| I am writing this series of articles to introduce my | | | | electum, or gold, stamped with a punch by the |
| new pass-time and love-the business of | | | | reigning emperor or ruler at the time. Not long |
| numismatic collectible coins! Chances are that | | | | after, colored dyes were invented to distinguish |
| many of you know at least as much as me. If | | | | the issuing king and the denonimation carried by |
| this is true, my hope is that you can use this | | | | each coin. |
| information to introduce others to this incredible | | | | At this point in history, the word COIN was its |
| asset building occupation. If you are new, then | | | | official description and those that were available in |
| welcome to the world of numismatics (the study | | | | quantity and found to be reliable in their weight |
| of coins)! I know that when you receive your first | | | | became acceptable to all who traded them-and so |
| coin, you will be so jazzed that you'll hardly be | | | | began the usage of coinage in business as we |
| able to contain yourself! Along with appealing to | | | | know it today. The effectiveness of coin |
| the GEEK in all of us, if done properly, you will be | | | | exchange over barter was so great that all |
| able to create and pass along a real, valuable | | | | individuals in fiscal power mimiced the idea to the |
| asset to your loved ones! | | | | subsidy of their own people. |
| My desire is to help you become a coin collecting | | | | Enormous amounts of coins were produced by |
| expert as quickly as possible. This and the articles | | | | countless in rule, and barter fast became nearly |
| to follow will focus on everything from getting | | | | obsolete. Trading and converting coins of one |
| involved in coin collecting, to deciding what to | | | | nation for those of another, officially became a |
| collect, to protecting yourself and your coins, to | | | | profession-the birth of current banking. |
| estimation, buying, and promotion coins. | | | | Ever since the initial days of coins, hundreds and |
| I want to appeal to collectors of all kinds- novice | | | | thousands of royal figures, as well as dictatorships |
| and professional. This series is not going to impart | | | | and republics from an unimaginable amount of |
| hard core coin information! Id rather offer an | | | | cities, states, kingdoms, and empires around the |
| easy to read guide that will point you in the right | | | | world-most having long since disappeared into the |
| direction. You can always come back and equip | | | | mists of history-all manufactured coins. But before |
| yourself for something new! | | | | they vanished, they minted, issued and left behind |
| My most important goal is to get you excited in | | | | for us to find many, many millions in hundreds of |
| relation to coin collecting! Coin collecting has grow | | | | thousands designs, metal, sizes, shapes and |
| to be a big part of my life and I hope you will | | | | denominations. The first collector of course, |
| grow the same appreciation for numismatics that | | | | appeared with the first coin. And the collection of |
| I have! | | | | coins became a hobby, fun as it is today! |
| The Beginning | | | | I'm Billy Gee. God Bless and check back for more |
| The original actual coins dated from approximately | | | | on this series! |
| 600 B.C. They were just crude pieces of silver, | | | | |