CoinTalk members play a game posting world coins year by year backward, with a prize coin
On the CoinTalk forum, member Curtisimo started "World Coins Time Machine," a game in which players post coins one year at a time going backward. The first coin, a 2017 coin from Armenia, is also the prize, going to the member who posts the last coin with the earliest valid date once the thread has been inactive for 30 days. The source does not show when the posts were made.
Correction (Oct 13, 2026): The earlier version, "World Coins Time Machine Game Transforms Collector Dynamics," attributed the game to GNJ and Reddit's r/coins, described the prizes as rare coins, and claimed effects on collector markets and investing, none of which appear in the source. It has been rewritten using only the rules and posts in the original CoinTalk thread.
This article describes a thread in the world coins section of the CoinTalk coin forum. The source does not show when the posts were made. What follows is what individual members wrote; it has not been independently confirmed.
A CoinTalk member, Curtisimo, started a game in the world coins forum called "World Coins Time Machine." Players post one coin at a time, moving back through the years. Curtisimo wrote that the idea was inspired by the generosity of another member, lordmarcovan.
The rules
Curtisimo opened the game with a 2017 coin from Armenia, which is also the prize coin.
Each new post must show a coin from the same year as the last one or the year before. Skipping years is not allowed. A coin does not need a written date, as long as it can be confidently dated to one year by some mark or characteristic. Coins that can only be dated to a range, such as 1630-1636, do not count.
Coins that use a calendar other than the Gregorian calendar are allowed if they can be dated to one year in that calendar; players add the closest Gregorian year. Dated counterstamps and bankers' marks are also allowed.
Once no new coin has been posted for 30 days, the member (other than Curtisimo) who played the last coin with the earliest date within the rules wins the prize coin. U.S. coins are welcome, but Curtisimo asked players not to move the date with a U.S. coin more than every other year, since this is the world coins forum. In an update, he added a mystery prize coin for the game's "MVP."
Coins posted
According to the members who posted them, early entries included:
- 2016: a coin from Great Britain (sonlarson) and a U.S. gold Mercury Dime (Curtisimo) - 2015: a Congo "Silverback Gorilla" (Johndoe2000$), a Mexico one dollar coin that Mad Stax said was found in a Coinstar reject tray, and a Poland 1 Grosz (Seattlite86) - 2013: a Mexico 5 dollars (Mad Stax) - 2012: a Britannia portrait set (Johndoe2000$) - 2011: an India 2 Rupees, KM 395 (Seattlite86) - 2010: a Canadian gold-plated silver owl (Johndoe2000$, who noted the photos were the seller's)
What members said
Seattlite86 suggested choosing the winner at random from all participants, saying the rules reward whoever has the oldest coin (and presumably the biggest budget). Curtisimo replied that he would keep the rules for now, and that if the thread gained traction he would probably add a "surprise" prize coin chosen at random.
Lordmarcovan wrote that he had thought about starting the same game the night before. Sakata said he has coins for every year back to the mid-1800s but lacks the time to photograph them all. Seattlite86 recalled giving his wife's grandfather, on his 80th birthday, 80 coins from 80 countries and 80 different years, set in a frame.
Source: CoinTalk, "[Game] World Coins Time Machine… Counting Backward by Year! (Plus Prize Coin)."
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