So what's the deal with these? There seems to be two version of this series, one made out of brass and another out of copper-nickel-zinc, both differentiated in Krause and Numista:
I bought a series a couple of days ago, and I can't discern which ones they are, the photos in Numista are kind of confusing. They still have frosting, which usually means that the coin is not intended for circulation, so I am inclined to believe that it is the copper-nickel-zinc set, but I am not so sure. Any ideas?
By the way, did they copper-nickel-zinc version really not circulate? 1 million coins seems too high of an issuance not to be a circulating coin.
Here are some pictures of mine, sorry the quality is not better.
I was in Macedonia in 1999 and brought several coins back. They were all brass. I don't remember seeing any CuNi circulating and don't have any now. That does not mean that they did not, of course.
FAO series that is in circulation was made of brass and bears km# numbers 5, 6 and 7.
Version made from Cu-Ni-Zn bears numbers 5a, 6a and 7a and the coins are more whitish.
This version can be found in the National Bank of Macedonia as a set and was never in circulation, altough I have seen 1 and 2 Denari in circulation but never 5 Denari.
Probably they produced disproportionate amount of 1 and 2 Denari which were then released in circulation.
I hope this info helps You.
BR Adzi
