Category: Old money, coins

Procopius’s School of Coinage, Part 6

A gyűjtés íve Hogyan jutunk el a modern érméktől a régi pénzekig? A legtöbb érmegyűjtemény nem tudatosan megtervezett rendszerként kezdődik. Először egyszerűen megtetszik egy érme. Lehet szép, ismerős, könnyen beszerezhető, vagy valamilyen személyes emlék kapcsolódik hozzá. Ebből lesz a második…

Procopius Coin School – Part 5

Ritka vagy csak réginek tűnik? Mitől ritka egy érme? „Nagyon régi, tehát biztosan értékes” – az egyik leggyakoribb tévhit, amellyel a numizmatikában találkozunk. Pedig egy érme kora önmagában még semmit sem mond el annak ritkaságáról vagy piaci értékéről. Léteznek kétezer…

Procopius’s Coin School for Beginners – Part 4

How do you examine a coin? A 10-point checklist for the novice collector You spot a lovely coin. You like it. They say it’s rare. According to the seller, of course, it’s „guaranteed genuine”, „never cleaned”, and was more or less dug out of grandad’s drawer the day before yesterday. This is exactly when you should resist buying it…

Procopius’s Coin School for Beginners – Part 3

The Importance of Quality: Grades of Condition in Europe and the USA There can be a price difference – sometimes several-fold or even an order of magnitude – between two coins of the same type, from the same year and with the same mint mark. This difference is often due not to rarity, but to condition. Anyone who learns to recognise the genuine…

Procopius’s Coin School for Beginners – Part 2

How can we get started in coin collecting whilst spending as little as possible on learning the ropes? If you were to ask a hundred experienced collectors what the most expensive coin they’d ever bought was, many wouldn’t mention a rare gold coin. Instead, they’d mention that completely ordinary coin which, as a beginner with no experience…

The Hungarian 8 forint gold coin

A „world money” in Hungarian robes, why was it born, what was it used for and why did it never become a people's money? One of the most fascinating yet often misunderstood gold coins in 19th century Hungarian monetary history is the Hungarian 8 forint. It is called a forint in name and looks like Hungarian state money, but its function is...

The age of Mary of Anjou

Power, crisis and coinage at the end of the 14th century In the second half of the 14th century, Hungary was still one of the most powerful and wealthy states in Central Europe. The reign of King Louis the Great brought stability, prosperity and foreign policy prestige, but his death (1382) marked the end of an era....

Identification of Sasanid drachmas - a technical guide

This document provides a complete technical overview for the identification of the drachmas of the Sasanian rulers. Ardas tomb I (224-240) Crown type: tall, stepped/roofed form, topped with a large korymbos.Characteristics: simple, archaic style, little decoration.Portrait: shorter beard, simple dress.Back: early, simple fire-altar type.Attribute: easily recognisable by the simplicity of the crown....