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Brother, Look Before You Spare That Dime
| Article
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17569 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1990 |
1,921 Words |
| Author
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John Elvin
John Elvin is a columnist for the Washington Times. He has
written extensively on housing topics for periodicals. |
Put your hand in your pocket. No doubt, it's full of ordinary change. But look more carefully - there may be a wealth of history there, even though what you find might only be worth its face value. Did you know, for instance, that the first modern quarter-dollar featured the sculptured bust of George Washington and was issued in 1932 as a commemorative of the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth? The design was so popular that it has remained on the quarter ever since.
Coins were introduced in Asia Minor during the sixth century B.C. as a substitute for the more cumbersome system of barter. King Croesus of Lydia is credited with developing coinage featuring images of mythological or religious figures. The goddess Athena appeared on the earliest known coin.
The Greeks, and especially the Romans, preferred to memorialize themselves. In fact, the images the Roman emperors engraved onto their coinage are our best clue to what they actually looked like. Since then, for reasons ranging from the purely egocentric to the more utilitarian need to portray a familiar image, coins have borne the likenesses of prominent persons.
Why Collect?
Collecting coins, tokens, and medals has long been a popular hobby, enjoyed by old and young alike. The Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens collected coins that inspired him artistically. Former Italian sovereign Victor Emmanuel amassed a magnificent collection spanning several millennia of the coins of his realm. Over the centuries, collecting coins, tokens, and medals has led many to a better understanding,
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