Sengoku period
Nobunaga collected famous tea ceremony items. He gave them as rewards to vassals for their great service.
A third kind of reward, neither land nor money.
The History of Coin Collecting
From princely collections to museums. We trace the changing purposes of collecting and methods of record-keeping.
Time to read the text: about 6 min
The review questions are optional and not included in this time.
What you can read: the course opening and contents are free; the full text is for those who have purchased
After purchase, you can read the full text once your access starts.
The History of Coin Collecting in 3 Minutes
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Sengoku period
The value of a tea item was decided by the power of its collector.
There is a limit to land. There is no limit to the value of tea items.
Times of war
People buried silver coins in the ground to protect their wealth, but couldn't return for them.
The people who buried them didn't intend to collect them.
1000 years later
The silver coins in the ground became important clues for understanding history.
52,503 coins
An example of a find from a single location.
1868, Spain
When they counted the money circulating in the country, there were 97 different types.
Count and publish. The academic way of collecting.
The value of a single old coin is that it's a witness that survived even after its country fell.
After its value as money ends, its value as an object begins.
Found records and the history of its owners also became part of its value.
Keeping records creates its own reward.
Now
The Kan'ei Tsūhō was legal money until 1953. Now you can get one for a few hundred yen.
It carries 300 years of the people who used it.
2In numbers
97types
The number of types of money circulating in Spain in 1868.
3What would you do?
You find a Kan'ei Tsūhō coin in the back of a drawer. You can't use it as money anymore. What is this one coin to you?
Pick one
Since I can't use it, it's just a piece of old metal.
Its value for use has certainly ended. But the death of a currency is the death of its function, not the death of its existence.
A witness that has survived for 300 years.
This is what we call 'translating value' in this course. After its value for use ends, its value as a witness arises.
To 'translate' a coin's value, you need people who can read its history, authenticity, and story. The history of collecting is also the story of how the number of these readers has grown.
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What you will understand after this course
- Can explain the three types of collecting motives (display, hoarding, and study) with concrete examples.
- Can discuss "meibutsu-gari" (the hunt for famous objects) as a concrete example of collecting becoming a tool of power.
- Can explain the relationship between hoards and collecting—the supply chain from within the earth.
More about this course
Course number: B18
Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama
Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 6 readings · 3 references How reading times are calculated
You will also understand
- Can situate contemporary collecting from the perspective of the "translation of value."
You can start this course without reading any other course.
Also worth reading, to see the connections (optional)
- Coin Provenance and Rules for Buying and Selling
What you learn: You can explain what a piece with lost provenance has lost.
The text refers to this course in sections 3, 5.
If you want to know more about checking sources (optional)
- Is It Really True? Checking History
We re-examine the origins of money and famous anecdotes, comparing them with historical records and actual artifacts.
Assessment
6 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 1 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.
The 6 chapters of this course
- Power Collects — Nobunaga's Famous Object HuntThe collected tea utensils became rewards. Collecting is also a demonstration of power's ability to determine value.
- Saving in the Earth — The Unintentional Collection Known as a HoardThe person who buried them was not a collector. But the hoard in the ground became a historical source a thousand years later.
- Scholarship Collects — The Lineage of Ledgers and SpecimensCollection for the purpose of counting created numismatics. Both Hamilton's ledgers and Figuerola's ninety-seven types.
- A Surviving Witness — Why an Old Coin Has ValueEven if a nation perishes, a single coin can survive. The source of a collection's value lies not in its metal, but in its survival.
- Provenance Becomes Value — The Maturation of CollectingRecords of discovery, owner pedigrees, catalogue histories. Mature collecting is about collecting the story as well.
- Anyone can become a collector — starting with a single coin in your palm.A Kan'ei Tsūhō can be acquired for a few hundred yen. The entry point to collecting is surprisingly close.
Readings (6)
- Nobunaga Japan the 1570s–1582 Azuchi and Kyoto
Section 1. The most blatant example of collection becoming an apparatus of power. - A biography in a single coin Overview: the world a thousand years Sleep in the Earth
Section 2. A single coin as a time capsule. - Ninety-seven kinds of coin Spain 1868 The market stall
Section 3. Collecting to count. A portrait of an era: ninety-seven. - Epilogue Overview: the world the present day Why We Hold an Ancient Coin
Section 4. The surviving witness. The thesis of this subject. - From reconstruction to the palm of the hand Japan the present the palm of the hand
Section 6. The accessible entrance, and three hundred years in the palm of a hand. - In the Name of a Dead King Greece c. 323–65 BC The British Museum Catalogue
The king was on the throne for about thirteen years, yet there are approximately 4,100 types bearing his name in the British Museum's catalogue. Please ascertain the imbalance that is visible only because these have been collected and counted.
References
- ANS Digital Library — American Numismatic Society An open-access repository of numismatic dissertations, auction catalogues, and e-books. 150 years of publications available to read for free.
- Coins and Medals — The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge A collection of over 220,000 coins, medals, tokens, and banknotes. The numismatic room as a center for research and education.
- About the American Numismatic Society — American Numismatic Society A numismatic society founded in 1858. A self-description of its collection, library, and publication system.
The books and materials referred to in this course.
Read next
Those Who Collected Coins →What you learn next: Can narrate the lineage of collectors in three lines: rulers, scholars, and anonymous hoarders.
Time to read the text: about 6 min ／ What you can read: the course opening and contents are free; the full text is for those who have purchased
Price
After purchase, the full courses, the illustrated books, every country’s story and the numismatics examination are open to you.
See the price →