![]() ![]() Numismatics as an academic discipline emerged in these centuries at the same time as a growing middle class, eager to prove their wealth and sophistication, began to collect coins. But rational, Enlightenment thinking led to a more systematic approach to accumulation and study. Perhaps because only the very wealthy could afford the pursuit, in Renaissance times coin collecting became known as the "Hobby of Kings." ĭuring the 17th and 18th centuries coin collecting remained a pursuit of the well-to-do. Some notable collectors were Pope Boniface VIII, Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire, Louis XIV of France, Ferdinand I of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV of France and Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, who started the Berlin Coin Cabinet (German: Münzkabinett Berlin). Following his lead, many European kings, princes, and other nobility kept collections of ancient coins. ![]() ![]() The Italian scholar and poet Petrarch is credited with being the pursuit's first and most famous aficionado. During the Renaissance, it became a fad among some members of the privileged classes, especially kings and queens. ![]() Ĭontemporary coin collecting and appreciation began around the fourteenth century. While the literary sources are scarce, it's evident that collecting of ancient coins persisted in the Western World during the Middle Ages among rulers and high nobility. According to Suetonius in his De vita Caesarum ( The Lives of the Twelve Caesars), written in the first century AD, the emperor Augustus sometimes presented old and exotic coins to friends and courtiers during festivals and other special occasions. It also seems probable that individual citizens collected old, exotic or commemorative coins as an affordable, portable form of art. Evidence from the archaeological and historical record of Ancient Rome and medieval Mesopotamia indicates that coins were collected and catalogued by scholars and state treasuries. However, the collection of coins for their artistic value was a later development. The Romans took a very practical view in exploiting natural resources in the areas of their conquest, and issued coins in gold, silver, and copper according to the resources of the region.People have hoarded coins for their bullion value for as long as coins have been minted. From the death of Julius Caesar, gold coinage came to be an important part of the Roman coinage system. The early Roman Republic issued few coins in gold, their main coinage being in silver, with bronze or copper for small change. In most cases, ready availability of one metal rather than the other exerted a practical influence over the choice.Īchaemenid Coin Daric Obverse 420BC The Romans Where the two existed side by side, then gold was usually considered the more important. Following this there have, for most of history, been regions which favoured silver and other nations which favoured gold as their main coinage and currency metal. The Greeks to the west of Ionia believed that silver should be the main metal used for coins. Shortly afterwards, in 546 B.C., Croeseus was captured by the Persians, who came to adopt gold as the main metal for their coins. Bi-metallic in the sense that there were gold coins and silver coins. Gold And Silverīy about 560 B.C., the Lydians and Ionians had learned how to separate the gold from the silver, so that King Croesus was able to issue the world's first bi-metallic coinage. These gold deposits were believed to have originated by King Midas washing himself in the river to cleanse himself of his "golden touch" which had the inconvenient effect of turning even his food into gold. ![]()
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