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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 24259, member: 57463&quot;]I agree.&nbsp; For me, learning the history gives the coins (banknotes, etc.) their true value.&nbsp; For several years, I worked on a set of Small Greek Silvers from the Towns and Times of Famous Philosophers.&nbsp; I worked from Diogenes Laertus&#039;s biographies and learned about the thinkers and their historical settings.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Conder Tokens, Bank of Upper Canada, Hard Times Tokens, wildcat banknotes, each item brings the opportunity to learn.&nbsp; It is a cliche that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it. I like to avoid mistakes.&nbsp; Another cliche is that you should learn from the mistakes of others because there is not enough time to make them all yourself. There is an upside, also, a positive motivation to appreciate the best of the present because it reflects the best of the past.&nbsp; We sit here online with our computers.&nbsp; <i>When old Technologies Were New</i> by&nbsp; Carolyn Marvin tells about the advent of the telegraph and telephone.&nbsp; A coin or banknote from 1876 or 1904 reflects a time of technological change.&nbsp; So does an ancient Greek coin.&nbsp; I have two from Miletos from the time of Thales who wrote the first formal geometry proof.&nbsp; That was a time when new ideas and new technologies were changing the world.&nbsp; When the Owl I own circulated Aristophanes was putting on plays, just as we have movies and television.&nbsp; At that same time, the first books were being hawked on the streets of Athens, not quite Barnes &amp; Noble, but the same idea.</p><p><br /></p><p>It would be safe to say that I do not own a single item purely for its artistic merits -- pretty though they may be -- but because of the history.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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