subject: Precious Metal Coins - A Precious Resource [print this page] Probably, there are many people who have no idea what "numismatics" means as it looks a totally strange word. Anyway, when explaining that it means "collection of coins", everybody will immediately understand! It is not surprising at all since numismatics seems to be one of the most spread hobbies and it often turns into an obsession for the people. The collection of precious metal coins is also considered to be a "hobby for the richest". Can you guess why? The answer is more than obvious: it is because only the wealthiest people can make a thorough and attention-worthy collection- it costs a lot of money!
Basically, the collectors of metal coins aim at gaining as many coins as possible: the more, the better. Anyway, they also try to find very rare, and respectively, precious metal coins so that their collection becomes more valuable and admiration-worthy.
But when talking about precious and rare metal coins, we just could not skip which coins attract more interest than any others. For instance, those could be coins which are not old but that were emitted in an extremely small number. The national banks of different countries sometimes emit new coins in 1000 or 5000 numbers. It is not difficult to come up with the idea that an obsessed collector will certainly want to add the coin in his or her collection. Here comes the paradox: it could be a coin of 20 cents but the collector could spend $10.000 or even more depending on how rare the coin in reality is.
So, you already know that if the coin is rare, it is very likely to cost a lot of money even if it was emitted a year ago. But that's not all determining a coin as valuable or non-valuable!
Of course, if the metal coins originated from a distant place and was emitted a thousand of years ago, it will be precious! You may not believe it but coins like those could reach the incredible price of $60.000 or even more. You already must understand why numismatics is called "hobby for the richest", don't you? Anyway, it is important to mention that rare and historically significant metal coins must not be owned since that could cause a huge cultural loss. Such coins should certainly be kept and exposed in museums.
Unfortunately, many numismatists are used to crossing the line between legal and illegal. It is just their desire- it is the desire that makes them want to own such coins even when it is not allowed, even not morally!
Unfortunately, some collectors do not realize that their obsession could lead to great cultural and historical losses. After all, when old and ancient metal coins are being discussed, everybody should know that they should be shown to everyone- they are just not supposed to be owned!
To sum up, collecting precious metal coins is a great hobby but there should always be a line that should not be crossed. A "hobby" should never do harm to the culture and history of a country. All numismatics should keep that in mind.
