This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 12.210.85.78 (talk) at 15:18, 18 July 2005 (→Numismatists). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 15:18, 18 July 2005 by 12.210.85.78 (talk) (→Numismatists)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
Numismatics (ancient Greek: Template:Polytonic) is the scientific study of money and its history in all its varied forms. While numismatists are often characterized as studying coins, the discipline also includes the study of medals, medallions, and tokens (also referred to as Exonumia).
Monies studied by numismatists
Checks, bank notes, paper money, scripophily (the collection of stocks and bonds), and credit cards are also subjects of numismatistic interest. Early money used by primitive 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. prison cigarettes). For instance, the Kirghiz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins. The lambskins may be a suitable for numismatic study, the horse is not.
Economic and historical studies of money's use and development are separate to the numismatists' study of money's physical embodiment (although the fields are related; economic theories of money's origin depend upon numismatics, for example).
NGC sucks
redbook
Market value of rare coins
The idea of using numismatic material as an investment vehicle has become more popular over the last several decades. When the public took notice of the ultra-rare U.S. coins fetching tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions, an investment hype ensued. The most notable era of coin-price inflation was around 1989. Rare U.S. coins were seen as a way to diversify
assets in the wake of the stock market crash of 1987.
Rare dates of some series of U.S. coins doubled, tripled, or even more in a short time. "Investment-grade" coins became the object of obsession. Certified and graded coins were born. PCGS was established in 1986 as a "first-generation" third-party grading company, which allowed coins to be guaranteed authentic, deterring counterfeits. Coins could now have an established grade which facilitated easy sight-unseen comparison, making the coin market more liquid. It is interesting to note that during the height of the coin market, PCGS was so innundated with grading submissions, that some coins (submitted on the Economy level) experienced an 11-month turnaround time. Coin prices have dropped sharply from their peak.
See also
External links
- American Numismatic Association www.money.org
- www.harrybassfoundation.org
- Grades of rare coins (e.g. the Sheldon Scale Grade)
- http://www.banknotes.com
- http://www.banknoteworld.com
Footnotes
See Glyn Davies' monetary timeline here, taken from his 1996 book with Roy Davies, A Comparative Chronology of Money: Monetary History from Ancient Times to the Present Day, University of Wales Press, ISBN 0-7083-1351-5. The timeline reports horses and sheep as the principle monetary units until circa 1910.
Category: