Questions tagged [numismatics]

Numismatics is, according to Wikipedia, the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. It pertains to the auxiliary (or ancillary) sciences of history, like archaeology, codicology, and epigraphy.

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Is this old oval copper coin Chinese?

Can someone identify this old hand-stamped copper coin? Is it possibly Chinese?
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Can someone please help me identify these ming dynasty coins?

It would be helpful if someone could identify these coins for me. I would primarily be interested in the size of these coins.
Ferenc Beleznay's user avatar
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102 views

What would a simple Carthaginian bronze coin have bought?

I possess a Carthegian Zeugitania bronze coin which was reportedly minted around 220 BC between the First and Second Punic War. It is 16mm wide and features Tanit on the reverse. My query is what ...
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-1 votes
1 answer
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Did Hannibal make coins while campaigning using captured precious metals, Roman coins and perhaps bronze statues?

The process of minting coins at the time would be similar to the Roman method and I assume it would have been normal for any large army to carry the required tools and craftsmen while campaigning to ...
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10 votes
1 answer
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What's the reason behind the 17th century tradition of British monarchs being depicted on coins facing in the opposite direction to their predecessor?

I have just been informed that on Britain's new currency King Charles III will be depicted facing the opposite direction from Queen Elizabeth II. There are plenty of articles on google claiming to ...
John Strachan's user avatar
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0 answers
148 views

Can someone identify this coin for me please?

Can someone identify this coin for me please? I found it when going through my mothers belongings after she passed away.
Ed H's user avatar
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Need help identifying this coin [duplicate]

I have had this coin for a few months and still no luck
Trisha1985's user avatar
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132 views

Any physical or chemical evidence of an RRC 1/1 coin being earlier than 280BCE?

[edited as the question wasn't clear] Is anyone aware of any physical or chemical evidence of an RRC 1/1 coin being earlier than 280BCE?
Glenn's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Can anyone identify this coin found in Spain?

Can anyone identify this coin? Other side Width: 25mm, edge: 3mm; found on rocks by the sea on east coast of Spain.
oner's user avatar
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0 answers
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Why do Qing Dynasty coins frequently have cinnabar rubbed into them?

I collect Chinese coins. I would really like to know, why do Qing Dynasty coins frequently have cinnabar rubbed into them? I know the mystical properties of cinnabar or “dragon blood”, but if it was ...
James Farmer's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is this 17th century Swiss coin?

I am trying to find more information about a coin that my father gave me before passing. All I know is that the coin is supposedly from the 17th century, Bern, Switzerland. I have found similar coins, ...
a20's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Can anyone help me identify this old coin?

I have this old coin and I would like to know about it.
Ovidiu Samoila's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
615 views

When did Dei gratia/fidi defensor first appear on British coins?

Just as the title says: When did Dei gratia (D.G.) /fidi (fidei) defensor (F.D.) first appear on British coins? Answering When and how did the British Monarchy stop claiming Divine Right made me ...
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What coin is this? [closed]

This is a coin I found in my grandmother's collection of old things. I would like to identify it. I'm not sure if its a replica or not.
Joshua Varghese's user avatar
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What is this possible old coin found in Western Ukraine?

I think, at early eighties, when I was a child, I found this “coin” in my room, at the second floor of a standard Soviet building in Lviv, a city at the west of Ukraine. The house was build, as far as ...
Alex Ravsky's user avatar
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1 answer
108 views

1 coin found in Sachsen Anhalt Germany, please help me to identify the coin [duplicate]

My son also found the same coin in spiel platz while he was playing. Have you got any further infornation about your 2 coins?
Shaikham's user avatar
31 votes
2 answers
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Please help identify these old coins found in Germany?

We found these two identical coins in our garden (near Wuerzburg, lower Franconia / northern Bavaria): Coin side A: coat-of-arms of sorts: (the scale units are centimetres / millimetres) Coin Side ...
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27 votes
1 answer
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How did people cut "pieces of eight"?

The Spanish silver peso was a very common coin consisting of "fine quality silver, assayed at .931 or .916," according to CoinWeek. Under some circumstances one peso coins, worth eight reales, would ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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Why does some US banknotes have abstract art on the reverse instead of detailed scenes of history/monuments?

Most US paper currency has detailed images of national monuments or historical scenes on the reverse side. Why wasn't the same treatment given to all currency, such as the $500 bill? It simply ...
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1 answer
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A common find of metal detectorists across Britain is the silver "love token", from around 1700. Do any contemporary sources describe the custom?

A typical example. Anecdotally, a young man would give a love token to his intended who would continue to carry it around, or throw it away if she failed to return his affections. The majority are ...
g2a's user avatar
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0 answers
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Is the Disme or the Flowing Hair Dollar the considered the first official U.S coin?

The disme was first minted in 1792 but later turned in to dime with that being said the flowing hair dollar was first minted in 1794 which its size and weight were based on the Spanish dollar, vs the ...
Logan Cooke's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
437 views

Why did Romans use the sesterce in written monetary records when the coin itself was so rarely used?

In the vast majority of cases, Roman writers and government officials recorded amounts of money (money donated, value of items bought/sold, amount given in wills, etc.) in sesterces. Given that the ...
Haydentech's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
590 views

Why did the coins of England minted under Richard I and John bear the name of Henry?

From the middle Anglo-Saxon period until the reign of Edward I, England's coinage mainly comprised silver pennies bearing the monarch's portrait and name on the obverse side. These were frequently ...
g2a's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
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When and why did round coins become a practical standard?

In the world today many countries (probably most if not all, but I don't have a reference) use round coins. It's clear that some coins of ancient times were not round, as can be seen here. At which ...
Michael Stachowsky's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
219 views

Does any of John Sutter's tin money survive?

John Sutter was a Swiss settler and investor in the late Mexican era of California. I have only seen secondary sources on the matter, but apparently his colony New Helvetia had bespoke coinage: ... ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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What kind of coin is this? (From Jordan?)

15 years ago I bought an old looking coin in Jordan in the vicinity of old Roman temples. The diameter is aboout 14 mm.
Godard van Randwijck's user avatar
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0 answers
173 views

To which age these coins belong?

I want to know where and in what age these 2 coins were produced:
user36339's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
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Can someone help me identify this coin?

Here are the obverse and reverse sides of the coin. I have tried websites and coin identification apps but no luck. It was dropped into the tip jar at my job and it doesnt look like any coin I've ever ...
Alexandra Anderson's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why does some Califate money feature crosses?

Why does some Muslim money feature crosses? Like the following ones: Was the cross an early Muslim symbol?
Anixx's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
8k views

Did the US quarter shrink in size?

I am confused by the size of a current US quarter. It is not a major problem, but it is baffling. It is smaller than a shilling, yet 5 shillings make a crown and 4 quarters make a dollar —...
Matteo Ferla's user avatar
58 votes
4 answers
15k views

Has there ever been a non-rectangular banknote?

You all know that every national flag but Nepal's is rectangular. Most coins are roundish. These are some old norms. What about paper money? The rectangular form is close to universal. After poking ...
Aaron Brick's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
641 views

What happened to the coins in ancient Greece and Rome when monarchs changed?

Were there any instances in the ancient periods of Greece and Rome, where the succeeding monarchs/state leaders refused to acknowledge the coins issued by the preceding monarch, i.e., decreed the ...
fogof mylife's user avatar
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1 answer
261 views

Can anyone help me identify this coin?

This is a roman coin, I'm not sure of the date and who is on the front.
Rachel's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
256 views

What's this antique coin?

Reverse: Obverse (click for full size) Can anyone identify this coin? I found it with other coin in a bag left by my father after he passed away.
M.hh's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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Worth of an old 1/4 tanka coin when it was active 1516-1526

Can someone tell me what was the worth of a quarter tanka in India when Ibrahim Lodi's was the ruler (1516-1526 CE) or what a quarter tank could buy at that time?
Dikshit Gautam's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
193 views

What's this coin?

Can anyone tell me what this coin is?
M.hh's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
830 views

What's this coin? IMP CAES M IVL PHILPPVS OVBOVS; Rev: IOMH COL HEL

What's this coin? My father kept this coin for a long time.
M.hh's user avatar
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-2 votes
1 answer
226 views

What's this 1607 Hispania coin?

What's this coin called? i found it on a shipwreck website.
user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
362 views

Identify two Medieval Indian coins

Can someone help me identifying these two old coins found in India? They are made of copper. They are very thick and weigh around 10 grams. Both the coins have a diameter of 1.5cm and thickness of 0....
Dikshit Gautam's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is the origin of this coin? Willem WRL

My great-grandfather saved a bunch of very old coins from all around the world and from different times just for me, 7 years after he died, the coins were given to me. Here is one that I cannot find ...
Marc Sharko's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
760 views

What is the largest hoard of coins ever found?

According to Guinness world records, the largest coin hoard ever found is one of 80,000 Roman coins in Brescello, Italy, in 1814 (coinsweekly says 1714). However, I stumbled across this Independent ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
423 views

Identify Olympic Coin with USA and Japan flags

A friend has found a coin which has been a hassle to identify. It is a silver coin, which on one side has a Japanese flag and an USA flag crossed. On the reverse side is the Olympic Rings and some ...
fishyflop's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
4k views

Can anyone tell me what this coin was used for, an approximate date and possibly what it’s worth?

It says 'Play coins of the world' with a 50 in the center on one side and on the other side it says Reis Brazil.
Nick's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
196 views

What is this coin? Figure in rose. Rev: Mansion

Looks old can only make out one word (my death ) Other than that no idea.
Michael reed's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Can anyone help me identify this coin? Basiliea Selvykou. Rev: ICA

Can anyone help me identify this coin?
Kukichka's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Need help identifying 2 old coins? Struck coins, one with two standing human figures facing each other

Can anyone tell me what these 2 coins are ? How can I safely clean them?
Leanna's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
281 views

What coin/token is this? Copper "1 1900" Rev: Austro-Hungarian arms

I am unable to locate any information regarding this coin/token. Can anyone help?!!
Kelsey L's user avatar
25 votes
2 answers
3k views

When and where were the first coins made showing the currency or a face value?

According to this article Origin and Evolution of Money, coins ...for many centuries...were guaranteed by their intrinsic value, that is to say, by the trade value of the metal used in their ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
367 views

Antoninus Pius coins

I have looked all over online and cannot find this specific coin. Can anyone help? We believe they are of Antoninus Pius, but I can’t identify anything on the back, although I believe the winged ...
AlaskanMommax2's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
3k views

Leather 1.50 German gold mark

I have a German 1.50 gold mark that looks to be made of leather. It is about 3/16 of an inch thick. and dyed black. It has many symbols. Please if anyone can tell me about this. It looks to be dated ...
StarSapphire's user avatar