Portal:Numismatics
The Numismatics Portal
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods.
The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "odd and curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not.[dubious – discuss] Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. (Full article...)
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Constance Ortmayer (July 19, 1902 – May 15, 1988) was an American artist well known for designing the 1936 Cincinnati Musical Center half dollar. Ortmayer was inspired to become an artist by her father, Rudolph Ortmayer, who worked as a lithographer. In 1926, Ortmayer began studying under Austrian born sculptor Franz Plunder. She graduated from the Royal Academy in Vienna, Austria and studied Master School of the Royal Academy. Upon returning to the United States in 1932, Ortmayer found difficulty gaining employment. With the assistance of her friend, a tutor of Treasury secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr. Ortmayer became employed with the Section of Painting and Sculpture, coordinating design contests for federal buildings. In 1937, she ended her employment with the Section. Soon after, she was recruited as a sculpture instructor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, by the current president, Hamilton Holt.
Ortmayer was awarded commissions to design and create two bas reliefs for post offices in Arcadia, Florida, and Scottsboro, Alabama, as a result of her entering a national design competition. The Arcadia relief, completed in 1939, is titled Arcadia. It features five people (two men, a woman and two children) with a cow and her calf. The second relief, completed in 1940, is titled Alabama Agriculture. It features three separate panels, each depicting different stages of crop harvest. In 1941, Ortmayer was promoted to assistant professor of sculpture in 1941. In 1945, she was further promoted to associate professor. She reached the status of professor of sculpture in 1947. During her career at Rollins, Ortmayer created a number of award–winning medals. Ortmayer retired in 1968. She died on May 15, 1988. (Full article...)
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Did you know...
- ...that with its two-dollar coin (reverse pictured), Newfoundland was the only British colony to issue circulating gold coinage?
- ...that Mount Burgess is nicknamed the Ten Dollar Mountain because it was featured on Canadian currency?
- ...that the American Buffalo gold bullion coin was the first .9999 fine 24-carat gold coin released by the United States Mint?
- ...that the Alabama centennial half dollar was the first commemorative coin minted with the image of a living individual?
- ...that Aksumite currency was the only native coinage to be issued in Africa without direct influence by an outside culture like Roman, Greek, etc...?
Related portals
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The Mercury dime is a ten-cent coin struck by the United States Mint from late 1916 to 1945. Designed by Adolph Weinman and also referred to as the Winged Liberty Head dime, it gained its common name because the obverse depiction of a young Liberty, identifiable by her winged Phrygian cap, was confused with the Roman god Mercury. Weinman is believed to have used Elsie Stevens, the wife of lawyer and poet Wallace Stevens, as a model. The coin's reverse depicts a fasces, symbolizing unity and strength, and an olive branch, signifying peace.
By 1916, the dime, quarter, and half dollar designed by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber had been struck for 25 years, and could be replaced by the Treasury, of which the Mint is a part, without Congressional authorization. Mint officials were under the misapprehension that the designs had to be changed, and held a competition among three sculptors, in which Barber, who had been in his position for 36 years, also took part. Weinman's designs for the dime and half dollar were selected. (Full article...)
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Credit: commons:User:Red devil 666
Series of 1886 $1 silver certificates portraying Martha Washington, the only woman in United States history to be featured on its banknotes.
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Numismatic terminology
- Bullion – Precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) in the form of bars, ingots or plate.
- Error – Usually a mis-made coin not intended for circulation, but can also refer to an engraving or die-cutting error not discovered until the coins are released to circulation. This may result is two or more varieties of the coin in the same year.
- Exonumia – The study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration.
- Fineness – Purity of precious metal content expressed in terms of one thousand parts. 90% is expressed as .900 fine.
- Notaphily – The study of paper money or banknotes.
- Scripophily – The study and collection of stocks and Bonds.
WikiProjects
Numismatic topics
Money - Coins - Banknotes - Electronic money - Exchange rate - Legal tender - Clubs - Terminology
Ancient currency: Asia - Byzantium - Greece - Primitive Money - Roman - Indian coinage
Modern currency: Africa - The Americas - Asia and the Pacific - Europe - Bullion coins - Challenge coin - Commemorative coins - Token coins
Economics: Banking - Bonds - Cheques - Credit Cards - Fiat currency - Gold standard - Mints - Monetary union - Reserve currency - Stocks
Production: Coining (machining) - Designers - Die making - Mint (coin) • Coinage Metals: Aluminum - Bronze - Copper - Gold - Platinum - Silver - Tin
Subcategories
Most traded currencies
Currency | ISO 4217 code |
Symbol or Abbrev.[2] |
Proportion of daily volume | Change (2019–2022) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2019 | April 2022 | ||||
U.S. dollar | USD | $, US$ | 88.3% | 88.5% | 0.2pp |
Euro | EUR | € | 32.3% | 30.5% | 1.8pp |
Japanese yen | JPY | ¥, 円 | 16.8% | 16.7% | 0.1pp |
Sterling | GBP | £ | 12.8% | 12.9% | 0.1pp |
Renminbi | CNY | ¥, 元 | 4.3% | 7.0% | 2.7pp |
Australian dollar | AUD | $, $A | 6.8% | 6.4% | 0.4pp |
Canadian dollar | CAD | $, Can$ | 5.0% | 6.2% | 1.2pp |
Swiss franc | CHF | Fr., fr. | 4.9% | 5.2% | 0.3pp |
Hong Kong dollar | HKD | $, HK$, 元 | 3.5% | 2.6% | 0.9pp |
Singapore dollar | SGD | $, S$ | 1.8% | 2.4% | 0.6pp |
Swedish krona | SEK | kr, Skr | 2.0% | 2.2% | 0.2pp |
South Korean won | KRW | ₩, 원 | 2.0% | 1.9% | 0.1pp |
Norwegian krone | NOK | kr, Nkr | 1.8% | 1.7% | 0.1pp |
New Zealand dollar | NZD | $, $NZ | 2.1% | 1.7% | 0.4pp |
Indian rupee | INR | ₹ | 1.7% | 1.6% | 0.1pp |
Mexican peso | MXN | $, Mex$ | 1.7% | 1.5% | 0.2pp |
New Taiwan dollar | TWD | $, NT$, 圓 | 0.9% | 1.1% | 0.2pp |
South African rand | ZAR | R | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.1pp |
Brazilian real | BRL | R$ | 1.1% | 0.9% | 0.2pp |
Danish krone | DKK | kr., DKr | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.1pp |
Polish złoty | PLN | zł, Zl | 0.6% | 0.7% | 0.1pp |
Thai baht | THB | ฿, B | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1pp |
Israeli new shekel | ILS | ₪, NIS | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.1pp |
Indonesian rupiah | IDR | Rp | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
Czech koruna | CZK | Kč, CZK | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
UAE dirham | AED | د.إ, Dh(s) | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.2pp |
Turkish lira | TRY | ₺, TL | 1.1% | 0.4% | 0.7pp |
Hungarian forint | HUF | Ft | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.1pp |
Chilean peso | CLP | $, Ch$ | 0.3% | 0.3% | |
Saudi riyal | SAR | ﷼, SRl(s) | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Philippine peso | PHP | ₱ | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1pp |
Malaysian ringgit | MYR | RM | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Colombian peso | COP | $, Col$ | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
Russian ruble | RUB | ₽, руб | 1.1% | 0.2% | 0.9pp |
Romanian leu | RON | —, leu | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
Peruvian sol | PEN | S/. | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
Bahraini dinar | BHD | .د.ب, BD | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
Bulgarian lev | BGN | лв., lv., lev | 0.0% | 0.0% | |
Argentine peso | ARS | $, Arg$ | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.1pp |
Other currencies | 1.8% | 2.3% | 0.5pp | ||
Total: | 200.0% | 200.0% |
References
- ^ Triennial Central Bank Survey Foreign exchange turnover in April 2022 (PDF) (Report). Bank for International Settlements. 27 October 2022. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-27.
- ^ "Currency Units". Editorial Style Guide (PDF). World Bank Publications. p. 134–139.
Web resources
- NumisWiki
- International Association of Professional Numismatists
- American Numismatic Association
- American Numismatic Society
- British Numismatic Association
- American Vecturist Association
- Challenge Coin Association
- Numismatic Museum of Athens, Greece
- The Perth Mint Australia
- Central Mint of China
- Royal Mint
- The French Mint
- United States Mint
- Bank of Russia
- Royal Canadian Mint
- Exact Change numismatic software
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