A Brief History of Coins and Coin Collecting
Very few things tell more about a country in fewer words than the coins it produces. Coins hold a wealth of information on their small faces, from the year of their birth to the language spoken at the time, from the metals a country holds valuable to the cultural influences and historical figures that its people hold valuable. Coins can also be strikingly beautiful in their own right, with the top designers of a nation striving to have their motif chosen for immortality on the face of a coin. With so much information and beauty contained in so small a package, it is no surprise that coin collecting has been a hobby nearly as long as the concept of coins themselves. An understanding of the long history of coin collecting, once known as the hobby of kings, will make this pastime even more enjoyable.
The Origin of Coins and Coin Collecting
The hobby of coin collecting began nearly as soon as the first coins were minted in Asia Minor, around 650 B.C. Before that time, gold and silver ingots were the most common form of legal tender. Because there was no standard, however, each trade necessitated a careful weighing...