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Brother, Look Before You Spare That Dime
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17569 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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7 / 1990 |
1,921 Words |
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John Elvin
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Put your hand in your pocket. No doubt, it's full of ordinary change. But look more carefully - there may be a wealth of history there, even though what you find might only be worth its face value. Did you know, for instance, that the first modern quarter-dollar featured the sculptured bust of George Washington and was issued in 1932 as a commemorative of the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth? The design was so popular that it has remained on the quarter ever since.
Coins were introduced in Asia Minor during the sixth century B.C. as a substitute for the more cumbersome system of barter. King Croesus of Lydia is credited with developing coinage featuring images of mythological or religious figures. The goddess Athena appeared on the earliest known coin.
The Greeks, and especially the Romans, preferred to memorialize themselves. In fact, the images the Roman emperors engraved onto their coinage are our best clue to what they actually looked like. Since then, for reasons ranging from the purely egocentric to the more utilitarian need to portray a familiar image, coins have borne the likenesses of prominent persons.
Why Collect?
Collecting coins, tokens, and medals has long been a popular hobby, enjoyed by old and young alike. The Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens collected coins that inspired him artistically. Former Italian sovereign Victor Emmanuel amassed a magnificent collection spanning several millennia of the coins of his realm. Over the centuries, collecting coins, tokens, and medals has led many to a better understanding, appreciation, and celebration of historically significant people, places, and events.
Coin collecting is also touted as a path to wealth. Commemorative coins generally have a face value, but their prices are often much higher, based on factors including the condition of the image, the intrinsic worth of the materials, and the number of copies struck (produced). Experts advise that collectors need to accumulate a wealth of knowledge before even thinking of realizing a profit.
"Be a collector," counsels Joe Levine, author and head of Presidential Coin and Antique in Alexandria, Virginia. "Learn. Education is the key. Join clubs. Read books."
Levine is an expert on tokens and medals featuring patriotic or political themes. He concedes that the educated collector will ultimately do very nicely as an investor. But the learning must come first.
"Civil War tokens would be a good place to start," Levine advises the person interested in pursuing such themes. "But even that is a broad field, and you will have to narrow your interests considerably."
Focusing on Civil War tokens provides an opportunity to discover the importance - and the rewards - of serious research. During that period, the federal government printed greenbacks - paper money - rather than continuing to mint gold, silver, and copper coins. The public had become so suspicious to the paper money that by 1862 almost all U.S. coins had been hoarded away, out o circulation. Northern merchants found it necessary to mint their own coins to
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