and look twice. This week it's not one coin but three: a matched trio of Djibouti ESSAI pattern coins from 1968 and 1969 — the 5, 10, and 20 Francs. These aren't circulation pieces. They're patterns, and that word carries real weight in numismatics.

An ESSAI — French for "trial" or "test" — is a coin struck by the mint before a new coinage is approved for circulation. When France was preparing the first independent coinage for the Territoire Français des Afars et des Issas (which would later become Djibouti in 1977), the Paris Mint struck limited runs of each denomination to test the dies, the alloy, the weight, and the design. They went to government officials, museum cabinets, and a handful of select collectors. Mintages for pieces like these are typically measured in the low thousands — sometimes just a few hundred — compared to the millions of regular strikes that followed.

That scarcity is why an ESSAI will almost always carry a premium of several multiples over its circulation counterpart. You can recognise them by the word "ESSAI" stamped into the design (usually on the reverse), and they're catalogued in the Krause reference under KM-E numbers — KME2 for the 5 Francs, KME3 for the 20 Francs, and KME5 for the 10 Francs in this drop. Each comes with the design adopted for the eventual circulation strike: the dhow under sail, the antelope head, the camel — all instantly recognisable as Djibouti, all rarely seen in this form.

For a serious African coin collector, or anyone building a French colonial / post-colonial cabinet, these are exactly the kind of pieces that don't resurface often. They're listed individually below — grab one, or make a matched set of all three.

Edwardian Copper: A Pocketful of Pre-War Britain

The largest single group this week is a run of United Kingdom pennies from the early 1900s — Edward VII and George V coppers, most in Fine to Very Fine condition, a handful climbing into XF. These are the coins that jangled in the pockets of bakers, tram conductors, and dockworkers from Liverpool to Southampton during the last breath of the Edwardian era. The bronze planchet, Pistrucci's timeless Britannia enthroned on the reverse, the hefty 9.4 grams of it — a penny used to feel like something. By the time the last of these coins had slipped out of circulation in 1970, decimalisation had quietly rewritten British pocket change forever.

If you've ever wanted a small chronological run — a 1902, a 1905, a 1910, a 1916, a 1921 — this is the week to build it. Most are priced well under €5.

United Kingdom 1 Penny 1910 — VF

€ 1.15

United Kingdom 1 Penny 1915 — VF

€ 0.75

Samoa's Bird Series: A Tropical Roll Call

Tucked into this week's drop is a charming little set of 1 Sene coins from Samoa, all dated 2020, each featuring a different endemic or endangered bird of the islands. The Tooth-Billed Pigeon (the "little dodo," Samoa's national bird and critically endangered — fewer than 200 are thought to remain in the wild). The Flat-Billed Kingfisher. The Mao. The Samoan Starling. Fourteen variants in all. Small bronze discs, UNC straight from the mint, and genuinely difficult to find outside the Pacific. For the thematic collector, these are a joy — an entire Pacific ornithology textbook you can hold in one hand.

Samoa 1 Sene 2020 — Tooth-Billed Pigeon

€ 0.90

Samoa 1 Sene 2020 — Flat-Billed Kingfisher

€ 0.90

The Dutch Farewell: 1999 Guilder BU Set

A proper piece of Dutch numismatic history arrived this week: a near-complete set of Netherlands 1999 circulation coins in Brilliant Uncirculated — the 5 cent, 10 cent, 25 cent, 1 gulden, 2½ gulden and 5 gulden. Queen Beatrix on the obverse, the final full circulation year before the euro arrived on 1 January 2002. Coins from this transition year were struck in much smaller quantities than earlier issues — the Dutch Mint knew the gulden was on the way out — and BU pieces like these were typically only available in official mint sets. Sentimental for anyone who grew up with guilders in their koekjestrommel; historically meaningful for anyone building a pre-euro collection.

Netherlands 2½ Gulden BU 1999

€ 1.55

Netherlands 5 Gulden BU 1999

€ 3.00

Everywhere Else

Beyond those three headliners, there's a lot to rummage through this week: Swiss half-francs of the 1960s-90s, French post-war 5 franc pieces (the famous "open 9" 1945–46 varieties), a run of Ukrainian commemorative hryven, UAE FAO fils, Spanish 1984 pesetas fresh from the mint, US silver quarters and half-dollars from the 1940s-50s, Botswana thebe, Mexican commemorative pesos, and a Transnistrian 3 roubles commemorating the 250th anniversary of Slobodzeya — because why not. Full inventory below.

Switzerland ½ Franc 1971

€ 0.65

France 5 Francs 1945 — 'open 9'

€ 0.35

Ukraine 2 Hryven 2013 — Borys Hrinchenko

€ 5.00

UAE 5 Fils 2018 — FAO

€ 0.90

Spain 2 Pesetas UNC 1984

€ 0.40

US ½ Dollar 1954 D — Franklin (Silver)

€ 25.00

Botswana 5 Thebe UNC 2013

€ 0.75

Mexico 20 Pesos 2019 — Veracruz 500th

€ 4.00

Transnistria 3 Roubles 2019 — Slobodzeya 250

€ 3.00

Full Product List (378 coins)

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