Portal:Numismatics


The Numismatics Portal

Electrum coin from Ephesus, 520-500 BCE. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Experts of this study, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods.

The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "odd and curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not.[dubiousdiscuss] Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. (Full article...)

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The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent

The Achaemenid Empire issued coins from 520 BCE–450 BCE to 330 BCE. The Persian daric was the first gold coin which, along with a similar silver coin, the siglos (from Ancient Greek: σίγλος, Hebrew: שֶׁקֶל, shékel) represented the first bimetallic monetary standard. It seems that before the Persians issued their own coinage, a continuation of Lydian coinage under Persian rule is likely. Achaemenid coinage includes the official imperial issues (Darics and Sigloi), as well as coins issued by the Achaemenid provincial governors (satraps), such as those stationed in Asia Minor. (Full article...)

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The Lituanian 1 litas commemorative coin was released into circulation in 2005 to promote reconstruction of the royal palace.

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Newfoundland 2 dollar coin
Reverse, Newfounland two dollars

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The penny, officially the cent, is a coin in the United States representing one-hundredth of a dollar. It has been the lowest face-value physical unit of U.S. currency since the abolition of the half-cent in 1857. Introduced in 1793, it was produced for circulation until 2025 and continues to circulate.

The United States Mint's official name for the coin is "cent" and the U.S. Treasury's official name is "one cent piece". The colloquial term penny derives from the British coin of the same name, which occupies a similar place in the British system. Pennies is the plural form, not to be confused with pence, which refers to the unit of currency. (Full article...)

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Credit: [1]
Back of Russian 1000 rubles banknote, 1997.

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Numismatic terminology

  • Bullion – Precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) in the form of bars, ingots or plate.
  • Error – Usually a mis-made coin not intended for circulation, but can also refer to an engraving or die-cutting error not discovered until the coins are released to circulation. This may result is two or more varieties of the coin in the same year.
  • Exonumia – The study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration.
  • Fineness – Purity of precious metal content expressed in terms of one thousand parts. 90% is expressed as .900 fine.
  • Notaphily – The study of paper money or banknotes.
  • Scripophily – The study and collection of stocks and Bonds.

WikiProjects

Numismatic topics



List articles

Central banks • Currencies • Circulating currencies • Historical currencies • US community currencies • Canadian community currencies • Mints • Motifs on banknotes • Most expensive coins

Subcategories

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Most traded currencies

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover[1]
Currency ISO 4217
code
Proportion of daily volume Change
(2022–2025)
April 2022 April 2025
U.S. dollar USD 88.4% 89.2% Increase 0.8pp
Euro EUR 30.6% 28.9% Decrease 1.7pp
Japanese yen JPY 16.7% 16.8% Increase 0.1pp
Pound sterling GBP 12.9% 10.2% Decrease 2.7pp
Renminbi CNY 7.0% 8.5% Increase 1.5pp
Swiss franc CHF 5.2% 6.4% Increase 1.2pp
Australian dollar AUD 6.4% 6.1% Decrease 0.3pp
Canadian dollar CAD 6.2% 5.8% Decrease 0.4pp
Hong Kong dollar HKD 2.6% 3.8% Increase 1.2pp
Singapore dollar SGD 2.4% 2.4% Steady
Indian rupee INR 1.6% 1.9% Increase 0.3pp
South Korean won KRW 1.8% 1.8% Steady
Swedish krona SEK 2.2% 1.6% Decrease 0.6pp
Mexican peso MXN 1.5% 1.6% Increase 0.1pp
New Zealand dollar NZD 1.7% 1.5% Decrease 0.2pp
Norwegian krone NOK 1.7% 1.3% Decrease 0.4pp
New Taiwan dollar TWD 1.1% 1.2% Increase 0.1pp
Brazilian real BRL 0.9% 0.9% Steady
South African rand ZAR 1.0% 0.8% Decrease 0.2pp
Polish złoty PLN 0.7% 0.8% Increase 0.1pp
Danish krone DKK 0.7% 0.7% Steady
Indonesian rupiah IDR 0.4% 0.7% Increase 0.3pp
Turkish lira TRY 0.4% 0.5% Increase 0.1pp
Thai baht THB 0.4% 0.5% Increase 0.1pp
Israeli new shekel ILS 0.4% 0.4% Steady
Hungarian forint HUF 0.3% 0.4% Increase 0.1pp
Czech koruna CZK 0.4% 0.4% Steady
Chilean peso CLP 0.3% 0.3% Steady
Philippine peso PHP 0.2% 0.2% Steady
Colombian peso COP 0.2% 0.2% Steady
Malaysian ringgit MYR 0.2% 0.2% Steady
UAE dirham AED 0.4% 0.1% Decrease 0.3pp
Saudi riyal SAR 0.2% 0.1% Decrease 0.1pp
Romanian leu RON 0.1% 0.1% Steady
Peruvian sol PEN 0.1% 0.1% Steady
Other currencies 2.6% 3.4% Increase 0.8pp
Total[a] 200.0% 200.0%

References

  1. ^ Triennial Central Bank Survey Foreign exchange turnover in April 2025 (PDF) (Report). Bank for International Settlements. 30 September 2025. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-10-12.

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Sources

  1. ^ The total sum is 200% because each currency trade is counted twice: once for the currency being bought and once for the currency being sold. The percentages above represent the proportion of all trades involving a given currency, regardless of which side of the transaction it is on.
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