Coin Collecting (Numismatics) an Intro

Coin collecting, also called numismatics is one of the world’s oldest hobbies, yet remains one of the most popular and also called the “Hobby of Kings”. Modern coin collecting is generally believed to have begun in the fourteenth century by Italian Renaissance, even by Roman emperors also known to be collecting coins but the purpose behind it is still unclear. Collecting coins is a lot of fun and it can be profitable too. Many early coins and bank notes can be worth much more today than their original face value. In coin collecting the coin value depends mainly on two factors, the condition of a coin which is called “grade” and the Rarity.

The dawn of Internet produced an entirely new culture in numismatics with new opportunities and new challenges.  Many coins were counterfeited and sold online as “Original”. Fortunately, there are many tools/online portals available to identify “Fake coins”. Over time the vast majority of forgeries are detected. Coin Grading/Graded coins are the best way to add genuine coins to your collection. There are a number of grading services who will check the coins and grade them based on the attributes.