How to identify your coins
A beginner's guide to coin collecting - part 3
Welcome to the third article in the series aimed at helping people delve into the hobby of coin collecting. Our visiting editor, a seasoned collector and Numismatic advisor for Coiniverse, Alexander Malioukov, with a lifelong passion for coins, will be your guide. Alexander will share invaluable insights, tips, and stories to enrich your own collecting adventure.
Please leave comments and questions at the end of this post.
The More You Learn, the Less You Know
Alexander Malioukov
Hey there,
Welcome to our third meeting! I'm pretty sure that since our last chat about getting new coins, you've amassed quite a collection. Now, your main mission is probably to dig deeper into these coins. You're on the hunt for some basic info like where they come from, what year they were made, and their denomination. You also want to decode the symbols and figures on them. Who knows, you might even stumble upon something super rare and valuable!
Decoding Coin Origins
Let's start with the basics. Imagine you've got a coin with text in Arabic, Cyrillic, or Chinese characters that might as well be hieroglyphs to you. Sometimes, trying to decipher these writings can lead to even more head-scratching. Here are a couple of examples:
Take Albanian coins, for example. You'd never expect to find the country name "Shqipëri" there.
Photo © NumisCorner.com
Or Swiss coins, where "Helvetia," the Latin word for Switzerland, pops up unexpectedly.
Photo © Numismatic Guaranty Company
And just to make it more fun, Austro-Hungarian coins might not have any text at all. Imagine trying to figure out which country they're from just by looking at a two-headed eagle!
Photo © NumisCorner.com
Unraveling the Mystery of Coin Year
Once we've tackled the country mystery, let's move on to the year. For instance, Israeli coins use the Hebrew calendar, where 2023 would be 5783 or 5784, and the writing is in Hebrew letters, which you read from right to left. Ottoman coins have their own quirks, where you calculate the issuing date by adding the accession and regnal years of a sultan and then subtracting 1. Ethiopian coins, on the other hand, can be a real brain-teaser with their five-digit Ethiopian date (EE) in Ge'ez (Ethiopic) numerals. It often takes some math, like 10 + 9 * 100 + 60 + 9, to figure out that it's EE1969 or 1977 in the Gregorian calendar. And don't even get me started on identifying the coin denomination. Sometimes, coins look so similar that you have to rely on their weight or size to tell them apart.
1 Denar, Hungary, 1162-1172
Coiniverse offers a tool to identify your coins
But don't worry; I've got a fantastic solution for you. Why not give the Coiniverse coin scanner a shot? It's super quick, completely free, and incredibly user-friendly. Just make sure you've got good lighting for taking pics, download the Coiniverse app on your phone, and you're ready to uncover the mysteries of your coins!
Download the Coiniverse app on your phone, and you're ready to uncover the mysteries of your coins!
Life would indeed be a wonderful yet somewhat dull journey without its fair share of challenges. Not every coin can be effortlessly identified through the Coiniverse scanning feature. There are some that simply aren't included in the catalog used for recognition. Fortunately, this scenario is relatively straightforward to address. We'll take notice of it and make sure to include your coin in the catalog.
Diving Deeper with Challenging Coins
However, there are coins that pose a real identification puzzle. It calls for a certain level of expertise in the historical era, the customs of the people who lived during that time, and the world of numismatics. Honestly, these happen to be my absolute favorite coins. They mark the beginning of an exciting adventure, where I typically unearth an unexpected wealth of knowledge about political history, geography, and so much more. I get to find out about cool historical figures and their awesome stories, explore new countries and their mysteries, and it's just so much fun!
Connecting with Numismatic Experts
And finally, let's not forget that you'll have the privilege of connecting with some incredibly knowledgeable and experienced numismatists. These individuals aren't solely dedicated to building coin collections (although some have impressive ones). Instead, they are a rich source of information. Their enthusiasm lies in gathering every conceivable detail about their particular areas of interest, which might sometimes involve relatively short historical periods or compact geographic regions. However, their expertise is truly outstanding. They can offer you almost immediate insights into your coin, even if it appears as enigmatic to others as a random bolt washer.
To connect with these knowledgeable enthusiasts, I highly recommend exploring numismatics forums and numismatic groups on social networks. While the forums may not have the glitz and glamour of modern platforms, don't let appearances deceive you. They harbor brilliant numismatists, and many of them typically have a dedicated section for unidentified coins. To seek their assistance, simply take a clear photo of your coin, post it along with details about its weight and diameter, mention where you acquired it, and patiently await their guidance.
💡 Here are a few forums I've found incredibly valuable within my areas of interest:
World of Coins www.worldofcoins.eu: This forum covers a wide range of numismatic topics including modern Euro.
Forum Ancient Coins https://www.forumancientcoins.com/ : For Greek and Roman coins, this forum is unparalleled.
Rasmir https://rasmir.com/FORUM/forum/11-islamic-numismatics/ : This forum specializes in Medieval Islamic, Georgian, Armenian, Golden Horde, Crimean Khanate, Ottoman Empire, Sasanian coins, and more.
These platforms are treasure troves of expertise and camaraderie within the numismatic community.
You may also find Facebook numismatic groups useful:
Ancient Biblical Coins https://www.facebook.com/groups/128206624425254/
Bi-metal Coins https://www.facebook.com/groups/bimetalcoins/
Early & Modern World Coins https://www.facebook.com/groups/earlyworldcoins/
Ancient & Medieval Coins https://www.facebook.com/groups/ancientnumis/
Coins of the Princely States & Independent Kingdoms https://www.facebook.com/groups/copsik/
English Hammered and Early Milled Coin Collectors. https://www.facebook.com/groups/625121854508191/
These groups can be valuable resources for engaging with fellow numismatists and expanding your knowledge within specific areas of interest.
Now, as you've acquired a substantial amount of information about your coins, it's an ideal moment to consider how to start cataloguing and keeping track of them properly. This will be a central topic for our upcoming discussion.
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