Coin collecting is an interesting andfascinating activity, contributing to the expansion of horizons and erudition. He, as a rule, accompanies the process of studying the historical and social realities in which this or that coin was issued. Therefore, collections of coins are systematized according to certain criteria - a country, an era, a year of manufacture, etc. Let's get acquainted closer with this very common hobby.
Since the seventh century BC inIn the Asia Minor city of Lydia, the first coins in the world began to be minted; people immediately set themselves the goal of collecting them as much as possible, and some of them were quite successful. As Ostap Bender used to say: “If there are any bank notes in the country, then there must be people who have a lot of them”. However, this form of gathering is not collecting. We are talking about something else.
The first information about what people saw in coinsNot only payment, but also aesthetic and artistic value, refer to the end of the I century of our era. The first known collector of science was the ancient Roman emperor Augustus, collecting old and foreign coins and giving them to his entourage during holidays.
If we talk about the first come down to usa collection of coins, then it certainly is a treasure found in the ancient Roman settlement Vidy on the territory of present-day Switzerland. In it were seventy gold coins of different types. This indicates that they were a collection, and not ordinary cash accumulation.
It is also curious that in the III century ADEmperor Troyan Decieus ordered the release of a series of coins with portraits of their predecessors - deified emperors who ruled over the past two and a half centuries. The coins were minted, and the design of each of them exactly reproduced the original, issued in previous centuries. To perform such a task were necessary collections of coins, from which prototypes were taken to work chasers.
In Western Europe, collecting coins is includedin fashion in the XIV century, but then because of the exorbitant high cost, it becomes the lot of very wealthy people. He is even called the "hobby of kings." In the historical period, referred to as the Renaissance, the collections of coins owned by Pope Boniface VIII, the kings of France Louis XIV and Henry IV, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Maximilian, as well as the emperor Ferdinand I, became most famous.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, which went down in history asthe era of the Enlightenment, this kind of collectibles, while remaining still a very expensive undertaking, acquires, nevertheless, new features. They manifest themselves in a scientific and systematic approach to the selection of material. It is known that during this period the first collections of Russian coins also appeared, which were also the property of the court elite.
At the same time, numismatics is born, which has becomelater academic discipline. By the way, it is significantly different from ordinary collectibles, although, at first glance, it is close to him. The main task of numismatics is to study the history of coin minting and money circulation, which is an independent branch of science.
Qualitatively new stage in historycoin collecting became XIX and XX century. This occupation becomes more accessible and popular. There are numerous trading houses specializing in the sale of coins. Worldwide auctions and exhibitions are organized.
In recent decades, ample opportunities forCollectors opened with the advent and development of the Internet. Thanks to him, on specialized sites, instant information is exchanged between a large number of adherents of this hobby all over the world, and auction sales are arranged. Modern technologies allow you to put up for sale the entire collection of coins, a list of which and photographs attract potential buyers.
Practice shows that the beginning of many collectionssteel ordinary coins that were in regular circulation. Sometimes they were brought from foreign trips or simply had some special features - for example, they were related to jubilee issues or had a marriage in the manufacture. There are also frequent cases when future collectors inherited any collections, and then, being carried away, continued to replenish them. Gradually this occupation became more and more serious and meaningful.
If early on collectors tend tothey collect everything, in time, most of them choose their own specialization. They are creating collections of coins of specific countries, historical periods, or those that have a certain feature of manufacture. It is also no secret that sometimes collecting becomes a form of increasing and preserving personal capital. This is especially true during periods of economic crisis. In this case, the decisive role is played by the number of coins in the collection and their market value.
It is curious to note that collecting coinssometimes it provokes people to search for treasure hunting. Such cases are not uncommon. This is mainly due to the desire to replenish the collection without any material costs, but sometimes the reason is deeper - an attempt to find truly unique artifacts. However, there are cases when successful treasure hunters become enthusiastic collectors. Collections of coins photos, which are presented in the article, will help our readers to form a visual representation of this exciting lesson.
