Sunday, 4 November 2012

What is Numismatists

By Marcus Lewis


So you're a coin collector, right? Not a bad hobby collecting small art works of art from around the world of time eras long gone past. Including a few gems here in the now and present.

But have you ever wondered with regards to the history of the coin you possess with you? Have you ever wondered how that coin was made? Why it was created? Or why don't you consider the way of life of people that used that coin in their lives?

This is exactly what makes collecting coins much fun - as a numismatist! Numismatic is a lot more than just collecting coins. It's study regarding coins. It's where you take the coin within your hand, and also you conduct some research to learn more this particular coin.

For example, numismatists would look at a George Washington quarter and say, "Why does this coin say 'In God We Trust'?"

Well, the words In God We Trust initially appeared on an 1864 two-cent coin. It gained popularity, also it began to show up on other coins until in 1955 Congress mandated that ALL coinage and paper currency keep the words In God We Trust. Now you know. Numismatists would examine a dime, quarter, half-dollar or dollar and want to know why the edge of the coin is grooved...? Well, as strange as it may seem those grooved edges have a reason.

Back long ago coins were produced in precious metals.

Metals which includes gold and silver. The grooved edges kept people honest. First off, it helped to detour counterfeit. Next, it kept people from shaving a little bit of the valuable metal off throughout the sides and keep for themselves.

Today it doesn't certainly matter with regard to the precious metal shavings, but it's still done due to custom and also for the impaired. As an illustration, a dime and penny are approximately the same size. The grooved rim around the dime could be immediately recognized.

Okay, final illustration here. Numismatists might check out a coin and wonder Why that it was made. One such coin could be the Lincoln cent. Why was the cent newly designed plus a dead United States leader placed on the obverse side?

In 1909 the Lincoln cent was released to commemorate the 100th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. The George Washington quarter was designed for similar reason... It was given in 1932 to commemorate the 200th birthday of George Washington, our first president.

The dime, the nickel, the half dollar... All of these coins were created to remember or recognize one of our great leaders for different factors.

Realizing that reason in fact changes your whole viewpoint on the coin, and it enables you to consider it in a different way the next time you trade it in for a Coca-Cola.

Collecting coins is undoubtedly an wonderful hobby, and plenty of individuals begin gathering up these little pieces of art because of the beauty. But if you need to take your collecting to a different level. Become involved with it in the "why" of coin collecting... Step on to the numismatic world.

The aforementioned examples I presented are just a few coins through the United States period of minting. The United States Mint has only been producing coins since 1793, but coinage has been around since around 700 B.C. We're young on the subject of coin minting.

How come I mention this? Well, only to make you aware that there's no absence in relation to being familiar with the hobby all of us hold dear to our hearts - numismatics




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment