At What Point Can You Call Yourself a Numismatist and Not Just a Coin Collector?

I research and learn as much as I can about each type of coin I buy. Part of the fascination for me is the historical aspect of coins. But does that make me a numismatist?

I’d have to say no. An informed collector, yes. A numismatist, no.

 

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Some Doctors graduate from the top of the top half of their class, and some graduate from the bottom of the bottom half of their class. Coin collectors are no different in that regard. There are the finest numismatists and there are the novice, but they are all still numismatists.

 

Any time you want.

 

You've only become a numismatist when you've gotten a cat to accept spectacles and a knit hat, I always say.

 

I've set the bar much lower than most...

Numismatist - knows what a 1982 small date looks like!

 

Numismatist are usually humble to give knowledge and if people do not agree to ignore the ignorant as they know they are correct. Cats are numismatists, dogs are collectors ( except for Afghan hounds who are cats in spirit). Jim

 

I think this is the best answer though I might add that it's never clear exactly where on the line any collector belongs because we each weight our definitions of "study" differently.

I'm gonna try the "best answer" button just to see what happens. There are other pretty good answers and mebbe more to come.

 

I'd say that if you know what a "numismatist" is then you might just be one.

 

I suppose that makes sense.

 

I am currently translating 100-year-old Italian books in an effort to write an article about the origins of Florentine coinage and their effect on medieval European trade. Such an endeavor has not been done in English yet. I guess I qualify as a numismatist?

 

Ooh, it sounds like you may have the "numismatism." The only known cure is to publish your findings.

But don't you dare self publish! If you do that, you are literally worthless as a human being!

 

That part was easy. Getting it to type out "Any time you want." was slightly more difficult.

 

Is the error coin market so small that no publisher would touch it?

 

You have many different types. Numismatics ones, Investor ones, real collectors, and then accumulators. Some for pleasure, other only for the money, not numismatic, while others are just accumulators. You know, just keepers.

 

Self-awareness IS more than half the battle. Heck, even 60 Minutes has run stories on the self-publishing industry scam.

 

This is exactly my take. I get lost in the history when I hold my coins. I tend to regard myself as a rabid hobbyist. A learned numismatist? No, not so much. Maybe when my working years are through I can spend more of my time in numismatic study and maybe one day in the future regard myself a numismatist.

 

My goal is to get my book published by an actual publishing company. If not, will I self-publish? For my first one, I might not have a choice. I want it designed the way *I* want it to look, which could be a problem. But I need to finish it first.

 

You can use an actual company like Amazon to publish whatever you want, the goal is to have the seal of approval of a recognized numismatic authority such as the ANA or whichever organization relates to the content of the book (US MNA for Mexican coins for example). We pretty much self-publish every time we post on forums and social media. That being said, a self-published book through a non-numismatic backed company does not automatically make it a bad book. As with any reference or guide, cross-reference. There are good ones out there where the author simply chose to do it themselves for the sake of simplicity.

I haven't read your book (don't specialize in US coins), but from your posts here I'd say it's clear you know what you're talking about. If you disagreed with me on a grade for most types of coins, I'd side with you

 

I'd like to suggest a grading scale for Numinists.
We could use a 100pt. scale where 0.0 is total noob and 100.0 is godlike.

Then any time people argue on these forums we could weigh their credibility with their numinist score. "You make a solid point but your numinist score is 35.3 and his is 78.3 so you lose."

 

Then would we all need to be sent off to a TPGS for slabbing? Seems a bit premature.....we'll all get to that state eventually.