Collecting coins | numismatic | coins investment

This hobby of Collecting coins is sometimes referred to by the single term Numismatics. Derived from from greek nomisma, (coin), which means the studying and collection of coins and paper money that bears country’s official designs and monetary value. From earliest times, Silver was the principal metal for trade in the far east.

Collecting coins can be a good investment if you are knowledgeble of your coins. Due to the growing interest over the years and also the record prices that have been sold at major coins, numismatic has grown to be a profitable investment portfio. Investing in coins for a collector is indeed an enjoyable experience because firstly, it is a hobby which you enjoy doing the research and hunting for those scarce and rare coins. Secoldly, it is an investment that can cover what ever cost that you have spent on the coins. You can make a profit. For further reading on selecting the right kind of coins, please read my article. For now, let’s just dwell on a brief history of coins ….

The history of coins can be dated from the ancient times to the present. All histories of coins could be traced to their invention in Lydia and Ionia (modern western Turkey) between 643 and 630 BC. Since that time, coins have been the most universal embodiment of money. These first coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow mixture of gold and silver. These archaic coins usually depict a symbol of the city or ruler on the obverse and a crude punch mark on the reverse. These were the world’s first true coins because they were composed of a scarce metal, of a consistent weight, and guaranteed by a government. Ancient coins were produced through a process of hitting a hammer positioned over an anvil.

The Chinese produced primarily cast coinage. Relatively few non Chinese cast coins were produced by governments, however it was a common practice amongst counterfeiters. Since the early 1700s, presses have been used, beginning with screw presses and progressing in the 1800s towards steam driven presses. Recently modern minting techniques involving electric and hydraulic presses have been more commonly employed. Coins have often been referred to as “History in Your Hands.”

The most famous and widely collected coins of antiquity are Roman coins and Greek coins. The Byzantine Empire minted many coins, including very thin gold coins bearing the image of the Christian cross and various Byzantine emperors. Old and new coins usually have a special special attraction for many people, due to it’s history or design.

Scholars regard coins as mirrors of history. Collectors, often called Numismatists, enjoy coins for their beauty, their rarity, and the stories behind them. Added to this is the excitement of searching for and finding specific coins, or the challenge of identifying an unfamiliar item. Numismatists also enjoy arranging and displaying a collection. Most appealing of all, perhaps, is the possibility of finding rare coins for a bargain price and the hope that coins in a collection will in time increase in worth.