Oops!… Krause did it again - Part II
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008In this, the second part of this post, we will summarize some of the inaccuracies or mistakes that we have found among the “Second Republic” Cuban coin listings in the latest edition of the 2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins, Krause Publications, 36th Edition.
As far as the 1961-2000 period goes, coinage information is incomplete and in a few instances inaccurate. For example, a 1967 1 centavo is listed, which to our knowledge was never minted. The corrected listing is shown below.
Likewise, the 1970 20 centavos is listed. This mistakes leads to further mistakes, as the mintage figures are shifted affecting the 1971 and 1972 listings as well. The image below shows what the current listings look like, highlighting the inaccuracies.
None of these two coins is listed in any of the catalogs of Cuban coins printed by the “Banco Nacional de Cuba” or the “Museo Numismatico”. Besides, mintage information is rather incomplete, particularly for coins struck after 1979. In our online guide, we have updated mintage data up to 2003. Market prices listed in the Krause catalog, although hard to estimate for modern Cuban coins, do not always reflect recent market trends. For instance, we have seen the 1983 2 Centavos, Small Letters variety, sell for $35-$40 in multiple occasions in the last year, but it lists for $2 in BU condition. However, it is understandably hard to find consensus on prices of modern Cuban coins when prices are not only affected by mintage and population figures, but also by the political situation that masks the availability in certain markets (e.g.: in the US because of the embargo).
Our online price guide intends to clarify some of the discrepancies reviewed above, and to provide updated market value information for Cuban coins. If you have any comments or questions, please post them below.
