Numismatics

This article is about numismatics as an academic discipline. For collecting, see Coin collecting.

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 (e.g., cigarettes in prison). The Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins;[1] 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, cocoa beans, 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".[2] Nomisma is a latinisation of the Greek νόμισμα (nomisma) which means "current coin/custom",[3] which derives from νομίζω (nomizō), "to hold or own as a custom or usage, to use customarily",[4] in turn from νόμος (nomos), "usage, custom",[5] ultimately from νέμω (nemō), "I dispense, divide, assign, keep, hold".[6]

History of money

Main article: History of money

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[7] 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 (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, such as volatility and limited supply. However, these goods are not controlled by one single authority.

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.[8]

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 (1514) by Guillaume Budé.[9] 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 coins gained recognition as archaeological objects, scholars such as Guido Bruck of the Kusthistorisches Museum in Vienna realized their value in providing a temporal context and the difficulty that curators faced when identifying worn coins using classical literature. After World War II in Germany a project, Fundmünzen der Antike (Coin finds of the Classical Period) 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.[10] William E. Du Bois’ Pledges of History... (1846) describes the cabinet.

C. Wyllys Betts' American colonial history illustrated by contemporary medals (1894) set the groundwork for the study of American historical medals.

Modern numismatics

Two 20 kr gold coins from the Scandinavian Monetary Union.

Modern numismatics is the study of the coins of the mid-17th century onward, the period of machine struck coins.[11] 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

Main articles: Exonumia, Notaphily and Scripophily

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 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 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.[12]

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[13] 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.[14] An example would be Kenneth Jenkins. Coins are especially relevant as source in the pre-modern period.

List of publicly displayed numismatic collections

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Country State/City Description (Museum Name, etc.)
Argentina Retiro, Buenos Aires Casa de Moneda de la República Argentina
Armenia Yerevan History Museum of Armenia
Austria Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum
Bahrain Manama Central Bank of Bahrain Currency Museum
Bangladesh Dhaka Bangladesh Bank Taka Museum
Belgium Brussels Medal Cabinet of The Royal Library of Belgium
Belgium Brussels National Bank of Belgium Museum
Brazil Brasília Central Bank Museum
Brazil Rio de Janeiro National Historical Museum
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Banco do Brasil's Cultural Center
Brazil São Paulo Instituto Itaú Cultural
Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Currency Gallery Brunei Darussalam
Canada Ottawa Currency Museum Bank of Canada
China Beijing Museum Special: China Numismatic Museum CCTV News – CNTV English
China Shanghai Shanghai Museum
Colombia Bogotá Casa de Moneda de Colombia
Costa Rica San José Numismatic Museum
Cuba Havana Numismatic Museum
Denmark Copenhagen National Museum of Denmark
France Paris Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque nationale de France
France Paris Monnaie de Paris
Georgia Tbilisi National Bank of Georgia
Germany Berlin Bode Museum, Museumsinsel
Germany Dresden Coin Cabinet in Royal Palace/Münzkabinett im Residenzschloss
Germany Frankfurt Numismatic Museum/Münzkabinett Historisches Museum Frankfurt
Germany Jena Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena
Greece Athens Numismatic Museum of Athens
Guatemala Guatemala City Museo Numismático de Guatemala
Hungary Budapest Visitor centre of the Hungarian National Bank
India New Delhi National Museum, New Delhi
India Mumbai Reserve Bank of India Museum
Indonesia Jakarta Museum Bank Indonesia
Indonesia Purbalingga Museum Uang Purbalingga
Israel Jerusalem Israel Museum
Italy Florence Museo della Moneta a Firenze
Italy Florence National Archaeological Museum in Florence
Italy Lucca Lucca Mint/Zecca di Lucca
Italy Naples Naples National Archaeological Museum
Italy Rome National Museum of Rome Crypta Balbi/Museo Nazionale Romano: Crypta Balbi
Italy Rome Banca d'Italia School groups only and by appointment only. Banca d'Italia Museo della Moneta
Italy Rome Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Museum/ Museo Filatelico e Numismatico
Japan Tokyo Bank of Japan Money – IMES BOJ Currency Museum
Macedonia Skopje Narodna Banka na Republika Makedonija
Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery
Mexico Mexico City Casa de Moneda de México
Nepal Kathmandu National Museum of Nepal
Paraguay Asuncion Numismatica Independencia
Pakistan Karachi SBP Museum
Peru Lima Museo Numismático del Perú
Philippines Manila Museo ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Poland Cracow The Emeryk Hutten-Czapski Museum
Portugal Lisbon Museu Numismático Português
Qatar Doha Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum
Russia St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum
Serbia Belgrade National Bank of Serbia (Народна Банка Србије)
Singapore Singapore Singapore Coins and Notes Museum
Slovakia Košice The Košice Gold Treasure EASTERN SLOVAK MUSEUM
Spain Madrid Museo Casa de la Moneda
Spain Barcelona Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, numismatic collection
South Africa Johannesburg Absa Money Museum
Suriname Paramaribo Numismatic Museum of the Centrale Bank van Suriname
Sweden Stockholm Royal Coin Cabinet
Sweden Uppsala Uppsala University Coin Cabinet
Switzerland Zurich Money Museum
Thailand Bangkok Pavilion of Regalia, Royal Decorations and Coins e-museum
Trinidad and Tobago Port of Spain Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago museum
Ukraine Odessa Odessa Numismatics Museum
Ukraine Feodosiya Feodosia Money Museum
United Kingdom Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum
United Kingdom Glasgow Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery[15]
United Kingdom Birmingham Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham University
United Kingdom London British Museum Department of Coins and Medals
United Kingdom Manchester Manchester Museum[16]
United Kingdom Oxford Ashmolean Museum
United States Colorado Springs American Numismatic Association Money Museum
United States Washington, D.C. National Numismatic Collection (NNC), Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Uruguay Montevideo Museo del Gaucho y la Moneda

List of important numismatic scholars

See also

Look up numismatics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Numismatics.

References

  1. ↑ Glyn Davies. Chronology of Money 1900 — 1919. ISBN 0-7083-1351-5. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  2. ↑ nomisma, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
  3. ↑ νόμισμα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. ↑ νομίζω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  5. ↑ νόμος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  6. ↑ νέμω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  7. ↑ "Coin compositions". Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Suetonius, Augustus 75 on-line text.
  9. ↑ Brigham Young University library web page
  10. ↑ Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. 1985. p. 281. ISBN 0-8247-2037-7.
  11. ↑ "Collectibles". Maritime International. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  12. ↑ "numismatist". thefreedictionary. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  13. ↑ Lester, Carl N. "Numismatic "Gumshoe:" On the Trail of King Farouk". Gold Rush Gallery.
  14. ↑ "An Overview of Numismatics". Gainesville Coins. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  15. ↑ University of Glasgow :: Collections :: Collections Summary :: Coins and Medals. Gla.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  16. ↑ Money. Manchester Museum
  17. 1 2 Dr Andrew Burnett – British Academy. Britac.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  18. ↑ Francois Thierry | Bibliothèque nationale de France – Academia.edu. Bnf.academia.edu. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  19. ↑ Joe Cribb. British Museum. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  20. ↑ John Morcom (July 28, 2005). "Obituary: Kenneth Jenkins". The Guardian. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  21. ↑ Mark Blackburn obituary | Education. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  22. ↑ obituaries " A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe. Tenthmedieval.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  23. ↑ Mark Blackburn. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
  24. ↑ Mitglieder der Numismatischen Kommission (ÖAW). Oeaw.ac.at (2008-12-19). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.


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