Someone who collects coins can be called a coin collector or, more formally, a numismatist.
While often used interchangeably, there’s a nuanced distinction:
- A coin collector gathers coins as a hobby or for investment purposes.
- A numismatist is a more serious student of coins and currency, delving into their history, artistry, and cultural significance. They might also focus on specific areas like 20th-century coins or error coins. Many coin collectors start as hobbyists and later become numismatists as their passion and knowledge deepen.
The term “numismatics” refers to the entire field of studying or collecting currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and medals.
What do you call a coin collector?
A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics/coins (“of coins”; from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coins (and possibly, other currency) in object-based research.
What is the professional name for a coin collector?
Good point! Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other means of payment used to resolve debts and exchange goods.
What is the fancy word for coin collection?
From my experience, The name that we give to the collection of coins today is numismatics, a word that also encompasses the collection of paper money and of medals.
What is slang for coin collector?
Other forms: numismatists. The person who looks closely at every penny might not be cheap — he might be a numismatist, a coin collector, looking for old or rare coins that somehow got into the mix.