Whois & Analysis for numista.com

Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects.

While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods.

Early money used by people is referred to 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 in prison).

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 horse is not.

Many objects have been used for centuries, such as cowry shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones, and gems.

Barter is a system of exchange where goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money.

It is distinguishable from gift economies in many ways; one of them is that the reciprocal exchange is immediate and not delayed in time.

It is usually , but may be multilateral (i.e., mediated through a trade exchange) and, in most developed countries, usually only exists parallel to monetary systems to a very limited extent.

Barter, as a replacement for money as the method of exchange, is used in times of monetary crisis, such as when the currency may be either unstable (e.g., hyperinflation or deflationary spiral) or simply unavailable for conducting commerce.

The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector.

The scope of collecting is unlimited, which is expressed in the hyperbolic expression: "If something exists, somebody somewhere collects them.".