Coins and Coin Collecting.
Publié le 14/05/2013
Extrait du document
«
U.S.
coins dates from 1909, when the first Lincoln Cents appeared during the centennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
George Washington’s profile was used on thequarter-dollar of 1932, a coin originally intended as a one-year commemorative to honor the 200th anniversary of his birth.
The design quickly became so popular thatit was retained for regular-issue quarters and is still being used today.
Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D.
Roosevelt, John F.
Kennedy, and Dwight D.
Eisenhower are theother American presidents who have appeared on regular-issue U.S.
coinage.
In 2006 the U.S.
Mint announced plans to issue a series of dollar coins with images of theAmerican presidents.
Starting in 2007, four coins were to be issued each year in the order that the presidents served.
In February 2007 the U.S.
Mint released intocirculation the George Washington dollar coin just in advance of Presidents’ Day.
Other historical figures have also been featured on U.S.
coins.
Statesman and scientist Benjamin Franklin was shown on the half-dollars of 1948 through 1963.
Susan B.Anthony, the noted feminist and suffragette, was featured on the first small-size dollar coins, struck from 1979 to 1981 and again in 1999.
Representations of NativeAmericans have been popular on U.S.
coins and paper money, but most designs have been abstractions or composites, such as the obverse (“heads” side) of theBuffalo Nickels (1913-1938).
In 2000, the United States issued the first “golden” dollar coins honoring Sacagawea, the young Native American woman who guidedMeriwether Lewis and William Clark in their exploration of the West ( see Lewis and Clark Expedition).
In 1892 and 1893 the United States issued its first commemorative coins, a set of two half-dollars and a quarter-dollar.
The coins were intended to mark the 400thanniversary of Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the New World.
From 1892 until 1954, the United States struck silver and gold commemorative coins honoringsuch famous Americans as explorer Daniel Boone, composer Stephen Foster, and showman P.
T.
Barnum.
No other commemorative coins were issued until 1982, whena silver dollar was struck in honor of George Washington’s 250th birthday.
Commemoratives are now being produced on a regular basis.
Some commemorative coins are intended to take the place of regular coin designs for one or two years.
Canada changed the design on all its coins in 1969 to mark the100th anniversary of its confederation.
The United States changed its quarter, half-dollar, and dollar designs in 1975 and 1976 to honor the American Bicentennial.
Allof these coins are dated 1976 even though many were struck the previous year.
The reverse (“tails” side) of the quarter-dollar was also changed beginning in 1999 fora special State Quarters program.
Radical changes in the world of coins and circulating money have emerged in recent years.
Having one unified currency for many European countries (the euro) is making money more international.
This change has made many monetary denominations—such as the French franc and the German deutsche mark—obsolete, reducingthe variety of coins being produced.
Another change is the increasingly widespread use of debit and credit cards.
These cards reduce the need for coins and paper money.
If these types of electronicpayments become standardized and universally accepted, coins may no longer be needed by the 22nd century.
III COIN COLLECTING
Coins old and new have a special attraction for many hobbyists as well as professional dealers and investors.
Estimates of the number of active collectors worldwiderange into the millions.
Coins, medals, and paper money touch on every aspect of the human condition: history, geography, philosophy, politics, economics, the arts, and all areas of science.Coins are mirrors of history.
Numismatic scholars study coin portraits of monarchs—some famous, others scarcely known except from coins—and the inscriptions anddesigns on coins that often refer to important events.
Even analyzing the purity of the metal from which a coin was made can provide an insight into the conditions ofits time.
Other people examine and collect coins for their artistic beauty or for their connection to literature or religion.
For example, the tiny ancient Judaic lepton (orhalf-prutah) has become a numismatic curiosity because it is probably the coin referred to in the Bible as the “widow’s mite,” the offering made by a poor woman thatJesus declared was worth more than the gold given by the wealthy (Mark 22: 41-44).
A Types of Collecting
Many numismatists start with collecting coins from their own country because of easy availability.
Every date, mint mark, and variation in design is counted as adifferent coin.
A typical beginner method is to acquire one of each piece within a series; then a collector may continually attempt to find better quality specimens of thecoins already acquired.
The number of collectible coins found in circulation has become very limited, so a collector must usually resort to trading or buying to completeor upgrade a top-condition modern series.
Another popular form of collecting is to assemble a type set of coins from a specific country.
The word type refers to a classification of coins by their metal, denomination, nationality, and principal designs.
For example, instead of acquiring a specimen of every date and mint from a series of dimes, the collector obtains asingle coin to represent this series.
Every coin is distinct and has its own history in this kind of collection.
Many collectors prefer topical or thematic collecting.
The coins are related to one another on the basis of their design or because of the people or objects shown.Animals, plants, ships, maps, buildings, and religious motifs are well represented on coins.
Some topical collections can be difficult to assemble.
A British Commonwealthset that includes one of each type portraying Queen Elizabeth II would encompass hundreds of coins and probably take many years to acquire.
Some mints have bolstered coin collecting through various programs and efforts over the years, such as special commemorative issues, collectible sets, and by alteringthe designs of regular-circulation coins.
One initiative of the U.S.
Mint is the 50 State Quarters Program, which began in 1999.
Under this program, the mint issues fivenew state quarters each year for ten years—each coin featuring a special design that recalls something from that state’s history or heritage.
The effort has been verysuccessful, attracting many new collectors, especially children.
Beginning in 2004 the mint introduced a new series of nickels commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Part of the five-coin seriesincluded a nickel introduced in 2006 that featured a forward-facing Thomas Jefferson, the first circulating American coin to depict a U.S.
president facing forward ratherthan in profile.
B Coin Values
The market value of any coin—the price a dealer can actually receive for it—is determined by supply and demand.
Some exotic coins are quite scarce, but their pricesremain low because there is no great demand for them.
Yet many fairly recent British, Canadian, and American coins, as well as coins from other times and places, aremore available, but their prices are relatively high because there are far more numismatists who collect them.
As with any collectible, the condition of a coin is a majorfactor in determining its value.
When deciding on the purchase of expensive coins or notes, collectors must do the same kind of research necessary for any other major investment.
The collector mustassess the current market value of the item, its current resale value, and its potential appreciation.
Above all, the collector must be knowledgeable enough to know if acoin is genuine and properly graded (assessed as to condition) or must have confidence that the dealer does..
»
↓↓↓ APERÇU DU DOCUMENT ↓↓↓
Liens utiles
- Stamps and Stamp Collecting.
- Collectibles and Collecting.
- Ideology and Rationality in the History of the Life Sciences
- Relationship between religion, spirituality, and young Lebanese university students’ well-being.
- Course of reading and writing for 1st year English Licence