Who are the greatest coin collectors?
Numismatics is the name given to the study and collecting of coins and medals, and is derived from nomisma, the Greek word for coin.
It is probable that coins were prized for their aesthetic qualities in the ancient world, while their importance in socioeconomic development was appreciated by Herodotus, the 5th century Greek historian.
There were certainly coin collections during the earliest times – but not in the modern sense. In the era before banking, people stored their surplus wealth in leather bags or earthenware jars, which could be buried in troubled times. Coins from such hoards are undoubtedly the source of much of the material now in the hands of museums and some collectors.
From the Renaissance onwards, it was fashionable for gentlemen to possess a coin cabinet – which in some cases was an entire room, shelved from floor to ceiling to house their treasures!
Outstanding among early collectors were the Italian scholar and poet Petrarch, the Medici rulers of Florence, Pope Paul II, Queen Christina of Sweden and the Habsburg Emperor Charles VI.