This article is about numismatics as an academic discipline. For collecting, see Coin collecting.
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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 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 value." For example, a collector may be willing to pay more than $2.00 for a United States two-dollar bill, given their low circulation.
Economic and historical studies of money's use and development are an integral part of the numismatists' study of money's physical embodiment.
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Contents
- 1 Etymology
- 2 History of money
- 3 History of numismatics
- 3.1 Modern numismatics
- 3.2 Subfields
- 4 Numismatists
- 5 List of publicly displayed numismatic collections
- 6 List of important numismatic scholars
- 7 See also
- 8 References
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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
Money itself must be a scarce good. Many items have been used as money, from naturally scarce precious metals and cowry shells through cigarettes to entirely artificial money, called fiat 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
A Roman denarius, a standardized silver coin.
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.[7]
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.[8] 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 (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.[9] 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
Modern numismatics is the study of the coins of the mid-17th to the 21st century, 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 socio-political 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 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
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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 |
| 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 |
| Canada |
Ottawa |
Currency Museum Bank of Canada |
| China |
Beijing |
China Numismatic Museum[10] |
| China |
Shanghai |
Shanghai Museum |
| Colombia |
Bogotá Cundinamarca |
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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Mint Tower, Florence Numismatic Museum/Museo della Moneta a Firenze: Torre della Zecca 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 |
Vatican Museums Philatelic and Numismatic Museum/Museo Filatelico e Numismatico |
| Japan |
Tokyo |
Bank of Japan Money Museum BOJ-IMES[11] |
| Macedonia |
Skopje |
Narodna Banka na Republika Makedonija [1] |
| Malaysia |
Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory |
Bank Negara Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery |
| Mexico |
Mexico City |
Casa de Moneda de México |
| Paraguay |
Asuncion |
Numismatica Independencia |
| Philippines |
Manila |
Museo ng Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas |
| 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 Coins and Notes Museum |
| Spain |
Madrid |
Museo Casa de la Moneda |
| Spain |
Barcelona |
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, numismatic colection |
| 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 Coinse-museum |
| Ukraine |
Odessa |
Odessa Numismatics Museum |
| Ukraine |
Feodosiya |
Feodosia Money Museum |
| United Kingdom |
Cambridge |
Fitzwilliam Museum |
| United Kingdom |
Glasgow |
Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery[12] |
| United Kingdom |
Birmingham |
Barbour Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham University |
| United Kingdom |
London |
British Museum Department of Coins and Medals |
| United Kingdom |
Manchester |
Manchester Museum[13] |
| 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 |
List of important numismatic scholars
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (May 2010) |
- Andreas Alföldi (1895–1981)
- Augusto Carlos Teixeira de Aragão
- Michael Alram[14]
- Martin Armstrong
- Simone Assemani (1752–1820)
- Churchill Babington
- Anselmo Banduri
- Georges Bataille
- Mark Blackburn (1953–2011)[15][16][17]
- Osmund Bopearachchi
- Bartolomeo Borghesi
- Stefano Borgia
- Guillaume Budé
- Andrew Burnett[18]
- Francesco Carelli
- Carlo Ottavio, Count Castiglione
- Celestino Cavedoni
- Henry Cohen
- Joe Cribb[19]
- Théophile Marion Dumersan
- Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher
- Giuseppe Fiorelli
- Martin Folkes
- Julius Friedländer
- Andrea Fulvio
- Raffaele Garrucci
- Francesco Gnecchi
- Philip Grierson
- Claude Gros de Boze
- Nicola Francesco Haym (1678–1729)
- Kenneth Jenkins
- Joel L. Malter
- Theodor Mommsen
- Louis Robert
- Desiré-Raoul Rochette
- Joaquín Rubio y Muñoz
- Eduard Rüppell
- Antonio Salinas
- Camillo Serafini
- Adolf Soetbeer
- Charles Surasky
- Francois Thierry[20]
- Jörgen Zoega
See also
- Coin collecting
- Coin grading
- Coin catalog
- Glossary of Numismatics
- American Numismatic Association
- American Numismatic Society
- American Israel Numismatic Association
- International Association of Professional Numismatists
- Royal Numismatic Society
- Swiss Numismatic Society
- Joseph Pellerin
- Commodity money
- Money creation
- Where's George?
- Where's Willy?
- Auction catalog
- Exchange rate
- Manillas – a form of primitive or archaic money.
- Money and Medals Network[21]
- World Money Fair
- Leper colony money
- List of most expensive coins
References
- ^ Glyn Davies. Chronology of Money 1900 — 1919. ISBN 0-7083-1351-5. http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/amser/chrono14.html. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
- ^ nomisma, Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, on Perseus
- ^ νόμισμα, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ νομίζω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ νόμος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ νέμω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
- ^ Suetonius, Augustus 75 on-line text.
- ^ Brigham Young University library web page
- ^ Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science. 1985. p. 281. ISBN 0-8247-2037-7.
- ^ Museum Special: China Numismatic Museum CCTV News – CNTV English. . Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ IMES BOJ Currency Museum TOP. Imes.boj.or.jp. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ University of Glasgow :: Collections :: Collections Summary :: Coins and Medals. Gla.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Money. Manchester Museum
- ^ Mitglieder der Numismatischen Kommission (ÖAW). Oeaw.ac.at (2008-12-19). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Mark Blackburn obituary | Education. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ obituaries « A Corner of Tenth-Century Europe. Tenthmedieval.wordpress.com. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Mark Blackburn. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Dr Andrew Burnett – British Academy. Britac.ac.uk. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Joe Cribb. British Museum. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Francois Thierry | Bibliothèque nationale de France – Academia.edu. Bnf.academia.edu. Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
- ^ Home – Money & Medals Network. Moneyandmedals.org.uk (2011-01-12). Retrieved on 2011-11-24.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
English, GermanDer Goldschmied Eligius lebte vermutlich von 589 bis 660 und war Münzmeister des Merowinger-Königshofes in Paris. Aus seiner Werkstatt sind Goldschmiedearbeiten und Goldmünzen überliefert. Eligius wurde später Priester und starb als Bischof von Noyon. Sein Leben zeichnete
