1200 Animal Coins (from 166 Countries)

I was just under one year ago that the Coin Zoo hit the thousand coin mark. In the one year (less a week) since then, the collection has grown by 20%, to 1,200 coins from 166 different countries. Pictured above is the haul that took the collection to the 1,200 mark and beyond.

While I added those 200 coins, my Need It list shrunk from over 400 to exactly 274 today. You'll notice that it doesn't add up and that's because new animal coins have been minted in the past year, and old coins have been discovered that I did not know about.

Coin number 1,200 is a case in point: A Thailand 10-baht coin with a pair of elephants. I discovered this one together with my daughter in her pocket change when she returned from Thailand and it lead to my Need It list expanding by 11 other coins from Thailand (a lot of elephants, a few with the elephant-like god Erawan, and one dove coin).

That's how it goes, but I am making progress! Last year I figured my collection was 70% complete and today I figure it is over 80% complete (but, I don't think I will be collecting ship coins any time soon). My total animal coin list -- including in the zoo, inbound, and on the Need It list -- now sits at 1,491 coins but that number of course is based entirely on how I choose to collect. With different personal criteria it could be lower, or higher. Your collection is what ever you want to make it!