Today, it is believed that the first coins were bronze and used in China colse to 800-1,000Bc. Lydia in Asia Minor used coins about 600-700 Bc. The Lydian's coins were called "starters" which was a unit of weight. Starters were stamped with a lion's head image and made with a gold and silver alloy. Today, as you might guess, the coins that are still remaining are very valuable.
The early Americans did not use coins for money. They made their "notes" from beaver skins, wampum and tobacco. They had their own money theory without coins in use until foreign traders came to America and demanded payment for their goods. The foreign coins then started to circulate, but soon Americans started production their own coins from copper in the 18th century. Then after the new American government was born, it started to regulate coinage. The ownership to yield their own coins were eventually given to the states. Later, national coinage was produced in America and the first U.S. Mint building started their coining operations in Philadelphia in 1793. The Mint building was verily an old brewery! The cent coin was the first one struck for circulation.
It's marvelous how these ingenious and enterprising early Americans operated their first Mints. They used a screw press that was powered by horses or many strong men! The planchets were squeezed in the middle of the obverse and reverse dies to assault the coins. At first, the dies were cut by hand. Sometimes a die cutter would add his own artistic flair to his dies.
Coin collecting has a long and colorful history and was mostly a hobby for the wealthy until more contemporary times. The Roman Emperor Augustus (63Bc-14Ad) was the earliest man known to acquire coins. He collected them for his own collection and even gave out some as gifts. In the Middle Ages, the wealthy families and royalty amassed marvelous collections. Even in the early history of America, only the wealthy could afford to acquire coins. every person else had to spend the money for necessities such as food, security and clothing.
Then in 1858 the American Numismatic community was formed and in 1891 the American Numismatic association was founded. (A numismatist is a man who studies, collects or invests in paper money or coins). Because of these organizations, communal awareness of coin collecting grew and in the 1930s the U.S. Commemorative coins were struck and became highly popular with the public. More and more habitancy were starting to acquire and invest in coins. The numismatic hobby has been growing every since the 1930s and it is estimated that there are more that 15 million numismatists in the United States today!
Collecting coins is such a popular hobby because the idea of collecting money is exciting! And the money itself is exciting and informative. Coins can open up your world to other cultures, history, art and economics by just learning them and the stories attached to the coins. There is a pleasure when a man finds that single date or mintmark to faultless his collection! And since a completed collection is more valuable than personel coins, the excitement grows after each completed collection!
Start your collection today by visiting the many potential numismatic websites on the internet. Some fellowships even let you preview the coins before you buy them! It verily is an exciting and exciting hobby. Don't be surprised that when you acquire that first coin, you won't want to stop!
