Portal:Numismatics
The Numismatics Portal
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Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods.
The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "odd and curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not.[dubious – discuss] Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. (Full article...)
Selected article -
The Celtic currency of Britain were the various items and coins used as currency between approximately 200 BC and AD 60. The earliest currency consisted of various forms of iron bars. Coins were first imported in large numbers in around 150 BC and domestic minting began around 100BC. Coin production was largely ended by the Roman conquest of Britain, first by the Claudian invasion of AD 43 and later by the Defeat of Boudica in AD 60 or 61. Cast coins may have been produced for a few more years around Hengistbury Head. Exact dating of coins often changes in the light of new research.
Coin use is usually divided into a core area which covers the home counties as well as parts of Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Cambridgeshire. This was surrounded by a periphery of coin using groups some of which, the Corieltauvi, Durotriges, Dobunni and Iceni, appear to have minted their own coinage. The coins in the core area are generally attributed to the Atrebates and Cantii in the areas south of the Thames and the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni to the north. (Full article...)Selected image
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/1783%2C_Royal_George_medallion.png/400px-1783%2C_Royal_George_medallion.png)
Credit: User:Chris.B & Sniff
Did you know...
![Newfoundland 2 dollar coin](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/NFD_%242_Reverse.jpg/100px-NFD_%242_Reverse.jpg)
- ...that with its two-dollar coin (reverse pictured), Newfoundland was the only British colony to issue circulating gold coinage?
- ...that Mount Burgess is nicknamed the Ten Dollar Mountain because it was featured on Canadian currency?
- ...that the American Buffalo gold bullion coin was the first .9999 fine 24-carat gold coin released by the United States Mint?
- ...that the Alabama centennial half dollar was the first commemorative coin minted with the image of a living individual?
- ...that Aksumite currency was the only native coinage to be issued in Africa without direct influence by an outside culture like Roman, Greek, etc...?
Related portals
Selected coin -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Buffalo_%2450_Obverse.png/220px-Buffalo_%2450_Obverse.png)
The American Buffalo, also known as a gold buffalo, is a 24-karat bullion coin first offered for sale by the United States Mint in 2006. The coin follows the design of the Indian Head nickel and has gained its nickname from the American Bison on the reverse side of the design. This was the first time the United States government minted pure (.9999) 24-karat gold coins for the public. The coin contains one-troy ounce (31.1g) of pure gold and has a legal tender (face) value of US$50. Due to a combination of the coin's popularity and the increase in the price of gold, the coin's value has increased considerably. The initial 2006 U.S. Mint price of the proof coin was $800. In 2007 the price was $899.95, $1,410 in 2009, and $2,010 in 2011.
In addition to requiring a presidential dollar coin series to begin in 2007 and redesigning the cent in 2009, the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 mandated the production of a one-ounce 24-karat gold bullion coin with a face value of $50 and a mintage limit of up to 300,000 coins. (Full article...)Selected banknote image -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/US_%241_1886_Silver_Certificate.jpg/335px-US_%241_1886_Silver_Certificate.jpg)
Credit: commons:User:Red devil 666
Series of 1886 $1 silver certificates portraying Martha Washington, the only woman in United States history to be featured on its banknotes.
General images -
Numismatic terminology
- Bullion – Precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) in the form of bars, ingots or plate.
- Error – Usually a mis-made coin not intended for circulation, but can also refer to an engraving or die-cutting error not discovered until the coins are released to circulation. This may result is two or more varieties of the coin in the same year.
- Exonumia – The study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration.
- Fineness – Purity of precious metal content expressed in terms of one thousand parts. 90% is expressed as .900 fine.
- Notaphily – The study of paper money or banknotes.
- Scripophily – The study and collection of stocks and Bonds.
WikiProjects
Numismatic topics
Money - Coins - Banknotes - Electronic money - Exchange rate - Legal tender - Clubs - Terminology
Ancient currency: Asia - Byzantium - Greece - Primitive Money - Roman - Indian coinage
Modern currency: Africa - The Americas - Asia and the Pacific - Europe - Bullion coins - Challenge coin - Commemorative coins - Token coins
Economics: Banking - Bonds - Cheques - Credit Cards - Fiat currency - Gold standard - Mints - Monetary union - Reserve currency - Stocks
Production: Coining (machining) - Designers - Die making - Mint (coin) • Coinage Metals: Aluminum - Bronze - Copper - Gold - Platinum - Silver - Tin
Subcategories
Most traded currencies
Rank | Currency | ISO 4217 code |
Symbol or abbreviation |
Proportion of daily volume | Change (2019–2022) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2019 | April 2022 | |||||
1 | U.S. dollar | USD | US$ | 88.3% | 88.5% | ![]() |
2 | Euro | EUR | € | 32.3% | 30.5% | ![]() |
3 | Japanese yen | JPY | ¥ / 円 | 16.8% | 16.7% | ![]() |
4 | Sterling | GBP | £ | 12.8% | 12.9% | ![]() |
5 | Renminbi | CNY | ¥ / 元 | 4.3% | 7.0% | ![]() |
6 | Australian dollar | AUD | A$ | 6.8% | 6.4% | ![]() |
7 | Canadian dollar | CAD | C$ | 5.0% | 6.2% | ![]() |
8 | Swiss franc | CHF | CHF | 4.9% | 5.2% | ![]() |
9 | Hong Kong dollar | HKD | HK$ | 3.5% | 2.6% | ![]() |
10 | Singapore dollar | SGD | S$ | 1.8% | 2.4% | ![]() |
11 | Swedish krona | SEK | kr | 2.0% | 2.2% | ![]() |
12 | South Korean won | KRW | ₩ / 원 | 2.0% | 1.9% | ![]() |
13 | Norwegian krone | NOK | kr | 1.8% | 1.7% | ![]() |
14 | New Zealand dollar | NZD | NZ$ | 2.1% | 1.7% | ![]() |
15 | Indian rupee | INR | ₹ | 1.7% | 1.6% | ![]() |
16 | Mexican peso | MXN | MX$ | 1.7% | 1.5% | ![]() |
17 | New Taiwan dollar | TWD | NT$ | 0.9% | 1.1% | ![]() |
18 | South African rand | ZAR | R | 1.1% | 1.0% | ![]() |
19 | Brazilian real | BRL | R$ | 1.1% | 0.9% | ![]() |
20 | Danish krone | DKK | kr | 0.6% | 0.7% | ![]() |
21 | Polish złoty | PLN | zł | 0.6% | 0.7% | ![]() |
22 | Thai baht | THB | ฿ | 0.5% | 0.4% | ![]() |
23 | Israeli new shekel | ILS | ₪ | 0.3% | 0.4% | ![]() |
24 | Indonesian rupiah | IDR | Rp | 0.4% | 0.4% | ![]() |
25 | Czech koruna | CZK | Kč | 0.4% | 0.4% | ![]() |
26 | UAE dirham | AED | د.إ | 0.2% | 0.4% | ![]() |
27 | Turkish lira | TRY | ₺ | 1.1% | 0.4% | ![]() |
28 | Hungarian forint | HUF | Ft | 0.4% | 0.3% | ![]() |
29 | Chilean peso | CLP | CLP$ | 0.3% | 0.3% | ![]() |
30 | Saudi riyal | SAR | ﷼ | 0.2% | 0.2% | ![]() |
31 | Philippine peso | PHP | ₱ | 0.3% | 0.2% | ![]() |
32 | Malaysian ringgit | MYR | RM | 0.2% | 0.2% | ![]() |
33 | Colombian peso | COP | COL$ | 0.2% | 0.2% | ![]() |
34 | Russian ruble | RUB | ₽ | 1.1% | 0.2% | ![]() |
35 | Romanian leu | RON | L | 0.1% | 0.1% | ![]() |
36 | Peruvian sol | PEN | S/ | 0.1% | 0.1% | ![]() |
37 | Bahraini dinar | BHD | .د.ب | 0.0% | 0.0% | ![]() |
38 | Bulgarian lev | BGN | BGN | 0.0% | 0.0% | ![]() |
39 | Argentine peso | ARS | ARG$ | 0.1% | 0.0% | ![]() |
… | Other | 1.8% | 2.3% | ![]() | ||
Total[a] | 200.0% | 200.0% |
Web resources
- NumisWiki
- International Association of Professional Numismatists
- American Numismatic Association
- American Numismatic Society
- British Numismatic Association
- American Vecturist Association
- Challenge Coin Association
- Numismatic Museum of Athens, Greece
- The Perth Mint Australia
- Central Mint of China
- Royal Mint
- The French Mint
- United States Mint
- Bank of Russia
- Royal Canadian Mint
- Exact Change numismatic software
Things you can do
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Sources
- ^ Triennial Central Bank Survey Foreign exchange turnover in April 2022 (PDF) (Report). Bank for International Settlements. 27 October 2022. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-27.
- ^ The total sum is 200% because each currency trade is counted twice: once for the currency being bought and once for the one being sold. The percentages above represent the proportion of all trades involving a given currency, regardless of which side of the transaction it is on. For example, the US dollar is bought or sold in 88% of all currency trades, while the euro is bought or sold in 31% of all trades.