Numismatics

Numismatics has always been fascinating to me because it blends art, history, and industry together in one relatively small but beautiful package. The first time I really noticed coins was when I found a Mercury Silver Dime in change. I showed it to my friend Ben who had also found one along with a few other old, no longer circulating designs. This led me to Coins and Coinage magazines. At the age of twelve I didn’t have a ton of money to invest but I did subscribe to Littleton for a little while. They offered a buy-on-approval plan where they’d send you coins of a certain price and you could keep them or send them back. The only one I really remember was an 1802 6 Kreuzer from Austria issued by Franz II. It was the oldest, decently nice condition coin I could afford at the time. Occasional visits to a coin dealer yielded some proof sets and Franklin half dollars. Then on a trip back to Germany I saw a set of 150 Jahre Eisenbahn copper medallions. I had to have those—the images of the old trains, the connection to the past in a pretty tangible form were too much to resist.

It is still interesting to me that coins have images on them. The earliest ones were basically just stamped, pre-weighed bits of guaranteed precious metal. But soon designs appeared: lions, bulls, owls, gods and goddesses—a tradition that continues to this day. But why the images? Surely a correct weight and indicator of value would have been enough? I’m not sure about the answer, but I do know that the imagery resonates with me, especially the allegorical figures.

The Death of the Roman Senate

Tracking the third-century crisis through four key coins.