A History Lesson In Coin Collecting

Coin collecting is a hobby that began in the ancient roman times and has continued on to become what is known as numismatics and a booming money making industry here in the U.S.

Uncirculated U.S. coins are struck for the purpose of coin collecting, thus spawning new collectable coins yearly and a treat for any serious collector. These uncirculated coins periodically find their way into circulation and a person with a good eye just might catch one or two. When I get change back while shopping, I take it home and sift through it with my children as if we’ve found a treasure chest filled with stones and we’re eagerly searching for rare gems. It’s rare that we find one, but we enjoy looking at the coins, the state quarters, the bicentennial coins, Susan B. Anthony dollars an so on as they all give us a glimpse of political history. For instance Susan B. Anthony was the first woman who’s image was displayed on a U.S. coin that rolls with it the history of abolitionism, woman suffrage and women’s rights. In the late 90’s the Susan B. Anthony dollar was discontinued, possibly due to lack of popularity and the Sacagawea dollar began. We can go on and on about the fascinating history of the figures featured.

I find the ancient coins to be the most fascinating because they are very old and rare. The Julius Caesar coins are my favorite- here are some to check out: http://www.coastcoin.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=AncientRoman Interesting coins with volumes of history behind them. The same goes with foreign and U.S. coins, I just happen to like the ancient coins because they are so unique. If you have children it’s a creative way for them to learn about history. We browse coins then look up the history of the coin which in turn provides us with the history that led to why the coin was struck.

There are a number of resources that provide information about history related to coins- the library, encyclopedias, and the internet. Be careful about the internet as there can be much information that is second hand and sometimes the facts get misconstrued. Wikipedia is a good source.

Coin collecting is not just a hobby for me. My kids and I have found coin collecting to be a fun and fascinating history lesson while learning the value of money.

Article Source: http://www.coin-articles.com

Suzanne is a freelance writer on various topics.

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