What Is a Numismatist? - Glossary Definition What Is a Numismatist? What Is a Numismatist? Numismatists and Going Beyond Coin Collecting Professional numismatist Bob Campbell from All about Coins Inc. Image Copyright: © 2014 James Bucki; All rights reserved. Updated January 04, 2017. Definition A numismatist is a person who studies and/or collects coins, paper money, and related objects such as medals, awards and other objects used as instruments of exchange. Additionally, the numismatist will research the history pertaining to the objects he or she collects. Most commonly the word numismatist refers to a person that studies and collects coins . This can include coin dealers , researchers and historians that specifically focus on coins and paper money. Collecting versus Accumulating Many people collect a variety of different objects. This can include art , stamps , toys , rocks/minerals , quilts , baseball cards , comic books , dolls , beer cans , action figures , etc. What sets numismatics apart from other types of collections is that money has a certain universal appeal.

Many people have a jar or can on their dresser or countertop in which they deposit their pocket change every evening. This does not make them a numismatist nor a coin collector. continue reading below our video 7 Steps to Organize Your Craft Room This is more of an accumulation of coins rather than a collection. A coin collector will spend time organizing their collection into specific categories. This may include type sets , date and mint sets , year sets , and commemorative coins , just to name a few. The coin collector will house their collection in albums, folders or organized into special cases. Additionally, the coin collector will catalog and label the coins in his or her collection. The Collector versus The Numismatist Although a coin collector will spend time and effort to organize their collection, the numismatist will move beyond organizing his or her coin collection. The numismatist will spend time researching the history of the coin and the history of the society around the time the coin was minted. Many books have been written about coins ranging from ancient coins to modern United States coins. Additionally, there are many online resources that can provide you with the history of your coins. This historical insight adds personal value to the collecting journey for the numismatist.

If you think about it, when you hold a coin you are "holding history in your hand." A United States coin that was minted in the late 1700s may have been used by one of the patriots that led the Revolutionary War . In fact some coins can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin . Research is an important part of becoming a numismatist. One way to know if you have advanced from a coin collector into a numismatist is if you have more books on coins then you have coins. Building a numismatic library that focuses on the types of coins that you collect will start you on your path to becoming a true numismatist. Example Usage A numismatist not only knows the value of the coin but also knows the history that surrounds it. See also Numismatist vs Collector | Coin Talk Numismatist vs Collector Greg Heinrich Well-Known Member From reading this forum, I've noticed there are numismatists - people who study coins, and take a scholarly interest in the hobby. And there are people who simply collect what matches their interests, without taking a huge interest in numismatics.

I'm a mere collector - I have an interest in history and coins, but not so much numismatics. I buy what is visually appealing, or a coin of historical importance, or simply a coin that fills a hole in my collection. I don't have a particular fascination that certain offinciae produced a particular type. I care about style - but unless I'd read the detailed and interesting posts of CT members - I wouldn't know, for example, that in the Agrippa/Augustus crocodile series, Augustus is bare headed on the earliest issues, and laureate in the rest. CT has made me more knowledgeable of things that I would not otherwise have taken the time to research. So what are you - a numismatist or a collector? Mat Ancient Coincoholic Im more of a collector. I don't go out of my way to or look at every ancient listed to find a legend blunders, die matches or something. I tend to buy what I am attracted too, especially if it's in my price range. One thing I do look for is weight. I have dismissed affordable coins just because a "type' is lower weight then usual. I really enjoy articles on weights and decades of silver being removed from ancients.

I also enjoy die clashes, ALOT! I do like reading others areas of interest that is related to the above though. Like you, I have learned alot and continue to learn many times a month. josh's coins Well-Known Member I think that every collector is a numismatist to some extent. Any serious collector would want to have knowledge about what they're collecting. Otherwise you'd be easy prey for scams and counterfeits. But... a lot of people do fall for scams so let me rephrase the first sentence. Every collector SHOULD be a numismatist to some extent. #3 + Quote Reply stevex6 Random Mayhem Supporter Yah, I really wanna be one of the high-brow dudes that are in it because they're of Iberian heritage and/or that they love Domitian, etc ...... but as you've already probably detected => I like cool lookin' coins => I love animals, ships and weapons, so these types usually prompt some primal urge to "pull trigger!!" ... "however" ... => the likes of Doug, Martin, Jango and a few other members often toss-in very cool numismatic posts, which make me think "wow, coin-history is very cool" ...

or "wow, I never realized that this mint did that, etc" Thanks for ejucatin' me, fellas!! However, if your question is collector or numismatician, then I'm obviously "A" Alegandron likes this. stevex6 Random Mayhem Supporter No seriously talk to @@BooksB4Coins and others. I have learned my lesson in this hobby and I hope you guys don't have to learn the hard way. Click to expand... => hey, I totally agree that all coin collectors/numismatic fellas should read-up before spending a bunch of cash on this hobby (I agree 100%) ... fantastic advice!! Ummm, but I don't need to read a book to realize that I'm a collector, and not a hard-core numismatic-guy ...

but I do need to read a few books to keep me pointed in the coolest direction (and I'm currently riding a pretty sweet wave, my friend!!) John Anthony Ultracrepidarian Supporter This question comes up occasionally and for what it's worth, Merriam-Webster defines numismatics as "the study or collection of coins, paper currency, and medals." It's basically a catch-all term for anything that has anything to do with coins. I get the gist of the distinction, but perhaps we should ask about estimated percentages. What percentage do you study, what percentage collect? Every intelligent collector studies to some degree. As for myself, I'm about 70% study, 30% collect. As most of you know, I don't keep most of the coins I buy. I relish research and discussion. Yesterday the postman delivered seven volumes of ANS Museum Notes, and I've begun digging into them. They are not for sale. So perhaps I'm more of a collector of books than coins. Greg Heinrich said: ↑ ...

I care about style - but unless I'd read the detailed and interesting posts of CT members - I wouldn't know, for example, that in the Agrippa/Augustus crocodile series, Augustus is bare headed on the earliest issues, and laureate in the rest. CT has made me more knowledgeable of things that I would not otherwise have taken the time to research. So what are you - a numismatist or a collector? Click to expand... 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. Long and short of it is .. if you have or looked into purchasing a Counterfeit or authentic coin .. you, I and others reading this are numismatists. Collecting is just a method of expression. Coin Collecting - What Is 'Numismatics'? By Ron Drzewucki - .... If you’re new to the hobby or just starting to get serious about coin collecting, some of the lingo can sound pretty strange.

And one word in particular may be the strangest of them all.......... “Numismatics”. It looks funny, and it’s kind of funny to say. “NOO-miz-MAT-tiks”... reminds me of when Seinfeld would hiss the name of his neighborly nemesis “Newman” on his 27-year-old sitcom. But that’s not why it’s weird. No, it’s “weird” because while it’s the very name of our field of study, it’s hard to say what “Numismatics” is or what it means. According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, the word “numismatic” ultimately comes from Greek via Latin and French. The Greek root word nomisma, says Webster, means “custom, usage, currency, coin” - and, if you think about it, that’s more or less how we use the word “coin” today. Without getting too deep into the definition of "money", I think it’s clear that all these different uses of the word center around coins because, for most of the time since they were invented around 600 BCE, coins were money.

Studying coins was studying money, and so the study of less common forms of money was just folded into what eventually came to be called Numismatics. There was simply no need to call the study of less common forms of money anything else. So in a way, questions or confusion about what “Numismatics” is were deferred until fairly recently, when cash (and fiat money) became king. Part of that confusion is due to the fact that we use the term rather casually. Sometimes a dealer, writer or collector will say “Numismatics” and mean the scholarly study of coins: their history and provenance, manufacturing techniques, etc. Then the same dealer, writer or collector will turn around and use the word to mean coin collecting as a hobby. But make no mistake, a word like “Numismatics” doesn’t get derived from the Greek just to mean collecting cool coins; It originally had more to do with the academic side of things. Of course, that’s not how common usage treats it. But I’m fine with that (you probably are, too). I don’t think anyone’s really flabbergasted by the dual usages, and so I will officially announce my neutrality on the subject of a strict definition.

If only that were the end of it, however. Let’s get back to the idea that "money = coins". That state of affairs has been changing for a long time. Long enough for “less common” forms of money to become a lot more common - common enough to be collected by the average Joe. And once a hobby has an large enough audience, that hobby needs a name. So that's why within Numismatics we have fields such as Notaphily, the study of bank notes and other paper money; Scripophily, the study of physical stocks and bond certificates; and Phaleristics, the study of military orders, medals, and decorations. People who collect medals are called medallists. Folks who collect transportation tokens are called vecturists. All of these numismatic "subcultures"--and all sorts of subcategories that don’t have official, one-word names yet--fall under the category of Exonumia. And Exonumia - a very large, very vibrant part of Numismatics - means, of course, “outside of Numismatics”. This is reason number two the word “Numismatics” is so strange.

“Exonumia” itself, however, wasn’t around until about 1960, when token expert and soon-to-be Coin World editor Russ Rulau coined the phrase. The word has stuck since then. The post-war boom in coin collecting most likely had something to do with the relatively recent need to distinguish the “numismatic” study of medals and tokens from the “numismatic” study of coins and paper money (which Rulau himself included under Numismatics). On the other hand, and on the other side of the Atlantic, the British had been calling the same field Paranumismatics. I’m assuming that the need for a new term arose in the United Kingdom earlier than in the United States because Numismatics itself was a more mature field in Britain and had had longer to develop. So if you’re a budding numismatist-slash-coin-collector and you’ve given it a second or third thought, where does this all leave us? I’ll step up and throw my spin on it: “Numismatics” means coin collecting (the fun part) AND the study of coins (the nerdy part, which is also fun).

Numismatics / Coin Collecting / the study of coins involves pretty much anything that’s either coin-shaped and or can be or has been used as money. I like to think it’s because numismatists-slash-coin-collectors are naturally curious, and one interesting coin always leads to another. Sometimes we need to talk about just medals and tokens, or just bank notes, etc. etc. In these cases, we have words that mark off certain subsets of Numismatics. If anything, it’s terms like “Exonumia” and “Paranumismatics” that need work. So ignore them. (The words, not tokens and medals. Tokens and medals are awesome and you should collect them.) Besides, whether you call it Numismatics or Coin Collecting - everyone knows what you mean. You’re free to pick one or the other, or both! Now, if only someone can tell me if it’s a “hobby” or an “industry”...

-Ron American Silver Eagles Currently Available on eBay Pic The Numismatist The Numismatist The Numismatist READ THE NUMISMATIST ONLINE Join the ANA and read the hobby’s premier color magazine, The Numismatist, every month. And that’s just the beginning! Have The Numismatist delivered to your home-or read it online every month. Become a member online or call us at 800-514-2646 and we'll get you signed up today! PLUS RECEIVE THESE GREAT BENEFITS! Access the best educational programs in numismatics, including Summer Seminar. Borrowing privileges from the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library -the largest numismatic lending library on earth. Discounts on hobby publications. Direct submission of your coins and paper money to NGC, PMG and NCS for grading and conservation services. Free access to the Coin World digital library. Free admission to the Edward C. Rochette Money Museum . Free admission to the World's Fair of Money and National Money Show. Discounts on collection, health, auto and home insurance. AND MUCH MORE!

2017 National Rate Card (PDF) Submit an article to The Numismatist All articles should be sent to the attention of Editor Barbara Gregory at gregory@money.org . Also, be sure to check out the submission guidelines . Get The Numismatist App Take The Numismatist with you anywhere - current members can read the monthly magazine through their favorite mobile device with these free downloads. To login: Use the email address you have on file with the ANA as your username. Use your membership number as your password. Having Trouble Viewing The Numismatist? Supported Browsers Our publication platform is compatible with several browsers on various operating systems. The following browsers are officially supported: iOS 5+, Safari (iPad/iPhone) Chrome 23+, Firefox 19+ (Android) Chrome 23+, Firefox 19+, Safari 5+, Internet Explorer 10+ (Desktop) Using older browsers, non-compatible browsers or disabling browser features, such as Javascript, Flash, cookies and SSL, may reduce platform functionality. Internet Connection A broadband connection is required to view our digital editions. Due to the nature of our digital publishing platform, dial-up connections simply do not have enough bandwidth to achieve a satisfactory reader experience.

Adobe Flash The American Numismatic Association is in the process of shifting to "HTML5 Viewer." The viewer is a compatibility upgrade and brings a new look and a new menu. You don’t need any plugins (such as Flash or other software) beyond your modern Internet browser; pages are larger and toolbars can be hidden when not in use. A pop-up tutorial will guide you the first time you access the magazine online in the new format. HTML5 Viewer should be compatible with all new platforms, including Apple iOS, which did not support the Flash plugin. You now will have a unified viewing experience across all browsers, regardless of the device. HTML5 Viewer also will provide an enhanced viewing experience for mobile phone users. Articles always have been available in a text-only (“Contents View”) format, but now phone browsers will default to text, while computer and tablet users will see the fully-formatted pages first. All modern web browsers support HTML5, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. You should be able to access The Numismatist on any computer, as well as on mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, Android devices, tablets and smartphones.

The HTML5 navigation experience will continue to provide you with pinch and reverse-pinch zoom; URL links; article and page-to-page links; full-screen mode; orientation handling/adaptive layout for mobile devices; and left/right navigation buttons for non-touch devices. Print functionality will enable readers to output the entire magazine, a single page, or a specific range of pages. Firewall/Proxies If you are accessing our website through a firewall or proxy, check with your network administrator to determine if cookies are permitted. If you are using a proxy (depending on your settings), you may not always be viewing the most current version of the publication platform. Pop-Up Blockers If you have installed a pop-up blocker, it can affect some platform functionality. Display Resolution What's The Difference Between Being A Numismatist & A Coin Collector? What’s The Difference Between Being A Numismatist & A Coin Collector? The world of coins is full of collectors and students. Some people primarily collect coins. Others focus on studying them. Still others do a bit of both. So what’s the difference between being a coin collector and numismatist?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are definitive differences between being a coin collector and numismatist — and many people are both. Let’s find out more about what it means to be a coin collector and a numismatist… So, what’s a coin collector ? Somebody who gathers coins with the intention of completing sets of coins, based on their own goals and guidelines. Some coin collectors may accumulate coins without much regard to date, mintmark, denomination, or nation of origin. But generally, coin collectors aim to complete sets of coins. What’s A Numismatist? A numismatist is a person who studies coins and money. Numismatists approach the world of money more from a historic, social, or artistic sense. Numismatists may spend many hours every week or even every day dedicating time to researching whatever they can about coins and money. Many numismatists focus on certain areas (such as Lincoln cents , 20th century coins , Canadian coins , or other specific topics). Others take a more general approach to the coins. Numismatists may write books or websites about coins, others simply read and study the countless publications available.

But read or write, numismatists spend much time finding out about coins. Many numismatists even set goals to discover new design varieties, errors, and other interesting things. Being A Coin Collector And Numismatist As you may see, it’s possible to collect coins but never really study them. It’s also possible to study coins but never necessarily set out on collecting them. However, countless individuals fill the roles of being both a coin collector and numismatist . Something that many coin collectors enjoy about the hobby is the idea of learning more about historic places, great people, and interesting eras through the designs and backgrounds of the coins in their collections. Many people find the minting process to be both a beautiful art and incredible science well worth studying. Numerous people will focus their efforts on acquiring certain coins based on tone, color, and eye appeal; this leads many such connoisseurs to find out more about the natural processes which create coin toning. Coin grading is another major area of focus for numismatists who study — and collect — coins. Coin Clubs & Coin Publications There are dozens of major coin publications and hundreds of coin clubs available for those who want to learn more about coins and enjoy the coin collecting experience.

Filed Under: Coin Collecting 101 , Hobbies & Crafts Tagged With: books about coins , Canadian coins , coin clubs , Lincoln cents fixafish2 I’ve been a coin collector for around 17 years I never took the time to think about was i coin collector or more of a numismatic , after reading this artical i’m kinda both but more so a numismatic i get a rush when I find off the wall stuff, 2 days agao I descovered a dime in perfect conditionbut was riddled with errors.it has at least 4 strikes , on both sides it has backward letters from another dime and a mule stamp .thanks for your time . It is a 2006 dime Steven Mendoza Learn About the Field of Numismatics – OptionsANIMAL By Greg Jensen | September 2, 2011 The field of numismatics is an exciting and interesting one that allows you the ability to collect pieces of art while learning the history of each individual piece. Knowledge is the greatest tool when looking at, admiring and examining a collection of coins.

Along with this knowledge comes an in-depth studying of the field in general as well as an intense level of familiarity of the market and the various options that are available. This knowledge alone makes you into an extremely savvy consumer. Anyone can become a numismatist and as well as being an enjoyable and enlightening hobby, this field provides society with a better understanding of how money has evolved throughout the years. In order to become a numismatist, all you have to do is begin studying and collecting coins. There are various organizations and associations you can join and become a member of, but this is not necessary in order to be able to label yourself as a numismatist. Once you have made the decision to study and collect coins, first understand that your collection will possible never be complete and you will not have a large collection overnight. Start off your new hobby by reading on the different types of coins and studying their history. If you are a beginner, start with the pocket change you already have and go back further as you become familiar with the concept. Learn about the various materials that coins are made of along with how they differ in value and the reason behind this.

As you study the coins and the history of them, you will find that just because a coin is older does not make it more valuable than newer coins. Note the date each coin was made along with the mint place. For instance, if your coin has a 1925 and the letter “D”, this simply means that it was made in Denver in 1925. Other letters that represent mint locations include “S” for San Francisco and “P” for Philadelphia. Refer to a coin manual for further information on other locations and the rarity of each. If the date is worn off of the coin, another way to find its level of rarity is by referring to the image that is engraved on it. For instance, the nickel did not have a picture of Thomas Jefferson on it before 1938; instead, it had a picture of an Indian head. One thing to remember when collecting your coins is that cleaning the coins may reduce its value. This is especially important when it is worth it to keep the coin for preservation. An example is the diminishing value of a $50 dime to $10 just because it has been washed.

Always continue to study the value and history of the coins you collect as there is an ongoing value of this knowledge. The field of numismatics can become quite addictive, so be ready for a long and interesting hobby. Investor Beware - Numismatic Collector Coins - GoldSilver.com Investor Beware - Numismatic Collector Coins JAN 10, 2011 In life, sometimes the fastest way to learn is to make the wrong decision. As much as we love to learn new things, as investors we prefer to learn from other people’s mistakes as opposed to making them ourselves. Due diligence is mandatory! For today’s gold and silver investors, industry pitfalls are aplenty and one’s chances of making wrong investment choices grow each day as this gold and silver bull market gains further ground. In the coming weeks and months we will be delivering Investor Beware pieces to help our customers understand the mistakes one can make investing in this industry. There are many institutions and dealers who play upon investor fear, ignorance, and or greed in aims to hook line and and sinker capital away from you and into their pockets. This week we will start with one of the most prevalent black eyes in our industry: behold, the unscrupulous numismatic coin dealer.

One of our bullion customers a few years ago told us about an unfortunate investment he had made, $250,000 sunk into supposedly rare old gold coins. His words… “Now that gold has doubled in price, I still can't find anyone that'll give me what I paid for these @%&!#@g things.” Over the past few years, collectable numismatic coin outfits have been growing like weeds and thanks to their ruthless scare… ah sales tactics and incredibly high product markups of 30-50% or more over spot prices, buying expensive advertising is no problem for these folks. Be it on radio or television, they’ll even buy one of the Presidential Candidates you may have voted for or purchase the endorsement of a high exposure TV “newsman”. Here at GoldSilver.com we are often asked our take on numismatic collector coins. It is also rather commonplace to have all types of investors approach our dealership confessing their mistake in purchasing collector coins in the hopes of getting their gold and silver investment portfolios back on track. Ah but first, let us digress.

We must define numismatics and explain the positive qualities of collectable coins, yet why we believe they make poor silver and gold investments for the average investor. Numismatics is defined as the study or collecting of coins, medals, paper money, etc. Numismatic is the proper term for collector coins having added value to their collectors as beautiful, old, precious items, in addition to the value of the metal they contain. There are three “layers” of cost built into the price of a numismatic coin: metal content, numismatic premium, and dealer profit. This in contrast to bullion bars and bullion coins, which have only two layers of cost: metal content, and dealer profit. And sold for $21 million to you sir! On to our next lot... We think of numismatic coin collecting in terms of fine art. Common sense tells us that true numismatists, collector coin experts, are generally child coin collector enthusiasts who found their trade early on. There are a select few of successful players in these arenas; they typically have lifetimes of expertise. As for novice involvement in collectibles, it can be very risky business from an investing and financial point of view.

Let us be clear, in a precious metal bull market, a select few numismatic coins will do well; but many will not. Unless you are an experienced, knowledgeable coin collector, with as much or more knowledge than your numismatic dealer possesses, investing in numismatics is a high-risk proposition. As you can read, we are not fans of numismatics as investments… at least not in this cycle. There are a few reasons for this: For one, unless you are well educated and knowledgeable about these products, you cannot hope to profit. And, two, we believe a currency crisis is inevitable, and probably sooner rather than later. In the event of a global currency crisis, all the growing millions of investors who have been hoarding their collectible coins over the past four or five decades will dump them on the market in a desperate rush for cash or liquidity. Should that occur, the value of premiums on numismatic coins, save those items whose rarity is absolutely indisputable, will tank. Finally, we warn you that upwards of the high ninety percentile of scams and cons in the physical precious metal industry are pulled using numismatic and semi-numismatic coins.

There are many scandalous methods cutthroat dealers may apply in hoodwinking investors; here are some classical cons they use: Bait & Switch 101 Many large-scale semi-numismatic coin dealers will advertise incredible deals with low priced bullion products to attract gold and silver investor interest. Once these dealers have their prey on the phone, their sales force is trained to balk on selling the advertised bullion and up-sell on their high-markup items, like pre-1933 gold coins, Swiss francs, French roosters, etc. Their sales tactics would be laughable if they weren’t so effective at fleecing the public from their hard earned savings. Confiscation Scare -> Up Sell Tactics This deception generally preys upon the essential reason folks call or visit these outfits in the first place (their uncertainty about the economy and governmental policies). If a dealer ever attempts to influence your investment choices by using confiscation scare tactics, simply exit the shop and or hang up the telephone. If they have the audacity to present you with President Roosevelt’s 1933 Executive Order, laugh in their face and walk away.

Here is why you should do so: President Roosevelt’s 1933 Executive Order 6102 prohibited the private ownership of gold in America. It required US citizens to hand over their gold bullion to a Federal Reserve bank or face a $10,000 fine and or 10 years imprisonment. The President's order listed the following exemption: Gold coin and gold certificates in an amount not exceeding in the aggregate $100 belonging to any one person (roughly 5 ounces of gold); and gold coins having a recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins. The "rare and unusual coins" clause is what many dodgy coin dealers use to convince investors that regular bullion coins are not safe. Under the ruse that they themselves are offering rare and unusual coins which would be exempt from a potential future Roosevelt-style confiscation, they are then able to justify up-selling the public 30 to 50% or more of the precious metal coin content of the products they sell.

Neither Rare nor Unusual Our research has shown that roughly 25% of privately held gold in 1933 was turned into various Federal Reserve banks (this gold was melted down into 22k bar form and moved into Fort Knox helping to ensure the dollar’s viability as an internationally convertible gold standard currency). The roughly remaining 75% of privately held gold was hoarded and not turned in. Not one US citizen was convicted of hoarding their gold and millions of common pre-1933 gold coins still being sold today are ironically being touted by those same sellers as rare and unusual, the exact same coins the government sought to acquire under Roosevelt’s Executive Order 6102. Real rare and unusual numismatic coins can sell upwards of 100 times or more of their precious metals content. Chances are high that great granddaddy’s hoarded $20 Saint Gaudens gold piece is neither rare nor unusual. And chances are even higher that the large semi-numismatic dealers hounding your Internet browser, television, and radio are offering you products that are neither exceptional nor fairly priced. They are more than likely offering old domestic and foreign overpriced silver and gold products.

Cherry Picked Stats of Value Appreciation Rare coin sales pitches will many times come complete with figures tracking numismatic coin versus bullion ask-price performances over select periods of time. The select rare coin baskets and or indexes displayed will of course outperform bullion, this thanks to beneficially hindsight-selected spans of time and products. For example, this breath-taking chart: Their statistics will of course also fail to reflect the collector coin’s extreme bid ask spreads and mark-ups for their performance valuations. 2008 Performance Chart In the 2008 performance chart above, the creator has deceptively written a zero in front of gold’s 6% appreciation for the year making it appear as if gold were merely up 0.6% for the year. Now that is some transparent numismatic niceness! What is their Bid Price? Just ask any dealer for the bid price of the product you are interested in, even balk as if you actually own the product and are in the market to sell. Then simply see how transparent their answer is. Also always be aware that a collectable dealer’s grading leads to arbitrary realms of valuation where your collectable coin bid can be cut down substantially.

Would you be experienced enough to know when you are being fleeced on a collectable coin bid/offer price? Coin Collecting - What Is 'Numismatics'? By Ron Drzewucki - .... If you’re new to the hobby or just starting to get serious about coin collecting, some of the lingo can sound pretty strange. And one word in particular may be the strangest of them all.......... “Numismatics”. It looks funny, and it’s kind of funny to say. “NOO-miz-MAT-tiks”... reminds me of when Seinfeld would hiss the name of his neighborly nemesis “Newman” on his 27-year-old sitcom. But that’s not why it’s weird. No, it’s “weird” because while it’s the very name of our field of study, it’s hard to say what “Numismatics” is or what it means. According to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, the word “numismatic” ultimately comes from Greek via Latin and French.

The Greek root word nomisma, says Webster, means “custom, usage, currency, coin” - and, if you think about it, that’s more or less how we use the word “coin” today. Without getting too deep into the definition of "money", I think it’s clear that all these different uses of the word center around coins because, for most of the time since they were invented around 600 BCE, coins were money. Studying coins was studying money, and so the study of less common forms of money was just folded into what eventually came to be called Numismatics. There was simply no need to call the study of less common forms of money anything else. So in a way, questions or confusion about what “Numismatics” is were deferred until fairly recently, when cash (and fiat money) became king. Part of that confusion is due to the fact that we use the term rather casually. Sometimes a dealer, writer or collector will say “Numismatics” and mean the scholarly study of coins: their history and provenance, manufacturing techniques, etc. Then the same dealer, writer or collector will turn around and use the word to mean coin collecting as a hobby.

But make no mistake, a word like “Numismatics” doesn’t get derived from the Greek just to mean collecting cool coins; It originally had more to do with the academic side of things. Of course, that’s not how common usage treats it. But I’m fine with that (you probably are, too). I don’t think anyone’s really flabbergasted by the dual usages, and so I will officially announce my neutrality on the subject of a strict definition. If only that were the end of it, however. Let’s get back to the idea that "money = coins". That state of affairs has been changing for a long time. Long enough for “less common” forms of money to become a lot more common - common enough to be collected by the average Joe. And once a hobby has an large enough audience, that hobby needs a name. So that's why within Numismatics we have fields such as Notaphily, the study of bank notes and other paper money; Scripophily, the study of physical stocks and bond certificates; and Phaleristics, the study of military orders, medals, and decorations. People who collect medals are called medallists.

Folks who collect transportation tokens are called vecturists. All of these numismatic "subcultures"--and all sorts of subcategories that don’t have official, one-word names yet--fall under the category of Exonumia. And Exonumia - a very large, very vibrant part of Numismatics - means, of course, “outside of Numismatics”. This is reason number two the word “Numismatics” is so strange. “Exonumia” itself, however, wasn’t around until about 1960, when token expert and soon-to-be Coin World editor Russ Rulau coined the phrase. The word has stuck since then. The post-war boom in coin collecting most likely had something to do with the relatively recent need to distinguish the “numismatic” study of medals and tokens from the “numismatic” study of coins and paper money (which Rulau himself included under Numismatics). On the other hand, and on the other side of the Atlantic, the British had been calling the same field Paranumismatics.

I’m assuming that the need for a new term arose in the United Kingdom earlier than in the United States because Numismatics itself was a more mature field in Britain and had had longer to develop. So if you’re a budding numismatist-slash-coin-collector and you’ve given it a second or third thought, where does this all leave us? I’ll step up and throw my spin on it: “Numismatics” means coin collecting (the fun part) AND the study of coins (the nerdy part, which is also fun). Numismatics / Coin Collecting / the study of coins involves pretty much anything that’s either coin-shaped and or can be or has been used as money. I like to think it’s because numismatists-slash-coin-collectors are naturally curious, and one interesting coin always leads to another. Sometimes we need to talk about just medals and tokens, or just bank notes, etc. etc. In these cases, we have words that mark off certain subsets of Numismatics. If anything, it’s terms like “Exonumia” and “Paranumismatics” that need work. So ignore them. (The words, not tokens and medals.

Tokens and medals are awesome and you should collect them.) Besides, whether you call it Numismatics or Coin Collecting - everyone knows what you mean. You’re free to pick one or the other, or both! Now, if only someone can tell me if it’s a “hobby” or an “industry”... -Ron American Silver Eagles Currently Available on eBay Pic

Question: What does a numismatist study or collect?
Answer: COINS