Since ancient days, coins have been utilized as a primary method and medium for exchange. The entire economy concept stands on the foundation that is provided by coins and paper currency, though the history of coins is much deeper than paper versions of money. In most languages, the term currency and coin are often considered to be synonymous. The history of currency and coins throughout the ages has made for some truly interesting reading. The concept of numismatics is all about studying coins and collecting them. Many people that are into numismatics consider coin collecting to be collecting pieces of history.

There is a lot of debate within the study of numismatics as to when the world’s first coins were created. Some people believe that the Chinese, the Indians or the people of Lydia may have been responsible for first using coins as an exchange medium, though this is also largely debated. Lydian coins are often found to contain symbols of unique individuals rather than any form of an official seal, and therefore these coins are often perceived to be personal tokens rather than a medium for exchange among the civilization.

Historical evidence also seems to indicate that the individuals responsible for handing out these coins often hammered them into their own unique shapes. This means that there likely was not a structured economy during the period where these Lydian “coins” were crafted. In China and India, however, the symbols present on the coins were much more uniform in general, indicating that there was likely a strong and structured economical background. These coins can be viewed by the general population in Chinese and Indian museums, which is very beneficial for the study of numismatics and for collectors that want to see how coins have evolved over time and across the globe.

One of the popular subjects of study among numismatics is the materials that coins are crafted from. Coins are made from a wide variety of different types of metals including steel, iron, bronze, copper and zinc, and they have all been used for various purposes throughout the ages. The coins that were minted in China during the Maurya dynasty were crafted from iron and copper. In years earlier, coins were minted solely from bronze. Those coins are regarded as being the property of the country that they were minted in, and often are protected and considered to be national treasures.

Coins are not always minted for the pure purpose of being mediums of exchange. Bullion coins, for example, are made out of purely precious metals such as palladium, gold and platinum, and this is done to preserve the metal in a specific shape. The coins are never actually minted to be currency at all. There are other coins, such as commemorative coins, that are minted purely to be collector’s items. There are a wide variety of unique coins in the world, and numismatics is all about studying them for their rich history and purpose.

Photo Credits: woody1778a

• Collecting Uncirculated Coins and Proof Coins The unique thing about coin collections is that there is a myriad of different ways to start a coin collection, and you can collect a wide variety of different coins or a small variety of very special coins depending on your interest. One of the options for coin collecting that......
• Value of a Coin Collecting Book Collecting coins is simply a hobby or a passion for some people, but for other people it is truly a science. For at least the past century, people have been taking this hobby much more seriously and now there are a myriad of different coin collecting book options to choose......
• Introduction to Rare Coin Collecting Coin dealers, just like any other type of dealer or business, requires stock that they can sell to the public. Rather than obtaining or acquiring their stock from a factory or manufacturer however, they obtain their coins from the public instead. Classic types of rare coins have to be acquired......
• 1925 Coin Penny Coins & Paper Money -> Coins: World -> Australia The 1925 coin penny is the 3rd rarest copper coin from Australia. According to records from their Royal Mint, this coin was struck late in the year to make sure that Australian merchants had plenty of pennies during the Christmas season.......
• Euro Coins Coins & Paper Money -> Coins: World -> Europe Euro coins were first put into circulation in 2002 by the European Union. There are 8 coins: 1, 2 5, 10 and 20 cent coins, as well a the 100 and 200 cent coins, which equal 1 and 2 Euros, respectively.......

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Welcome to Coin Collecting

Originally posted 2008-08-03 14:32:14. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

• Starting a Gold Coin Collection There are a number of different ways that you can buy gold, not only as jewelry or gold bars but also in the form of a gold coin collection as well. Buying into a gold coin collection is a much better option, it is also much simpler and it can......
• Choosing the Best Coin Collecting Books If you are into coin collecting, then it should be true that you are also into coin collecting books. If you are a coin collector, then having the right coin collecting books is going to be a basic requirement, because you need to have basic data on the coins that......
• Collecting Uncirculated Coins and Proof Coins The unique thing about coin collections is that there is a myriad of different ways to start a coin collection, and you can collect a wide variety of different coins or a small variety of very special coins depending on your interest. One of the options for coin collecting that......
• Collecting Maple Leaf Canadian Coins If you are looking for an intriguing coin collection, consider adding Maple Leaf Canadian coins to your collection. These Maple Leaf coins are the official Canadian bullion coins and they are created and distributed by the Royal Canadian Mint. They come in a number of different metal types including gold,......
• Enjoying a World Coin Collection Most people who begin to collect coins actually do so by collecting regional coins from their own mother country. So for example, if you are from the United States, then you may want to collect United States coins first and foremost. This is because you are already familiar with the......

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There are a number of different ways that you can buy gold, not only as jewelry or gold bars but also in the form of a gold coin collection as well. Buying into a gold coin collection is a much better option, it is also much simpler and it can cost you as little as $40 to get started. Another benefit of buying into a gold coin collection is that you can easily store golf coins in ways that storing other forms of gold may not be feasible. You can easily store your gold coin collection anywhere in your home or you can have them put in a safe or stored in the bank for safe keeping depending on your needs.

There are many different ways that you can create a gold coin collection depending on what your interests are. There are all kinds of different gold coins that are available all over the world, including American Eagle golf coins, South African Krugerrands, UK Sovereigns and Australian golf coins, Canadian Maple Leaf coins and even Chinese Panda golf coins. When you start out your very own gold coin collection, the best coins to buy are the more common and more cost effective gold coins such as the Golf Sovereigns from Australia or the UK or the American Eagles for example. Keep in mind that there is never a fixed weight or a fixed size for gold coins, but rather they are measured based on their value and their weight, and these characteristics are going to vary depending on the size of the coin.

The unit of measurement that is used for your gold coin collection will be the gram. In the past, however, gold coins were measured in troy ounces which are parts of ounces. The purity of a gold bar is measured based on 999 parts per 1000 parts, which is as pure as gold is capable of getting. Most coins that will be in your gold coin collection are going to be 917 parts in 1000, because they put a little bit of other types of metal in the coins in order to make them easier to make during the minting process.

When you are planning to create a gold coin collection and it involves shopping online or offline, make sure that you have all the information that you need to know to purchase the coin such as the make, the name and the type of coin. Make sure that this information is being displayed so that you know that you are buying the right coin for your gold coin collection. If you are buying your gold coin collection online, make sure that you see pictures and that the price quoted by the seller matches up with the worth of the coin, otherwise move on to a more reputable online seller.

Photo Credits: Swamibu

• Coin Collecting 101 Coin collecting is an industry that has grown to encompass billions of dollars in sales. The earliest hobby of coin collecting is capable of being traced as far back as 1300 AD, which is when an Italian scholar known by the name of Fracesco Petrarca began to save coins and......
• Types of Coin Collecting Software Collecting different coins is a truly pleasurable and profitable type of hobby or endeavor. Most people who are novices in collecting encounter problems relating to having too many coins, and therefore they do not have an adequate amount of information about the coins that they have or about the coins......
• Introduction to Rare Coin Collecting Coin dealers, just like any other type of dealer or business, requires stock that they can sell to the public. Rather than obtaining or acquiring their stock from a factory or manufacturer however, they obtain their coins from the public instead. Classic types of rare coins have to be acquired......
• Earn a Profit Collecting Rare Coins If you are looking to earn a profit with a unique type of collection, then one of the collection options that you may want to consider is rare coins. When you are collecting coins for the purpose of an investment, then it is probably going to follow that you are......
• Enjoying a World Coin Collection Most people who begin to collect coins actually do so by collecting regional coins from their own mother country. So for example, if you are from the United States, then you may want to collect United States coins first and foremost. This is because you are already familiar with the......

• Collecting Stamps as an Enjoyable Hobby When people are just starting out, the idea of stamp collecting can be relatively confusing. This is because it can be difficult for starters to distinguish regular stamps from valuable ones. Collecting stamps is a truly enjoyable hobby, however, so many more serious collectors recommend that the best possible way......
• Gold Breaks $700 Last Friday, gold dropped to $680/ounce before rebounding to $740/ounce. Like every other asset, gold has been hammered this year. However, this may be partially due to a strengthening of the dollar. In terms of other currencies, it's still close to its all time highs. I think this is a......
• All That Glitters I enjoy the copy of some of the advertising promoting gold: "in 1920 a man could buy a suit with a $20 bill or $20 gold coin. But in 2006, $20 won't buy a shirt, and a gold coin, now worth over $500 will buy a suit." So what? At......
• Three things I learned at a coin store today I was up in NY for a long weekend with my parents and other relatives, and came back to VA today.  On the way back I stopped at a coin shop we had passed several times, and got a chance to look inside. The owner was buying a collection of......
• How to make an accumulation a collection FMF recently asked about collecting and it reminded me of an article I read in one my coin magazines. Like FMF and many of the other commenters on his post, I have some coins.  Having coins -- even a lot of coins -- doesn't by itself make someone a coin......

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If you are looking for an intriguing coin collection, consider adding Maple Leaf Canadian coins to your collection. These Maple Leaf coins are the official Canadian bullion coins and they are created and distributed by the Royal Canadian Mint. They come in a number of different metal types including gold, silver, palladium and platinum. The Canadian Maple Leaf coin was originally designed by Walter Ott, and it has been minted for several decades since 1979. this coin is made out of .9999 fine gold, and it is only minted in Canada and it contains nearly no base metals. Its composition is 1/20 oz which is worth $1C, 1/10 oz which is worth $5C, ¼ oz which is worth $10C, ½ oz which is worth $20C and finally 1 oz which is worth $50C.

The coin’s obverse features Queen Elizabeth II, and then the reverse side of the coin has a picture of the Maple Leaf on it. There are two different obverse variations, one of which is the 39-year old version of Elizabeth II, and the other which is the 64-year old version of Elizabeth II.

The Silver Maple Leaf Canadian coins have been minted since the year 1988. This coin is made from an ounce of .9999 pure fine silver, and it is worth a total of $5C. The average mintage for this coin is 935,680 coins every year, and there have been a number of different variations of this particular coin including the Colored Maple Leaf, the Privy Mark Maple Leaf, the Hologram Maple Leaf, the Olympic Maple Leaf and many others. On this coin, the obverse features one of three different images of Queen Elizabeth the II, one of which is at age 39, one of which is at age 64, and one of which is at age 79. Once again, the coin’s reverse features a Canadian maple leaf image.

The platinum Canadian Maple Leaf coin was minted between 1988 and 1999, and then it was minted again in the year 2002. When it was being minted, it was minted using .9995 fine platinum, and it was available in several different denominations. The 1/20 oz coin was worth $1C, the 1/10 oz coin was worth $5C, the ¼ oz coin was worth $10c, the ½ oz coin was worth $20C and the 1 oz coin was worth $50C. The coin’s obverse featured Queen Elizabeth II and the Canadian Maple Leaf graced the coin’s reverse.

The Palladium Canadian Maple Leaf coin began minting in 2005, and it is still being minted. It is rafted from 1 oz of .9995 fine palladium. The coin’s obverse features Queen Elizabeth II at 79, and the reverse is graced by a Canadian Maple Leaf. If you are interested in collectible Canadian coins, the Canadian Maple Leaf is a good way to go. These coins are estimated to be going up in value because they are precious metal coins, and the value of precious metal is on the rise.

Photo Credits: random dude

• Collecting Uncirculated Coins and Proof Coins The unique thing about coin collections is that there is a myriad of different ways to start a coin collection, and you can collect a wide variety of different coins or a small variety of very special coins depending on your interest. One of the options for coin collecting that......
• 1925 Coin Penny Coins & Paper Money -> Coins: World -> Australia The 1925 coin penny is the 3rd rarest copper coin from Australia. According to records from their Royal Mint, this coin was struck late in the year to make sure that Australian merchants had plenty of pennies during the Christmas season.......
• Starting a State Quarters Collection If you have an interest in coins or coin collecting, but you are not really sure where the place is to get started, why not consider starting your own unique state quarters collection? Collecting coins, especially starting a state quarters collection is a hot topic right now, at least as......
• Russian Coins Coins & Paper Money -> Coins: World -> Russia Russian coins have recently become a popular investment, with many of the popular dealers selling out of supplies, and some older and more rare coins earning over $45,000 at auction. Many people gave up on Russian coin collecting in 2007 because......
• Liberty Head Silver Dollars   money -> Coins-US -> Dollars Liberty Head silver dollars have been referred to in many different ways over the years. First they were called Buzzard Dollars, because no one really liked the original design of the rather scrawny eagle on the back. The large, heavy coins were also referred......

• An error of a different color It looks like A Penny Saved is also following the Washington $1 coin errors avidly. Today he talks about the blank planchet errors -- errors in quality control like all other errors, but apparently one that's a little rarer. These coins are completely unstruck with the intended design. No obverse,......
• Another Gold Investing Update Regular readers will know that I've been investing in gold since gold was in $500/Oz. I advised some readers not to jump in at $720 but wait for a pull-back. Well it pulled back from $720 to around $570 and then jumped up a bit. Today it settled around......
• Check your change! And not just to make sure that the cashier gave you the right amount back for your purchase!It doesn't happen very often, but the change you get back could be worth more than face value -- sometimes a little, sometimes a lot -- because the last person who spent the......
• Dollar coins will be easier to spend The first of the new Presidential $1 coins will be available February 15th, just in time for President's Day.Additionally, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 contains requirements that Federal agencies, businesses operating on Federal property, and Federally-funded transit systems have the ability to accept and dispense the coins by......
• Three things I learned at a coin store today I was up in NY for a long weekend with my parents and other relatives, and came back to VA today.  On the way back I stopped at a coin shop we had passed several times, and got a chance to look inside. The owner was buying a collection of......

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Coin collecting is an industry that has grown to encompass billions of dollars in sales. The earliest hobby of coin collecting is capable of being traced as far back as 1300 AD, which is when an Italian scholar known by the name of Fracesco Petrarca began to save coins and realized that his hobby collecting coins was growing in value. Collecting coins differs from the concept of numismatics in that numismatics specifically focuses on the study of currency like coins, monetary objects and notes, while coin collecting focuses on collecting those types of money for fun as well as profit.

People who make hobbies out of collecting coins tend to specialize in different specific types of collections. This is often determined by their financial resources and whatever they can invest, as well as the ease of availability for the type of coins. Collections can vary significantly including coin collections that focus on specific countries, coin collections that focus on certain eras and so on.

• Coin collections focusing on a certain country are the most common type of coin collection because accumulating coins from a single country is generally a lot easier and more straight forward.
• Coin collections that focus on a certain era in history may include Russian Revolutionary coins, United States Colonial coins and so on.
• There are other obscure types of coin collections including collecting exonumia or error coins that are created improperly as a result die errors, designs that are uneven and double strikes, as these coins are generally in a high amount of demand. Another specialized form of coin collection is to focus on coins that come from one specialized civilization such as Roman coins, Aryan coins, Celtic coins or coins from the Goth era.

People who are interested in collecting coins can find hundreds of different coin collecting groups and clubs around the United States and around the world. Here, people who are serious about coin collecting gather so that they can discuss trends in coin collecting as well as numismatics. In the United States, a good option worth checking out is the American Numismatic Association which has a constantly growing roster of collectors that are all over the country. This organization was founded in 1891 and highly encourages the research and the collection of a myriad of different types of coins and currencies.

The American Numismatic association brings out a magazine every month that is known as the Numismatist. This is a virtual treasure trove of information for any collector, regardless of whether they are new to the art of have been collecting for years. If you are interested in collecting coins, it would be wise to check out the publication offered by this group of coin collectors, as it is a great place to jump start your understanding of the subject.

Photo Credits: Roger Smith

• Silver Bullion Coins Coins & Paper Money -> Bullion -> Silver People buy silver bullion coins for a few different reasons. Some buy them because of the precious metal content as an investment and buffer against inflation. Some people buy them because they fear that one day our popular currency will become worthless,......
• John Quincy Dollar Roll Money -> Dollars -> Presidential-2007-Now Whether you’re new to coin collecting or you’ve been fascinated by coins for years, now is the time to invest in a John Quincy Adams dollar roll. If you have a free book offered by the US Mint to house your Presidential Dollars collection, you’ll......
• Military Coins Coins and Paper Money -> Coins US -> Coins - World Whether you were once in the military, or you are a collector all of things militaria, military coins are a great and valuable item to start amassing. There are many different kinds of military coins that are currently available......
• Rare Coins Coins and Paper Money -> Ancient Coins -> Persian, Indian, Asian There is something very special about rare coins. No matter where in the world they came from, they usually have a very rich history and collectors will search to the ends of the earth to find that special rare......
• Determining Rare Coin Values in Your Collection When you are deciding whether or not you would like to add a specific coin to your collection, one of the things that you are going to want to take into account is rare coin values. The rare coin values that you find will ultimately be determined by availability of......

• Collectible Pez Dispensers 101 There are a number of collectible Pez dispensers out there, including modern collectible Pez dispensers and vintage collectible Pez dispensers alike. Most of the Pez dispensers that were made after the year 1987 have small plastic lips on the bottom of the stem that act as feet, and these were......
• Collecting Unique Vintage Car Memorabilia The possibilities are virtually endless when it comes to the different types of memorabilia that you can collect. One example of a type of memorabilia that you may choose to add to your collection is car memorabilia. There has been a rise in popularity in collecting cars and car memorabilia......
• Appreciating Video Game Collectibles Everyone was young once- And when you were young, you probably played video games. Throughout history, we have amassed quite a collection of video game collectibles. Video game collectibles are video games, video game consoles, video game accessories and video game memorabilia that are vintage or antique, or that are......
• Collecting Rare Stamps Online You may already have started up your own stamp collection, but how are you going to set your stamp collection apart from other people and their stamp collections? You are going to need to know where to look and shop around in order to find the best rare stamps, and......
• Ticket Stubs Collectibles -> Paper Collecting ticket stubs is a fun hobby that can be equally exciting and frustrating because tickets are one of the more rare items you can collect, whether they’re from sporting events, concerts, museum visits, political rallies and events, movies or other events that require tickets for admission.......

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