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Guitars, Cars, Maps - What’s With These Somali Coins?
by Mike McLeod
Posted May 2015
Created in England by a private mint, these coins from Somalia can be found in colorful shapes of iconic images and are technically legal tender.1 Gibson guitars, Mustangs, motorcycles and maps of countries are catching the eyes of coin collectors as well as car collectors, motorcycle enthusiasts, guitar heroes, and patriotic citizens. You have to admit, it’s a great marketing scheme.
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Somali guitar coins are a hit with collectors and guitar heroes.
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The most coin collectors live in these countries
which is why they were minted.
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The six-coin set of maps includes Australia, United States, Canada, Russian Federation, Germany, and China, which are also coincidentally home to most of the coin collectors in the world. The silver-plated coins have enamel coatings in the colors of the countries’ flags.
The reverse of all the sets shows a denomination of $1 and the Somalia coat of arms. The denomination in dollars is another indicator these coins are just for collectors—Somalia’s currency is the shilling.
Joel Anderson of JoelsCoins.com details reasons why specific brands of guitars were chosen for these coins: “…a USA map guitar, which is similar to one believed to have been used by Rick Nelson of Cheap Trick…is based on a guitar produced by Gibson. The double-necked Gibson guitar is based on a style used by Jimmy Page. The red rectangular guitar is based on a style used by Bo Diddley. The Gretsch White Falcon was used by Neil Young. The green Gibson reverse V was used by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.”
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Coin and car collectors can both enjoy this collectible.
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Harley-Davidson and others for motorcycle enthusiasts.
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Fast cars and motorcycles are always an attraction so naturally these coins feature a Ferrari, a Porsche, a 1965 For Mustang, a Lamborghini-ish car, a Corvette and an Aston Martin DB-5, ala James Bond. Each is about 1.75 inches in length. The motorcycle coins include Harley-Davidson and others.
When in stock, JoelsCoins.com sells the map coins for $17.50 each or $55 for the set; the guitar coins for $50-$55 per set; and the car coins for about $10 to $13 each. Not bad for getting two collectibles for the price of one.
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1 Somalia has no central government at the moment, only some autonomous regions and local administrations. “Legal tender” used here should be considered “non-circulating legal tender.”
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