Welcome to your new passion.

You are a numismatist now.

Numismatism is the collecting and study of coins.

There’s a subcategory for those who wish to focus on bank notes. You notaphilists can enjoy notaphily.

Coin collecting is about history.

It’s about nations. Economies. Religion. Identity.

It’s about everything.

It’s always interesting.

And, it can be financially rewarding.

Here’s a guide for beginners.

A history of coin collecting

Lorenzo de' Medici looked serious and was a serious coin collector. 

As with its near neighbour stamp collecting, coin collecting is just about as old as its focus.

Coins have always had value. And initially that value resided in the precious, rare metals from which they were made, so it’s always made sense to keep hold of as many of them as you can.

Collections for artistic or historical reasons have been documented in Ancient Rome and the 12th to 13th century Mesopotamian empire.

Look for a list of famous coin collectors and you may well find Roman emperor Caesar Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD - the son of Julius Caesar) listed for his habit of giving coins as gifts.

Theodora Porphyrogenita, of the Roman-successor Byzantine Empire is said to have had a large and carefully curated coin collection in the 9th and 10th centuries.

The Renaissance that signalled a new era in Europe looked back to the classical empires and that included their coins.

Lorenzo de’ Medici, one of the biggest patrons of Italian art of the era, bought some of the collections of Pope Paul II.

From this period onward we start to see coin collections that become part of national collections.

For example, Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg, a 16th century ruler in what is now Germany, left a collection that is now national property.

British aristo Robert Cotton’s collection has landed in the British museum.

Those gentlemen were collecting in an era when it wasn’t too hard to get your hands on a lot of the world’s money.

The industrial age massively increased global money production.

And rarities become rarer in a world of mass production.

Coin production also becomes more complex.

Early coins were very often directly valuable as lumps of precious metal with a direct correlation between the amount of gold or silver in a coin and the goods you can exchange it for.

Those links were gradually broken and bullion coins became rarer and finally special-issue coins sold to collectors and investors.

Ordinary circulating coins have very little intrinsic value.

Almost none of these coins will ever have any value for collectors.

Mints become businesses and coins become symbols.

So we have commemorative issues. And proof coins and other collectors’ issues sold directly, in lovely presentation packaging, to enthusiasts.

These pieces, with their artificially induced rarity, aren’t likely to become hugely valuable because such rarity is self defeating: make a limited-edition item specifically designed to be collected and people will collect them. They rarely achieve true rarity.

So, modern coin collectors most often look to the past for value and interest.

And they look for freaks like production errors, mistrikes and design mistakes.

Or, proofs, tests, and early design stages.

Among the most valuable ever British coins are those prepared for but never issued in the short-lived reign of Edward VIII. They never made it beyond the design stage and the few test pieces that were produced have been snapped up by those close to the process.

The modern coin collector also has a huge global marketplace in which to shop and sell.

And a massive online community who can help them navigate the world of coins.

Knowing your coin

There is a common language that can be used to describe most coins.

If you have some change in your pocket now, take out a coin and name its parts.

They are:

Heads you win. The most recent portrait of Elizabeth II is in circulation now.

The OBVERSE or head side. A 10 pence piece in my pocket has a recent portrait of Queen Elizabeth II surrounded by the motto “ELIZABETH II D G REG F D” and the date 2014, this is the LEGEND.

The tails or REVERSE side has another design (sometimes a special or commemorative one) and the value. My example has a close up of the Royal Arms of the UK and “TEN PENCE”.

Both sides have a raised RIM that helps protect the coin from damage in use.

It needs that protection because the design is shown in RELIEF, raised above the surface of the disc.

If I hold the coin up I can see a milled EDGE. Not all edges are decorated with grooves like this, but it helps protect them from damage.

The RELIEF of the coin stands out over a flat surface called the FIELD that is often referred to in condition reports.

Choosing coins to collect

There’s almost no limit on coin collecting themes and specialisations.

And they’re open to everyone.

For some - early American dollars lets say - you might need 10s of millions of dollars.

But, other areas can be much more affordable.

Every time we write one of these guides we return to the same principal: be guided by your interests and passions.

A coin collection that reflects you will give you much more joy.

And, if you is very motivated by finding the rarest and most precious things that’s fine.

But you can also specialise by:

Date. Periods, monarchies, dynasties, a particular year.

Territory. Country, nation, region, particular mints, which were often decentralised in cities.

The "S" mark on this coin shows it was minted in San Francisco. 

Value or denomination. A collection of British pennies would be a wonderful and demanding collection, and would demand quite some resources to complete. This is a very popular way to collect. 

Design. Coin design is a fascinating and evolving field. Take a look at the portraits of Queen Elizabeth used during her reign. You could easily focus on just one of these.

Theme. When it comes to commemorative issues you can roam the globe finding examples to fit your love of science or design or military history.

Rarity. Most coin collections will in some part focus on rare coins.

What coins to collect: How coins become rare

Rarity is the main reason (but not the only one) why coins become very valuable.

Coins are usually, and certainly in the modern era, produced in very large numbers and are designed to last.

For a coin to be found in small numbers is unusual.

It can happen though because of:

Value - coins made of precious metals and worth large amounts are more likely to be scarce. Most nations produce a bullion coin today - sovereigns in the UK. Once, gold and silver coins were the norm - where they survive, they’re almost always valuable, sometimes well beyond their raw metal value.

Historic events - things happen. Edward VIII was never crowned. Payments of war debts meant large numbers of 1917 sovereigns were melted down. The Great Depression created the world’s most valuable coin, the 1933 US Double Eagle. It should have been destroyed as financial disaster led the US to delink its money from the value of gold.

Errors - coins can be damaged in a number of ways during production, including double-strikes, misdating and so on. Such errors are rare and add value. Errors that are easily visible or somehow striking are usually worth more, for example, the 1955 double-struck Lincoln cent. Such coins may be more recent than most rare and valuable coins.

Proof coins - these are made to be collected. For that reason their value on resale may not increase in the way that a truly rare, general circulation coin will. However, they are a fine subject for a collection and it’s very easy to get into this area of coin collecting.

A proof coin from the Royal Mint. Made for collectors. 

Perfect condition - Coins are meant to be used. If older coins remain in perfect condition, usually called “brilliant uncirculated”, then they are likely to be rare and more valuable.

Commemorative issues - Commemorative coins are issued in variable numbers. Most are still struck in their millions and so remain relatively common. However, some are limited and become valuable. Their theme and design contributes to their appeal. The most famous example is the recent (in numismatic terms) 2009 50p coin. Around 200,000 were struck, it’s got a great design, and can fetch hundreds of pounds in good condition. It’s certainly the top “fortune in your pocket change” coin to look out for.

Start your coin collection right now

We’ll continue in part II of this guide to advise you on how to store your coins and how to shop for them safely online.

You can see some of what we have on offer here.

And, if you’d like more guides like this. You’d like to know what we have on offer - and when we get new items in - then please sign up for our newsletter here. You’ll never miss out again.