Simple little question for one & all LOL 'What Is Coin Collectint' Reason for asking for your views on this I have just been reading the post about scout merit badges & our hobby and found mysrlf disagreeing with Aiden on the inclusion of questions relating to banknotes as having anything to do with Coin collecting and he raised a interesting point 'Steve,notaphily is as relevant to coin collecting is traders' tokens & postal orders are.They're all branches of numismatics anyway.' So guy's what do you class as coin collecting? Me it is the collectig of coins themselfs, I do also collect Tokens & Notgeld but class them as seperate and not as part of my coin collection. De Orc :kewl:
Steve,I see that you're trying to blow your own trumpet here.You have already answered your own question anyway. Aidan.
Aiden I am asking a very simple question so why are you been rude? have I had a go at you? NO If you want to answer the question please do so but keep your personal attack on me out of this. De Orc
This discussion is a little odd in my opinion. What is "Coin Collecting"? Well, errm ... collecting coins. We could add objects that look like coins and were/are used like coins (like certain emergency issues) but that is pretty much it. So, De Orc is right. However, "numismatics" is a broader term - it also covers paper money, tokens and maybe even medals. So, Aidan Work is right. (IMO, YMMV, etc. ) Christian
OK lets try to simplify it, the scouts have to take a series of tests to qualify for a coin collecting merit badge, some of the questions are about banknotes! I personaly dont believe the collecting of bank notes and knowladge of them is relavent to the gaining of a merit badge for coin collecting? Therfore I am asking just for your opinion on what constitutes coin collecting & not if you think I am right or wrong . For example do you think that the collecting of tokens comes under the heading of coin collecting as some tokens circulated and where in fact used and accepted as coinage? and how about modern Silver/Gold/Platinum coins, these we know do not circulate as coinage on a daily basis, but are for the most part legal tender De Orc
IMO collecting paper currency and coins are so closely related that if you collect one you probably collect both or at least have some interest in the topic. I collect both and as I have traveled around the world I try to get both coins and good examples of paper currency. None of my foreign currency is worth much but they are nice pieces to admire and share with my kids. Taken from Wikipedia - "Every collector collects what interests them, and there are as many ways of collecting as there are collectors. However a few themes are common and are often combined to a goal for a collection." No where in the description do they mention paper currency. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coin_collecting So to answer your question - the term coin collecting refers specifically to the collection of coins. Wikipedia includes all types of coins. I would agree What can be learned/enjoyed from collecting coins is very similar to collecting paper currency. So if some Cub/Boy scout really loves paper currency and can meet the objectives of the badge he should probably be rewarded with it. If his interests are so strong then someday he will probably make a great coin collector.
If they are taking a test in Coin Collecting then I agree that paper money doesn't go into that----BUT if they are doign a test in Numismatic then I see that as pretty much the same----tokens, coins, paper money, etc are all parts of Numismatic---I think even books on coins could be put into that same thing... Speedy
Well,I started out by collecting coins only,that is until I came across some nice banknotes.I decided there & then I would collect banknotes as well. Aidan.
So true. COIN collecting is COIN collecting. If you want to say monitary collecting, then you collect money. All coins are a form of monitary systems but not all monitary items are coins. Beads were once used as money, so were animal pelts. Are those coins? Many farmers still today use the barter system for a monitary system where one farmer trades chickens for corn as an example. Is the corn and chickens coins? Coin collecting is what it is, COIN COLLECTING. If you collect beads, wampum, paper currency, corn, chickens, basemball cards, beanie babies, etc. you are a collector. If you collect coins, you are a coin collector.
Coin collecting is PART of numismatics...as is banknotes, medals, and other ephemora...but COIN colecting is just that...collecting COINS....a part of numismatics.
In general I agree with Speedy. People do not always communicate effectively or communicate exactly what they mean. Email and chat is the poorest form of communication and often leads to serious misunderstanding of ones meaning. So for the example of the scout badge, one should look at the original intent and not take it necessarily as a literal interpretation. Coin Collecting is just that in the literal sense. I was in Nottingham England one day and overheard an Office Sales Manager telling a new employee that the Americans have ruined the English language. We often use the least amount of words (or words that are familure) to say what we are thinking. How many 10 year olds know the definition or meaning of numismatic? I have gotten myself in enough trouble with short emails in the past that now I error on the other end - I know,,, I can stop anytime now.:smile
"To each his own." Think about this... Hobby Collecting Numismatics exonumia Token collecting Medal collecting "All hobbies are not related to coins" Some people collect jars or bottles or cigar rings or tins or string, etc. "Coin collecting is a hobby" "Token collecting is a hobby" "Medal collecting is a hobby" Clinker
I consider coins, tokens, medals, casino chips, silver rounds, and so-called dollars to be separate collecting categories. Paper currency is a completely different category from the "circular shiny object" department, as are stamps.
Thanks for the input guy's I have to say I dont care how people want to discripe what they collect (as I am a avid collecter of all sorts of things) but I do worry about the effects of incorect labeling (for want of a better term) can have on young minds. Think of this these kids are the collectors of the future and if they are brought up to believe that coins and notes are the same at a early age where will this lead LOL Yes of course they all have a similar root but fundamently they are different I liked Speedy's discription of it best :thumb: De Orc
I would consider a strict definition of coin collecting to only include government issued coins. I consider myself to be an exonumia collector, but if engaged in conversation with someone not familiar with the hobby, I may just call it coin collecting so that terms are within their understanding. However, other areas are closely related, and I do not see a problem with tasks involving some of those other areas, at least in a rather general sense. The requirements involving actual coins should be more in depth. If there is a paper money collecting merit badge, or token collecting merit badge, then by all means separate those types of things unto their own merit badge. If there are no such similar badges, I see no problem in making the coin collecting badge a bit well rounded with closely related topics. When I was in school to learn engineering, I was required to take some English classes that involved poetry. That seemed pretty useless as far as I was concerned, and not at all likely for me to ever use on the job, but supposedly it provided me a more well rounded education. I think that most areas of training will have at least one or two points that are somewhat "off topic", and they may often serve to provide a different perspective regarding the main topic, so the main purpose may be served, even through an indirect channel. The definition of a coin is not necessarily clear-cut. When I looked up definitions of a coin on the internet, a coin has attributes such as being metallic, with a distinctive stamp, a fixed value, issued by governments as money, etc. Offhand, in the states, state issued tax tokens seem to also possess those exact same attributes, yet they are called tokens. Also in the states, there were two periods of time where tokens circulated widely among the populace and commonly accepted as money - during the mid 1830s to early 1840s (Hard Times tokens) and 1861-1865 (Civil War tokens & encased postage stamps). Government issued "coins" were not being circulated much during those times, and the privately issued tokens filled that gap so that commerce could continue.
Medal collecting is not really a branch of numismatics.I regard it as an area of exonumia.Collecting war medals is an area of militaria collecting. Some people regard the collecting of postal orders as being an area of philately,just because they were (or are,in some countries) issued at a post office.I regard the collecting of postal orders as a branch of notaphily,as their designs strongly resemble banknotes,& in the cases of postal orders from the Orange Free State,the South African Republic,& Great Britain,they were actually used as banknotes,& had a legal tender status for short periods of time. Aidan.
