| Very few things tell more about a country in | | | | of art as well as a collection of valuable legal |
| fewer words than the coins it produces. Coins | | | | tender, is widely thought to have begun with |
| hold a wealth of information on their small faces, | | | | Francesco Petrarca, or Petrarch, who is often |
| from the year of their birth to the language | | | | called the father of the Renaissance. Although |
| spoken at the time, from the metals a country | | | | there is reason to believe that Roman emperors |
| holds valuable to the cultural influences and | | | | and citizens paid prices higher than face value for |
| historical figures that its people hold valuable. Coins | | | | coins that were no longer in circulation, Petrarch |
| can also be strikingly beautiful in their own right, | | | | was known to be an avid collector, and often |
| with the top designers of a nation striving to have | | | | spoke of his collection in his writing. During the |
| their motif chosen for immortality on the face of | | | | Renaissance, popes and nobility began collecting |
| a coin. With so much information and beauty | | | | coins for their artistic and historical value, and the |
| contained in so small a package, it is no surprise | | | | name "the hobby of kings" was born. So popular |
| that coin collecting has been a hobby nearly as | | | | was the pursuit and trade of ancient Greek and |
| long as the concept of coins themselves. An | | | | Roman coins in this time period, that a brisk |
| understanding of the long history of coin collecting, | | | | business in high-quality counterfeits sprang into |
| once known as "the hobby of kings," will make | | | | being. Today, these counterfeits even have a high |
| this pastime even more enjoyable. | | | | value, due to their age, quality, and historical |
| The Origin of Coins and Coin Collecting The hobby | | | | significance. |
| of coin collecting began nearly as soon as the first | | | | Coin Collecting in Modern Times Coin collecting has |
| coins were minted in Asia Minor, around 650 B.C. | | | | been a favorite pastime of many people with a |
| Before that time, gold and silver ingots were the | | | | reverence for history, including U.S. Presidents |
| most common form of legal tender. Because | | | | Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The |
| there was no standard, however, each trade | | | | development of two large coin organizations in the |
| necessitated a careful weighing and examination | | | | mid-to-late 1800s, the American Numismatic |
| of the precious metals being offered, and it was | | | | Society (ANS) and the American Numismatic |
| easy for unscrupulous merchants to pass off a | | | | Association (ANA), helped spark American interest |
| lesser quality of gold in trade. Coins, which were | | | | in building and maintaining a coin collection. Today, |
| printed on standardized weights of precious | | | | there has been an explosion in American interest |
| metals and stamped with a government | | | | in coin collecting, in large part due to the ease and |
| guarantee of value, was the answer to this | | | | availability of obtaining interesting coins. The U.S. |
| unwieldy, easily sabotaged trading process. Within | | | | Mint has successfully increased interest in starting |
| one hundred years, the concept of coins had | | | | a coin collection through the minting of specialty |
| been adopted by all of the major trading cities in | | | | coins, such as the bicentennial half dollars released |
| the civilized world. | | | | in 1976 and the current release of quarters |
| At the beginning, coin collecting had a very | | | | commemorating each of the fifty states. |
| practical reason - there were no banks in which to | | | | Coins and Coin Collecting, |
| store money. People hoarded coins as a way of | | | | Your guide to getting the very best from your |
| safeguarding their wealth. Those coins that were | | | | coin collection. |
| especially beautiful were hoarded the longest, | | | | Coin collecting can be started as simply as getting |
| often being passed down within families. | | | | a special state quarter for your birthday. Or you |
| Coin Collection in Renaissance Times Modern coin | | | | may use a coin collection to help you visualize the |
| collecting, where the coins are viewed as a work | | | | history of your state or country. |