|
|
Collecting Through the Ages
 Chinese Money Tree circa 1000 B.C.E. Consisting of Cast Bronze Coins.
|
Around and about 1000 B.C.E. the Chinese are supposed to have minted the world’s first coins. They were not round. They looked like sea shells, knives, and farm tools. These early Chinese pieces were not struck between dies, but they were cast.
Chinese pieces were often marked with a value recognized by the government which had ordered up their production. The Chinese also pioneered the production of paper money with the promise to execute anyone who would counterfeit it or refuse to accept it at face value.
 Tooled Vellum Binding of Patin’s book on Roman Imperial Coins Bound for Royalty in 1671.
|
It can be presumed that if coinage was produced, it was also collected. There are quite a few very early pieces around to collect even today. One must be careful however, because most of these early pieces have been reproduced.
Sometimes around the seventh century, the rich Anatolian (today’s modern Turkey) kingdom of Lydia produced the first western coins. These pieces looked like lumps of electrum (a mixture of gold and silver), silver, and gold. About 15 or 20 years ago I bought four Lydian silver coins from a Boston dealer, Martin Deering, for $60. That is how common these pieces were.
The Greeks minted both tiny and large silver coins of great beauty in silver, bronze, and gold. Their intrinsic beauty was not lost on the Romans who were lovers of all things Greek. The large silver tetradrachms offered a wonderful surface for the production of portraits.
 Front Piece of Patin’s Imperial Roman Numismatics Dedicated to the Holy Roman Emperor in 1671.
|
Roman coinage does not measure up to the Greek coinage in terms of beauty. The Republican coinage is much nicer than the Imperial coinage. No doubt the Romans thought that Greek coinage was superior as an artistic production, because middle class and upper class Romans collected Greek coins in cabinets.
Roman coinage exists in huge amounts today, because it was kept safely in the earth. One of the problems with the Roman Army was that after soldiers were paid, they frequently deserted. The problem was solved by paying the Roman Army twice a year in bronze coinage. Payment to the troops would be made in the form of two huge leather bags of coins weighing about 35 pounds each.
This means that twice a year the soldiers would be taking their shovels and to bank their soldiers pay in the earth. During 20 years of service, the troopers would bury 40 bags of loot all over the Empire. Roman soldiers’ tended to take a wife in several of the provinces to which they were posted. After 20 years of service, they would select their favorite wife, or a brand new one altogether, and set out in their ox cart to dig up their fortune.
 A Fantasticily Well Engraved Copperplate of the author
Dr. Charles Patin
|
Often they would miss the odd sack of coinage, or having been killed, never dug up their treasure at all. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of bags of Roman coins were never reclaimed and still lay preserved in the earth of the former Roman Empire’s far-flung provinces.
Urns or amphorae of silver coins were also buried, and once in a while even gold was stashed away. Over the last 1,600 years Roman coins have turned up. I am sure that some may have been collected, but given the shortage of coins in the middle ages, I am equally sure that most of this coinage was either traded as money or melted down for the intrinsic value of the bullion.
During the late Renaissance, beautiful large silver coins were produced in Italy, France, and the Germanies. Starting in the late 15th Century large silver thalers were produced of great artistic value. These were avidly collected during the centuries to come.
 Two Volume Work on Roman Coins Published for Very Wealthy Coin Collectors in 1718.
|
Large and beautiful books were produced in the 17th and 18thcenturies on the subject of Imperial Roman Coinage. The reason for this was political. Most of these works began with the coinage of Julius Caesar and ended with the contemporary coinage of the Hapsburg’s Holy Roman Empire.
The obvious point was that Leopold, Holy Roman Emperor in 1671 at the time of the publication of Charles Patin’s Imperial Roman Numismatics, was the direct political heir to Julius Caesar. This great book is very rare. Few were published and cost more than thirty five thousand dollars in terms of today’s money. An Austrian grand ducal coat of arms dominates both of its covers showing its aristocratic ownership. Also pictured here are highly rare coin books of the early 18th century.
James Conder’s First Edition of His Famous Work on English Tokens Written in 1798.
|
Louis XV, King of France from 1715 to 1774, collected medals and coins in beautiful tortoise shell inlayed Bonllé cabinets mounted with gold plated bronze mounts.
The first great Rothchild, of the great family of bankers, got his start in dealing with coins. From coin dealing, he moved into banking, and the rest is history.
In the late 18th century, English collectors began collecting tokens. James Conder published his book, An Arrangement of Provincial Coins etc., on tokens in 1798. Because he was the first source of information on these bronze pieces, the tokens themselves became known as “Conders.” Some tokens were made of silver. Many tokens were of a political nature showing the Prince of Wales and George III as fools.
A Great Book on Imperial Roman Coinage Written by Joannes Lotichius and Johann
Jacob Hofmann in Amsterdam in 1707 – Books Like This One Could Only Be Afforded by Rich Numismatists – Poor People
Did Not Collect Coins.
|
Collecting United States coins began to boom by the middle part of the 1840’s. A few books began to appear by Crosby and others. Coin companies and auction houses began to appear in urban areas. Well healed collectors still used coin cabinets with lined drawers. Today collectors find early U.S. and world coins which are uncirculated on one side and slightly worn on the other. The reason for this sort of wear is “Cabinet Friction” caused by the movement of the coin in the cabinet as the drawers were opened and closed. Eventually some collections were housed in “coin boards.” Holes were drilled into a piece of wood the size of the coins to be housed, and the coins would then be faced into the holes and varnished!
 Another Collectors Book on the Subject of Tokens Was Published by John Nichols in London in 1796. Note the Fine Copperplate Engravings of the Tokens
by Charles Pye. |
Actually the varnish, in many cases preserved the surface of the coin. I saw an amazing collection of large cents, including the first 1799 cent I ever saw, 45 years ago in Bridgewater, Mass. They were owned by a ninety-year-old former professor of botany who had been collecting coins since the 1880’s. He told me that was the way coins were preserved in the numismatic collection of the Berlin Museum.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, a lot of numismatic literature began to appear. Many editions of The Rare Coins of American and Foreign Countries began appearing in 1889. This was an actual coin catalog in which coins were listed by year and grade. The grades were a far cry from Sheldon’s 70 point scale used today. Coins were listed in
 In the U.S. Coin Collecting Was Less Aristocratic, and Middle Class People Could Afford to Buy George G. Evans’ Illustrated History of the United Mint.
| uncirculated, fine, and good. No attention was paid to mintmarks. This fact has special significance when one considers a proof-65 1894 dime minted at Philadelphia and valued at $1,500.00, and a proof-65 1894 dime minted at San Francisco in proof-65 valued at $450,000.00! Oh what a difference a mint mark makes in 2006.
Coin boards gave way to all sorts of bound albums, coin holders, and other sophisticated coin-collecting devices used today. If one attends coin shows around the country, one can see that the hobby is booming. Crowds of collectors line up at the doors of the coin shows with bundles of cash in their pockets. They will shop until they drop. The will hang in there until their last dollar is gone.
 Still Expensive Was Frederick W. Madden’s History of Jewish Coinage Published in London in 1864 By Bernard Quaritch. Quaritch Was Also a Dealer in the World’s Rarest Books rivaling the Great American Bibliophyle A.S.W. Rosenbach. Quaritch’s Is Still Around Today.
|
These collectors will then go home with their treasures to fill in gaps in their collections. It’s beautiful! Don’t shoot me. I get a little carried away sometimes. My coin hobby combines art, history, and the adventure of the hunt all in one. It’s a great trip. Come along.
If you want to catch up with me in late March and April, I’ll be at the following shows. On March 26, I’ll be at Ernie Botte’s Westford Show at the Westford Regency Inn on Rt. 110 in Westford, Massachusetts. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. To get to Rt. 110, Exit Rt. 495 at Exit 32 and follow the signs. It’s easy.
On April 2, I’ll be at the annual Mansfield Numismatic Society show in Willimantic, Conn. The show will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the gymnasium of the Prospect Street School on 233 Prospect Street at the corner of High Street.
 Full Democratising of the Hobby Was Archived in the Publication of Cheap Works Like The Rare Coins of America. From 1889 Onward.
Note (If Your Eyes Are Good) That Only Three Grades of Condition Are Noted.
|
On Sunday April 9, I’ll be at the Auburn Show at brand new Elk’s Hall, located on Rt.12 near the Hampton Inn. Tom Lacey, a legend in the world of United States numismatics, has sold this show to Ernie Botte. Tom’s health has suffered a severe blow, and he has been forced to pass the torch to Ernie. Tom shall continue to exhibit at the shows and we wish him well. Nobody has done more in the Northeast to promote the hobby of Numismatics during the last thirty years than Tom. Rt.12 is located off Exit 10 from the Massachusetts Turnpike. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
On April 23, I’ll be back in Westford at Ernie Botte’s show at the beautiful Westford Regency Inn on Rt. 110. I hope to see all of you Antiques Journal readers there.
 Andrew McFarland Davis Work, Tracts Relating to the Currency of the Massachusetts Bay 1682-1720 Was Published by Houghton, Mifflin, and Company in 1902 Showing Just How Popular Coincollecting Had Come by the Twentieth Century.
|
|
|
|
