Numismatics

The specialised sector of the coin business for the study and collection of rare coins and other media of exchange, particularly those with archaeological or historic interest.

Coins, early bank notes and other collectors' items at Spink & Son
in London. Many rare coins command high premiums
(Credit: Spink & Son Ltd)

Numismatics dealers are usually distinct from banks, which trade only in more conventional gold coins. Generally, however, it is the province of firms like Baldwin’s, Seaby’s or Spink’s in London, or Stack’s in New York. They belong to the International Association of Professional Numismatists (IAPN), which has over 100 members from numismatics firms in twenty-one countries. Numismatics is not limited to gold and silver coins but covers everything from cowrie shells to early bank notes that have been used for exchange in some way.

In respect of gold, however, the numismatists’s interest ranges from the first coins of electrum, the natural alloy of gold and silver, issued in Lydia around 550 BC, through Greek, Roman and Byzantine gold coins to the earliest British Sovereigns (struck in 1489 as a symbol of Henry VII’s new Tudor dynasty), Guineas (first struck in 1663 just after the Restoration) and early American Eagles and Double Eagles (first launched in 1837). The rarest coins fetch high prices. A Victorian Gothic gold Crown, dated 1847, sold in 1988 for £113,000; only two examples of this coin were known.

International Association of Professional Numismatists Registered office:
P O Box 3647
CH 2002 Basle
Switzerland
Web www.iapn.ch

General inquiries may be directed to the Secretary:
14 Rue de la Bourse
B-1000 Bruxelles
Belgium

Tel. +32 2 513 3400
Fax +32 2 512 2528