The Numismatics Portal

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Experts of this study, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods.
The earliest forms of money used by people are categorised by collectors as "odd and curious", but the use of other goods in barter exchange is excluded, even where used as a circulating currency (e.g., cigarettes or instant noodles in prison). As an example, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit, and gave small change in lambskins; the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horses are not.[dubious – discuss] Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems. (Full article...)
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Banknotes of the Canadian dollar are the banknotes or bills (in common lexicon) of Canada, denominated in Canadian dollars (CAD, C$, or $ locally). Currently, they are issued in $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations. All current notes are issued by the Bank of Canada, which released its first series of notes in 1935. The Bank of Canada has contracted the Canadian Bank Note Company to produce the Canadian notes since then. The current series of polymer banknotes were introduced into circulation between November 2011 and November 2013. Banknotes issued in Canada can be viewed at the Bank of Canada Museum in Ottawa. (Full article...)
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Credit: US Mint, User:Dbenbenn & Sniff
Did you know...

- ...that with its two-dollar coin (reverse pictured), Newfoundland was the only British colony to issue circulating gold coinage?
- ...that Mount Burgess is nicknamed the Ten Dollar Mountain because it was featured on Canadian currency?
- ...that the American Buffalo gold bullion coin was the first .9999 fine 24-carat gold coin released by the United States Mint?
- ...that the Alabama centennial half dollar was the first commemorative coin minted with the image of a living individual?
- ...that Aksumite currency was the only native coinage to be issued in Africa without direct influence by an outside culture like Roman, Greek, etc...?
Related portals
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The Queen's Beasts coins are British coins issued by the Royal Mint in platinum, gold, and silver since 2016. Each of the 10 beast coins in the series features a stylized version of one of the heraldic Queen's Beasts statues present at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II representing her royal line of ancestry. The silver coin is notable as the first two-ounce United Kingdom silver bullion coin. Engraver Jody Clark designed the entire series. In December 2016, a full line of proof-quality coins was announced. In 2017, the mint began producing a platinum version of the coin. In April 2021, the Royal Mint issued an eleventh "Completer Coin" that featured all 10 of the Queen's Beasts, taking the series to 11 coins in total. The April 2021 release included a "one of a kind" gold coin weighing 10 kg and a denominated value of £10,000. Based upon the UK spot price at the time of release, the 10 kg gold coin had an intrinsic scrap value of approximately £411,000. It was widely reported that the 10 kg gold coin was the heaviest gold coin the Royal Mint had ever produced and that it had taken 400 hours to produce, four days to polish and has been described as a "Masterwork". The Royal Mint announced that Completer Coin completes the Queen's Beasts commemorative collection.
Single coins were delivered in a plastic coin capsule or flip, as chosen when ordering. Bulk orders were delivered in the same containers used for packaging Britannia bullion coins: 10 coins per tube, 20 tubes per box. The tube for silver can potentially hold a total of 14 coins. Proof coins were typically delivered in a coin capsule along with a display box and a booklet explaining the beast's significance in heraldic art. (Full article...)
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Credit: User:Timur lenk.
100 000 000 b.‑pengő (1020 pengő). Highest numbered banknote issued during the worst hyperinflation in the history.
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Numismatic terminology
- Bullion – Precious metals (platinum, gold and silver) in the form of bars, ingots or plate.
- Error – Usually a mis-made coin not intended for circulation, but can also refer to an engraving or die-cutting error not discovered until the coins are released to circulation. This may result is two or more varieties of the coin in the same year.
- Exonumia – The study of coin-like objects such as token coins and medals, and other items used in place of legal currency or for commemoration.
- Fineness – Purity of precious metal content expressed in terms of one thousand parts. 90% is expressed as .900 fine.
- Notaphily – The study of paper money or banknotes.
- Scripophily – The study and collection of stocks and Bonds.
WikiProjects
Numismatic topics
Money - Coins - Banknotes - Electronic money - Exchange rate - Legal tender - Clubs - Terminology
Ancient currency: Asia - Byzantium - Greece - Primitive Money - Roman - Indian coinage
Modern currency: Africa - The Americas - Asia and the Pacific - Europe - Bullion coins - Challenge coin - Commemorative coins - Token coins
Economics: Banking - Bonds - Cheques - Credit Cards - Fiat currency - Gold standard - Mints - Monetary union - Reserve currency - Stocks
Production: Coining (machining) - Designers - Die making - Mint (coin) • Coinage Metals: Aluminum - Bronze - Copper - Gold - Platinum - Silver - Tin
Subcategories
Most traded currencies
| Currency | ISO 4217 code |
Proportion of daily volume | Change (2022–2025) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2022 | April 2025 | |||
| U.S. dollar | USD | 88.4% | 89.2% | |
| Euro | EUR | 30.6% | 28.9% | |
| Japanese yen | JPY | 16.7% | 16.8% | |
| Pound sterling | GBP | 12.9% | 10.2% | |
| Renminbi | CNY | 7.0% | 8.5% | |
| Swiss franc | CHF | 5.2% | 6.4% | |
| Australian dollar | AUD | 6.4% | 6.1% | |
| Canadian dollar | CAD | 6.2% | 5.8% | |
| Hong Kong dollar | HKD | 2.6% | 3.8% | |
| Singapore dollar | SGD | 2.4% | 2.4% | |
| Indian rupee | INR | 1.6% | 1.9% | |
| South Korean won | KRW | 1.8% | 1.8% | |
| Swedish krona | SEK | 2.2% | 1.6% | |
| Mexican peso | MXN | 1.5% | 1.6% | |
| New Zealand dollar | NZD | 1.7% | 1.5% | |
| Norwegian krone | NOK | 1.7% | 1.3% | |
| New Taiwan dollar | TWD | 1.1% | 1.2% | |
| Brazilian real | BRL | 0.9% | 0.9% | |
| South African rand | ZAR | 1.0% | 0.8% | |
| Polish złoty | PLN | 0.7% | 0.8% | |
| Danish krone | DKK | 0.7% | 0.7% | |
| Indonesian rupiah | IDR | 0.4% | 0.7% | |
| Turkish lira | TRY | 0.4% | 0.5% | |
| Thai baht | THB | 0.4% | 0.5% | |
| Israeli new shekel | ILS | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
| Hungarian forint | HUF | 0.3% | 0.4% | |
| Czech koruna | CZK | 0.4% | 0.4% | |
| Chilean peso | CLP | 0.3% | 0.3% | |
| Philippine peso | PHP | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
| Colombian peso | COP | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
| Malaysian ringgit | MYR | 0.2% | 0.2% | |
| UAE dirham | AED | 0.4% | 0.1% | |
| Saudi riyal | SAR | 0.2% | 0.1% | |
| Romanian leu | RON | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
| Peruvian sol | PEN | 0.1% | 0.1% | |
| Other currencies | 2.6% | 3.4% | ||
| Total[a] | 200.0% | 200.0% | ||
References
- ↑ Triennial Central Bank Survey Foreign exchange turnover in April 2025 (PDF) (Report). Bank for International Settlements. 30 September 2025. p. 14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2025-10-12.
Web resources
- NumisWiki
- International Association of Professional Numismatists
- American Numismatic Association
- American Numismatic Society
- British Numismatic Association
- American Vecturist Association
- Challenge Coin Association
- Numismatic Museum of Athens, Greece
- The Perth Mint Australia
- Central Mint of China
- Royal Mint
- The French Mint
- United States Mint
- Bank of Russia
- Royal Canadian Mint
- Exact Change numismatic software
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- ↑ The total sum is 200% because each currency trade is counted twice: once for the currency being bought and once for the currency being sold. The percentages above represent the proportion of all trades involving a given currency, regardless of which side of the transaction it is on.




















