Miguel's Coin Collecting Page

From an initial interest in U.S. Morgan silver dollars, I've expanded my collecting to include silver coins, the larger the better, from all over the World. Mark, ryal, piastre, peso, franc, talers...these are only a few of the currencies that by the early 20th century still meant silver coins for general circulation. By the 1950's -1960's, however, all these silver coins would disappear from circulation as country after country substituted them with paper money and "token" coins made from non-precious metals. Today, they are only minted as bullion or to commemorate a special ocassion.

Discovering them again, and learning about the history and times when they circulated has become my current goal. So learn about and enjoy them in my World Coins link below.

World Internet Numismatics Society, if you ever wanted to learn more about the "Hobby of Kings" here's your opportunity. We invite you to visit our site.

The place where coins are manufactured is called a mint, from the Latin moneta, meaning "coin" or "mint." Moneta was also a name applied to the goddess Juno, and, because the ancient Romans made their coins in the temple of Juno Moneta, it became customary to call a coinage operation a mint.

The first true coins were probably made by the Lydians, a people who lived in Anatolia, or Asia Minor, during the 7th century BC. They used a natural alloy of gold containing about 20 to 35 percent silver. This alloy, known as electrum, was made into cast disks that were placed on an anvil. An engraved die was placed on the disk and hit with a hammer to imprint the figure from the die onto the disk. The first government mint was established by King Croesus of Lydia, who ruled from 560 to 546 BC.

The words crown, sovereign, krone, kroon, krona, and corona all
show that the currency was authorized by the Crown--for example,
the king or queen of England. The name franc (used in France,
Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland) comes from the medieval
word for Frenchman.