Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money,
and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors
of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media
used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods. Early money used by people is referred
to as "Odd and Curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even
where used as a circulating currency. The Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal
currency unit and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic
study, but the horse is not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry
shells, precious metals, and gems. Today, most transactions take place by a form
of payment with either inherent, standardized, or credit value. Numismatic value may be used
to refer to the value in excess of the monetary value conferred by law, which is known as
the "collector value." Economic and historical studies of money's
use and development are an integral part of the numismatists' study of money's physical
embodiment.
Etymology First attested in English 1829, the word numismatics
comes from the adjective numismatic, meaning "of coins". It was borrowed in 1792 from French
numismatiques, itself a derivation from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma, a variant
of nomisma meaning "coin". Nomisma is a latinisation of the Greek νόμισμα which means "current
coin/custom", which derives from νομίζω, "to hold or own as a custom or usage, to use
customarily", in turn from νόμος, "usage, custom", ultimately from νέμω, "I dispense,
divide, assign, keep, hold". History of money
“Art in the form of coins is not only what we study but the emotion when we hold a piece
of history” Geoffrey Cope. Throughout its history, money itself has been made to be
a scarce good, although it does not have to be. Many materials have been used to form
money, from naturally scarce precious metals and cowry shells through cigarettes to entirely
artificial money, called fiat money, such as banknotes. Many complementary currencies
use time as a unit of measure, using mutual credit accounting that keeps the balance of
money intact. Modern money is essentially a token – an
abstraction. Paper currency is perhaps the most common type of physical money today.
However, goods such as gold or silver retain many of the essential properties of money.
History of numismatics
Coin collecting may have existed in ancient times. Caesar Augustus gave "coins of every
device, including old pieces of the kings and foreign money" as Saturnalia gifts.
Petrarch, who wrote in a letter that he was often approached by vinediggers with old coins
asking him to buy or to identify the ruler, is credited as the first Renaissance collector.
Petrarch presented a collection of Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV in 1355.
The first book on coins was De Asse et Partibus by Guillaume Budé. During the early Renaissance
ancient coins were collected by European royalty and nobility. Collectors of coins were Pope
Boniface VIII, Emperor Maximilian of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV of France, Ferdinand
I, Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg who started the Berlin coin cabinet and Henry IV of France
to name a few. Numismatics is called the "Hobby of Kings", due to its most esteemed founders.
Professional societies organized in the 19th century. The Royal Numismatic Society was
founded in 1836 and immediately began publishing the journal that became the Numismatic Chronicle.
The American Numismatic Society was founded in 1858 and began publishing the American
Journal of Numismatics in 1866. In 1931 the British Academy launched the Sylloge
Nummorum Graecorum publishing collections of Ancient Greek coinage. The first volume
of Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles was published in 1958.
In the 20th century as well the coins were seen more as archaeological objects. After
World War II in Germany a project, Fundmünzen der Antike was launched, to register every
coin found within Germany. This idea found successors in many countries.
In the United States, the US mint established a coin Cabinet in 1838 when chief coiner Adam
Eckfeldt donated his personal collection. William E. Du Bois’ Pledges of History...
describes the cabinet. C. Wyllys Betts' American colonial history
illustrated by contemporary medals set the groundwork for the study of American historical
medals. Modern numismatics
Modern numismatics is the study of the coins of the mid-17th century onward, the period
of machine struck coins. Their study serves more the need of collectors than historians
and it is more often successfully pursued by amateur aficionados than by professional
scholars. The focus of modern numismatics lies frequently in the research of production
and use of money in historical contexts using mint or other records in order to determine
the relative rarity of the coins they study. Varieties, mint-made errors, the results of
progressive die wear, mintage figures and even the sociopolitical context of coin mintings
are also matters of interest. Subfields
Exonumia is the study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other
items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration. This includes elongated coins,
encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, badges, counterstamped coins, wooden nickels,
credit cards, and other similar items. It is related to numismatics proper, and many
coin collectors are also exonumists. Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes.
It is believed that people have been collecting paper money for as long as it has been in
use. However, people only started collecting paper money systematically in Germany in the
1920s, particularly the Serienscheine Notgeld. The turning point occurred in the 1970s, when
notaphily was established as a separate area by collectors. At the same time, some developed
countries such as the USA, Germany and France began publishing their respective national
catalogues of paper money, which represented major points of reference literature.
Scripophily is the study and collection of stocks and Bonds. It is an interesting area
of collecting due to both the inherent beauty of some historical documents as well as the
interesting historical context of each document. Some stock certificates are excellent examples
of engraving. Occasionally, an old stock document will be found that still has value as a stock
in a successor company. Numismatists
The term numismatist applies to collectors and coin dealers as well as scholars using
coins as source or studying coins. The first group chiefly derive pleasure from
the simple ownership of monetary devices and studying these coins as private amateur scholars.
In the classical field amateur collector studies have achieved quite remarkable progress in
the field. Examples are Walter Breen, a well-known example of a noted numismatist who was not
an avid collector, and King Farouk I of Egypt was an avid collector who had very little
interest in numismatics. Harry Bass by comparison was a noted collector who was also a numismatist.
The second group are the coin dealers. Often called professional numismatists, they authenticate
or grade coins for commercial purposes. The buying and selling of coin collections by
numismatists who are professional dealers advances the study of money, and expert numismatists
are consulted by historians, museum curators, and archaeologists.
The third category are scholar numismatists working in public collections, universities
or as independent scholars acquiring knowledge about monetary devices, their systems, their
economy and their historical context. An example would be Kenneth Jenkins. Coins are especially
relevant as source in the pre-modern period. List of publicly displayed numismatic collections
List of important numismatic scholars
See also
References This article incorporates text from a publication
now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University
Press.