Guam is an island in the western Pacific Ocean near there Northern Mariana Islands. Guam has used the coins of its overseer, the United States, for many decades. However there are several Guam coins that collectors can hunt for. A complete set of Guam coins is a particularly fun goal for a numismatist since it’s not an unwieldy pursuit, but can still be tough enough to take time and effort.
A Brief History of Guam Coins
The famed explorer Ferdinand Magellan first made contact with Guam in the mid 1500s. The island was claimed by Spain in 1565. But it wasn’t until 100 years later that Spain actually began to colonize Guam. No special Guam coinage was produced at this time.
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Fast forward to 1898, when the United States gained control of Guam in the Spanish-American War. The transfer was made official under the Treaty of Paris. Again, there were no specific Guam coins yet produced; U.S. coins were used on the island.
Japan occupied Guam for a few years during World War II, renaming the island “Omiya-jima” (大宮島). The occupation was too short for any coinage to be pursued. Following the war the U.S. regained control of Guam and the use of U.S. currency resumed.
The First Guam Coinage (Sort of): 1974
In 1974, a special “Guam Dollar” coin was produced. As the first really Guam coin it is of course very collectible, but alas was in fact unofficial. The unusual piece shows up from time to time in online coin collector marketplaces and can be bought for a not-terribly-high price. The unusual history surrounding there 1974 Guam dollar coin makes it one of the more notable coins in Guamanian history.
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2009 Guam Quarter Coins and Their Varieties
Aside from the 1974 one-off, the only Guam-specific coins available now are various versions of the 2009 U.S. quarter. There are uncirculated proofs, including silver proofs, of these Guam quarter coins available from the San Francisco mint. Many enthusiasts will be interested in the striking gold-plated versions, which are collectors’ quarters priced cheaply that look great in a coin album.
Uncirculated Guam Coins
Buying uncirculated Guam coins generally means buying the 2009 Guam quarters produced as part of the U.S. Mint’s “50 State Quarters” series. Guam quarters are made in the Denver and Philadelphia mints; San Francisco makes the proof and silver proof versions. Uncirculated Guam coins can be a part of an entire set of uncirculated state quarters, or perhaps a collection of uncirculated coins of the Pacific. There are many different types of collectors that look for uncirculated Guam quarters. There are also sometimes multi-coin sets and bulk lots available for Guam uncirculated coins.
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Guam Proof Coins
Guam proof coins are also from the “50 State Quarters” series of American quarters made in silver and non-silver versions by the San Francisco mint. There are many proofs on the marketplace at any given time for the Guam quarter; they are usually denoted “2009-S” in listings (S = San Francisco). Quite a few of the offers are for silver proofs, but if you keep looking you can find some that aren’t silver if that’s what you’d like.
Guam Coin Sets
A set of Guam coins usually means one copy each of the two 2009 Guam coins produced by American mints: those in Denver and Philadelphia. It can also mean an entire set of the “50 State Quarters” series. Or perhaps you’d prefer a set of only the “non-state” quarters from that set – quarters for for Washington, D.C. and overseas territories such as Guam and American Samoa.
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How to Collect Guam Coins
Since a “set” of Guamanian coins is only two coins, there are a limited number of ways to collect them. You can look for regular circulated coins for both mints, or uncirculated versions of both. Get creative and make your Guam coins collection how you like it. Getting one of everything that exists is not out of the realm of possibility, and it can lead you to explore the wider world of Pacific coins.
