Many people start collecting coins when they make contact with a collectible one the first time. Most of them are really impressive, and every single coin has an interesting history behind it. Some do it because of the money, and others just enjoy having something that important, everything depends on the person. The price for some of them can range from $1000 to a million.
Most of the ancient coins were made out of silver because it was easier to be found than gold, but some of the rarest are made of gold. You can find many of these silver coins for sale, so you can start your collection for under $1000. It is very important to know which is valid because there are many scammers that will try to take advantage.
Roman and Greek Coins
Some of the most popular coins in the world are from the Roman period with emperors marked on them. You can start your collection with each emperor from 27 B.C. to A.D. 518. They were made out of gold, silver, or bronze. Like today, bronze coins are most affordable. There are some that are very significant with building from that period imprinted on them.
A long time ago Greece had many powerful cities that had their own governments which mean that they made their own coins. Each of these coins had unique symbols or badges that were identifying a certain city. One of the well-known is the owl that came from Athens. Aegina had a symbol of turtle and Boeotia had a shield on its coins.
Portcullis Money
An interesting story behind this coin is that Queen Elizabeth I ordered its production in 1601 when she had the first journey. At that time this coins was trying to get its place among Spanish Real, European currency. The Queen showed her power this way, so the coin has a high reputation among collectors. The coins had the same dimensions as Spanish Real, so they wanted to make a difference by engraving great crowned iron gates. The first coins issued by British Empire besides England’s normal coinage was Portcullis Money.
The Elephant and Castle Guinea
This coin was the main coin used in the Guinea colony and it was made out of gold. It was made in 1663 and soon became the most successful coins for trading. Where ever it was introduced, it increased British trading power. Because of this coin, Guinea’s reputation grew and there was a high demand because of its fineness and weight.
The name came from the gold that was used in their minting that was brought by Royal Africa Company to Britain from the Guinea Coast of West Africa. The coin features King Charles II with an emblem of Royal Africa Company at the bottom, an elephant. It was used until 1722. For 150 years Guinea had a rich history until the pound took its place in 1816.
The Cartwheel Penny
The first coin to be exported to Australian Colonies was the British Cartwheel Penny. It was produced in 1797 because of the coin shortage that was going on in that time and which had an impact on economic growth. This happened because there were a small number of silver coins in the circulation, so copper currency started to overtake it.
An interesting fact about this coin is that it was produced by the first steam-powered press for coins. It made up to 80 coins per minute which was unthinkable at that time. Also, they were made specially to stop counterfeiting. They used inscription and thick rim punched into the coin to stop counterfeiting and named it The Cartwheel Penny.
The Rix Dollar
The British colony once named Ceylon is now known as Sri Lanka. While it was a colony of Great Britain, they thought about developing their economy by making a new currency that will provide new trade options with Europe. Matthew Boulton, the same person that made Cartwheel Pennies, had to produce another coin at the Soho Mint.
It was finally created in 1821 and named Rix Dollar which was the first silver coin made for use in Ceylon by Great Britain. The design was made by Benedetto Pistrucci that also made the St. George slaying the Dragon that features on British Sovereigns.
