Editing Coin collecting (section)

==History==
[[File:Hans Memling 054 small.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Portrait of a Man with a Roman Medal by Hans Memling|''[[Portrait of a Man with a Roman Medal]]'' by [[Hans Memling]], depicting a Renaissance collector with a [[sestertius]] of [[Nero]]]]
{{See also|List of coin collectors}}
People have [[hoarding|hoarded]] coins for their [[bullion]] value for as long as coins have been minted.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Origins of Coinage:The earliest coin hoard |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/money/the_origins_of_coinage.aspx|work=The British Museum:Explore/Money|publisher=britishmuseum.org |access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref> However, the collection of coins for their [[artistic]] value was a later development. Evidence from the [[archaeological record|archaeological]] and [[historical record]] of [[Ancient Rome]] and medieval [[Mesopotamia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124774/coin-collecting|title=Coin Collecting|work=Encyclopædia Britannica]|access-date=14 December 2010}} Quote: "The Nestorian scholars and artisans who served the princes of the Jazira (Mesopotamia, now Iraq, Syria, and Turkey) in the 12th and 13th centuries designed a magnificent series of coins with motifs based on ancient Greek and Roman issues. Some of these so accurately render the details of the originals that even the inscriptions are faithfully repeated. Others were modified in intriguing ways. [...] The great variety and the sophisticated use of these images reveal the existence of well-studied collections."</ref> indicates that coins were collected and catalogued by scholars and state treasuries. It also seems probable that individual citizens collected old, exotic or commemorative coins as an affordable, portable form of art.<ref name="Coin Collecting">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Coin Collecting|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124774/coin-collecting|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref> According to [[Suetonius]] in his ''De vita Caesarum'' (''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars''), written in the first century [[Anno Domini|AD]], the emperor [[Augustus]] sometimes presented old and exotic coins to friends and courtiers during festivals and other special occasions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/6387/6387.txt |title=Tranquillus, C. Suetonius ''The Lives of the Twelve Caesars'', Section LXXV|via=Project Gutenberg|access-date=23 August 2009}}</ref> While the literary sources are scarce, it's evident that collecting of ancient coins persisted in the Western World during the Middle Ages among rulers and high nobility.<ref name=Norwich>{{citation |last= Norwich |first= John Julius |author-link=John Julius Norwich|title =Byzantium: The Apogee | publisher=Penguin|location=London |year=1993 |page=309 |isbn= 978-0-14-011448-5|ref=none}}</ref>

Contemporary coin collecting and appreciation began around the fourteenth century. During the [[Renaissance]], it became a [[fad]] among some members of the privileged classes, especially kings and queens. The Italian scholar and poet [[Petrarch]] is credited with being the pursuit's first and most famous aficionado.  Following his lead, many European kings, princes, and other nobility kept collections of ancient coins. Some notable collectors were [[Pope Boniface VIII]], [[Emperor Maximilian I]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Louis XIV]] of France, Ferdinand I of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ferdinand I {{!}} Holy Roman emperor {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-I-Holy-Roman-emperor |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> [[Henry IV of France]] and [[Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg|Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg]], who started the [[Berlin Coin Cabinet]] (German: ''Münzkabinett Berlin''). Perhaps because only the very wealthy could afford the pursuit, in Renaissance times coin collecting became known as the "Hobby of Kings".<ref name="The Coin Collection History">{{cite web |title=The Coin Collection History |url=http://www.coincollectingalbum.com/coin-collecting-history.html |work=coincollectingalbum.com |access-date=26 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912064012/http://www.coincollectingalbum.com/coin-collecting-history.html |archive-date=12 September 2009 |url-status=usurped }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brief History of Coin Collecting |url=http://www.2-clicks-coins.com/article/coin-collecting-history.html |work=2-clicks-coins.com|access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Coin Collectors: Emperor Maximilian |url=http://www.zoomcoin.com/rare-coin-article/coin-collectors-emperor-maximilian/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130210135835/http://www.zoomcoin.com/rare-coin-article/coin-collectors-emperor-maximilian/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 February 2013 |work=zoomcoin.com |access-date=26 August 2009 }}</ref>

During the 17th and 18th centuries coin collecting remained a pursuit of the well-to-do. But rational, [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinking led to a more systematic approach to accumulation and study. Numismatics as an academic discipline emerged in these centuries at the same time as a growing [[middle class]], eager to prove their wealth and sophistication, began to collect coins. During the 19th and 20th centuries, coin collecting increased further in popularity. The market for coins expanded to include not only antique coins, but foreign or otherwise exotic currency. [[Coin shows in the United States|Coin shows]], trade associations, and regulatory bodies emerged during these decades.<ref name="Coin Collecting" /> The first international convention for coin collectors was held 15–18 August 1962, in [[Detroit]], Michigan, and was sponsored by the [[American Numismatic Association]] and the [[Royal Canadian Numismatic Association]]. Attendance was estimated at 40,000.<ref name="The Coin Collection History" /> As one of the oldest and most popular world pastimes, coin collecting is now often referred to as the "King of Hobbies".<ref>{{cite web |title=Coin Collecting|url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A672013|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brief History of Coin Collecting |url=http://www.2-clicks-coins.com/article/coin-collecting-history.html |work=2-clicks-coins.com |access-date=26 August 2009}}</ref>