The term “Hobby of Kings”, can be traced to the Roman civilization, when Roman Kings and Nobles collected coins as a pleasurable pass time. However, what is not known is whether these Kings accumulated them, merely as collectibles, or if they were curious collectors who also studied these coins. Modern day coin collectors can be categorized based on their motive behind collecting coins—casual collectors, curious collectors, advanced coin collectors, national coin collectors, historical coin collectors, world coin collectors, error coin collectors and kid collectors.
Casual collectors simply collect coins and store them. They don’t necessarily get into the details of a coin. They are just fascinated by the patterns, shapes and sizes of the coins. They usually borrow a few coins from friends and relatives who may be visiting them from other countries or get them as gifts. Casual collectors may become curious collectors at a later point of time, when they wish to get into studying the details of their collection. Curious collectors do not have any specific objective in mind, but would aimlessly browse through coin books and information available; all just to increase their knowledge about coins. Advanced coin collectors, collect coins at a more serious level. They invest money and collect coins by buying them. They generally have an in-depth knowledge about the subject and look forward to making subject specific sets—all the coins of a country, all coins minted on a specific date, et al. National coin collectors, history coin collectors, world coin collectors and error coin collectors are few examples of specific Advanced coin collectors.
Kids also collect coins just for the fancy of collecting them. They don’t really understand the value or meaning behind the coins, but still collect them. However, this ignorant coin collection may instill a thirst to get proficient about this subject at a later point of time in life. |
