A single coin is a container carrying records on its surface.
Three types: marks from being struck, from being used, and from being buried.
Storing and Caring for Old Coins
Learn to distinguish between dirt and traces of alteration, and study the handling and storage methods you should know before cleaning.
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.
How to Protect Old Coins in 3 Minutes
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The way it's worn down is a record of the years and manner of its use.
Re-carving a worn-down face isn't repair, it's forgery.
The ground is a good storage place. The danger comes after it's dug up.
Sudden dryness, light, and air can restart deterioration that had stopped.
Don't touch with bare hands. Keep the temperature and humidity stable, and limit light.
Oils from your hands can seep into the surface.
The biggest enemy isn't malice, but well-intentioned 'polishing'.
The shine is visible, but the lost information is not.
Minimal care, maximum records, and in a reversible form if possible.
Standards change. So leave a path for the future.
If you preserve it in a photo, you can see it again and again without touching the surface.
NOMISMA's 'Real Objects' page is a 'no-touch specimen room'.
However, a photo can't capture the weight and feel.
A photo is not a substitute for the real thing.
2In numbers
177specimens
Photo specimens on NOMISMA's 'Real Objects' page
3principles
Principles of care: Minimal, Recorded, Reversible
3What would you do?
An old copper coin's emperor's face is worn flat. What would you do?
Pick one
Re-carve it to restore the face.
That wouldn't be a repair, it would be a forgery. You would be erasing the history of how that one coin was used.
Leave it as it is, worn down.
This is the approach of this course. The wear isn't damage, it's a record of the years it was used. It's the main text of that one coin's resume.
Don't erase what is readable. If you can adopt this mindset, you've completed half of this course.
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What you will understand after this course
- Can explain "the surface is information" using the three aspects of wear, patina, and accretions.
- In connection with E4, Section 3, can interpret wear as a record of circulation.
- Can cite specific information erased by polishing/cleaning, and can state the principles of conservation (minimal intervention, documentation).
More about this course
Course number: E8
Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama
Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 4 readings How reading times are calculated
You will also understand
- Can explain the significance and limitations of digital specimens.
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 section 6.
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, 0 compare, 2 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.
The 6 chapters of this course
- The Surface is Information — A Single Coin as a Recording MediumThe value of the metal remains even if melted. The information on the surface, once lost, can never be recovered.
- Reading Wear — How a Coin Wears is a RecordEven wear indicates long circulation; uneven wear reveals patterns of use. The nature of the wear tells the story.
- The Environment as an Enemy — The Quality of RestThe earth preserves for a millennium; a mistake in care can ruin it in a day. Managing the environment is the essence of conservation.
- Well-Intentioned Destruction — The Sins of Polishing, Cleaning, and RestorationPolishing buffs the metal and erases information. The greatest destroyer in this field was not malice, but good intentions.
- Principles of Treatment — Minimal, Recorded, and ReversibleTreatment should be minimal, documentation maximal, and if possible, reversible. These three principles were distilled from a history of failures.
- Digital Specimens — A New Form of ConservationPhotography is a form of preservation that does not erase information. NOMISMA's specimen pages are designed as a specimen room you cannot touch.
Readings (4)
- Discovery and Provenance Overview: the world A biography in a single coin the modern age
Sections 1 & 4. The single word "worn" is the starting point of this subject. - Epilogue Overview: the world the end of the journey The Journey of a Promise
Section 2. The memory of a promised journey, inscribed on a single worn coin. - The island where money vanished Britain the 5th century A provincial town falling into decay
Section 2. A case study of how wear records the lifespan of a currency area. - Sleep in the Earth Overview: the world A biography in a single coin a thousand years
Section 3. The earth as a repository. The quality of slumber.
Read next
Examining and Documenting Coins →What you learn next: You can choose the entry point for finding prior work according to your purpose.
Time to read the text: about 8 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 →