Portal:Numismatics
The Numismatics Portal
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 -
Seigniorage /ˈseɪnjərɪdʒ/, also spelled seignorage or seigneurage (from Old French seigneuriage 'right of the lord (seigneur) to mint money'), is the difference between the value of money and the cost to produce and distribute it. The term can be applied in two ways:
- Seigniorage derived from specie (metal coins) is a tax added to the total cost of a coin (metal content and production costs) that a customer of the mint had to pay, and which was sent to the sovereign of the political region.
- Seigniorage derived from notes is more indirect; it is the difference between interest earned on securities acquired in exchange for banknotes and the cost of printing and distributing the notes.
"Monetary seigniorage" is where sovereign-issued securities are exchanged for newly printed banknotes by a central bank, allowing the sovereign to "borrow" without needing to repay. Monetary seigniorage is sovereign revenue obtained through routine debt monetization, including expansion of the money supply during GDP growth and meeting yearly inflation targets. (Full article...)
Selected image
Credit: commons:User:Roger McLassus.
A 1 Hungarian pengő coin, made of aluminium, floating on water, demonstrating its surface tension.
Did you know...
- ...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 -
The Florentine florin was a gold coin (in Italian Fiorino d'oro) struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.1125 troy ounces) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purchasing power difficult to estimate (and variable) but ranging according to social grouping and perspective from approximately 140 to 1,000 modern US dollars. The name of the coin comes from the Giglio bottonato (it), the floral emblem of the city, which is represented at the head of the coin. (Full article...)
Selected banknote image -
Credit: commons:User:Schutz.
A 1000 Swiss franc note, the fourth highest non-commemorative banknote in the world.
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
Currency | ISO 4217 code |
Symbols | Proportion of daily volume | Change (2019–2022) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2019 | April 2022 | ||||
U.S. dollar | USD | $, US$ | 88.3% | 88.5% | 0.2pp |
Euro | EUR | € | 32.3% | 30.5% | 1.8pp |
Japanese yen | JPY | ¥, 円 | 16.8% | 16.7% | 0.1pp |
Sterling | GBP | £ | 12.8% | 12.9% | 0.1pp |
Renminbi | CNY | ¥, 元 | 4.3% | 7.0% | 2.7pp |
Australian dollar | AUD | $, A$ | 6.8% | 6.4% | 0.4pp |
Canadian dollar | CAD | $, Can$ | 5.0% | 6.2% | 1.2pp |
Swiss franc | CHF | Fr., fr. | 4.9% | 5.2% | 0.3pp |
Hong Kong dollar | HKD | $, HK$, 元 | 3.5% | 2.6% | 0.9pp |
Singapore dollar | SGD | $, S$ | 1.8% | 2.4% | 0.6pp |
Swedish krona | SEK | kr, Skr | 2.0% | 2.2% | 0.2pp |
South Korean won | KRW | ₩, 원 | 2.0% | 1.9% | 0.1pp |
Norwegian krone | NOK | kr, Nkr | 1.8% | 1.7% | 0.1pp |
New Zealand dollar | NZD | $, $NZ | 2.1% | 1.7% | 0.4pp |
Indian rupee | INR | ₹ | 1.7% | 1.6% | 0.1pp |
Mexican peso | MXN | $, Mex$ | 1.7% | 1.5% | 0.2pp |
New Taiwan dollar | TWD | $, NT$, 圓 | 0.9% | 1.1% | 0.2pp |
South African rand | ZAR | R | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.1pp |
Brazilian real | BRL | R$ | 1.1% | 0.9% | 0.2pp |
Danish krone | DKK | kr., DKr | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.1pp |
Polish złoty | PLN | zł, Zl | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.1pp |
Thai baht | THB | ฿, B | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1pp |
Israeli new shekel | ILS | ₪, NIS | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1pp |
Indonesian rupiah | IDR | Rp | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
Czech koruna | CZK | Kč, CZK | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
UAE dirham | AED | د.إ, Dh(s) | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2pp |
Turkish lira | TRY | ₺, TL | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.7pp |
Hungarian forint | HUF | Ft | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.1pp |
Chilean peso | CLP | $, Ch$ | 0.3% | 0.3% | |
Saudi riyal | SAR | ﷼, SRl(s) | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Philippine peso | PHP | ₱ | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1pp |
Malaysian ringgit | MYR | RM | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Colombian peso | COP | $, Col$ | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Russian ruble | RUB | ₽, руб | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.9pp |
Romanian leu | RON | —, leu | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
Peruvian sol | PEN | S/. | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
Bahraini dinar | BHD | .د.ب, BD | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
Bulgarian lev | BGN | лв., lv., lev | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
Argentine peso | ARS | $, Arg$ | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1pp |
Other currencies | 1.8% | 2.3% | 0.5pp | ||
Total: | 200.0% | 200.0% |
References
- ^ 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.
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
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