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Numismatics

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Currency

           Numismatics
   Numismatic terminology
   Currency

          Coins, Banknotes,
          Forgery

   Circulating currencies
   Community currencies

          Company scrip, LETS,
          Time dollars

   Fictional currencies
   Ancient currencies

          Greek, Roman,
          Byzantine

   Medieval currencies
   Modern currencies

          Africa, The Americas,
          Europe, Asia, Oceania

   Production

          Mint, Designers
          Coining, Milling,
          Hammering

   Exonumia

          Credit cards, Medals,
          Tokens

   Notaphily

          Banknotes

   Scripophily

          Stocks, Bonds

   Numismatics is the scientific study of currency and its history in all
   its varied forms. While numismatists are often characterized as
   students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes a much
   larger study of payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of
   goods. Lacking a structured monetary system, people in the past as well
   as some today lived in a barter society and used locally found items of
   inherent or implied value. Early money used by primitive 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 (e.g.,
   prison cigarettes). 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 conch 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.
   This is also known as the "collector's value."

   Economic and historical studies of money's use and development are
   separate to the numismatists' study of money's physical embodiment
   (although the fields are related; economic theories of money's origin
   depend upon numismatics, for example).

History of Money

   The history of money is a story thousands of years old. Numismatics is
   the scientific study of money and its history in all its varied forms.
   Money itself must be a scarce good. Many items have been used as money,
   from naturally scarce precious metals and conch shells through
   cigarettes to entirely artificial money such as banknotes. Modern money
   (and most ancient money too) 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 has existed since ancient times, it is known that Roman
   Emperors were among some of the earliest coin collectors. It is called
   the "Hobby of Kings" and rightfully so due to its most esteemed
   founders. Numismatics reached its apex due to the great demand during
   the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. In this period ancient
   coins were collected a great deal by European royalty and nobility. It
   is known that Roman Emperors Augustus and Julius collected Greek coins.
   Other collectors of coins are Pontif Boniface VIII, Italian poet
   Petrarch, 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.

   The 19th century was the most productive in building up national
   collections and in publishing catalogues. Theodor Mommsen fostered the
   idea of a general corpus of all Greek coins from all collections, an
   idea which is still not possible to be realized.

   In 1931 the British Academy promoted the idea of the sylloge,
   systematic publications of single collections, according to mints and
   each coin illustrated. Some hundred volumes appeared until today. The
   idea was taken over by scholars of medieval Britain and in 1993 in the
   field of Islamic numismatics.

   In the 20th century as well the coins were more and more seen as
   archaeological object. After World War II in Germany a project
   "Fundmünzen der Antike (Coin finds of the Classical Period)" were
   launched, to register every coin found within Germany. This idea found
   successors in many countries.

Modern Numismatics

   In modern numismatics are the study of the coins of the mid 17th to the
   21st century, the period of machine struck coins. Their study serve
   more the need of collectors than historical studies and it is quite
   often successfully pursued by amateur scholars 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 socio-political
   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
   (concerned with coins which have been legal tender), 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 colourful "Serienscheine" (=
   Series Notes) 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
   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 is 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. These often called professional
   numismatists 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 numismatics working in public
   collections, universities or as independent scholars acquiring
   knowledge about monetary devices, their systems, their economy and
   their historical context. Coins are especially relevant as source in
   the pre-modern period.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numismatics"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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