• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• The Euro Is Here - Edd & Johanne Smith
• Collecting World Coins - Edd Smith
• Chapter 1 - Buying and Selling World Coins
• Chapter 2 - Mail Order Coins
• Chapter 3 - Using Computers to Enhance Coin and Paper Money Collecting
• Chapter 4 - International Rates of Exchange Table
• Chapter 5 - Gold, Silver, and Platinum Bullion Value Charts
• Chapter 6 - International Coin Mints and Distributors
• Chapter 7 - International Association of Professional Numismatists
• Chapter 8 - International Numismatic Organizations
• Chapter 9 - International Numismatic Publications
• Chapter 10 - Coin Auction Sales
• Chapter 11 - How to Use This Book
• Chapter 12 - PNG the Professional Numismatists Guild
• Chapter 13 - Ancient Coins: Collecting Historical Coins
• Chapter 14 - Antilles (Netherlands)
• Chapter 15 - Argentina
• Chapter 16 - Australia
• Chapter 17 - Belgium
• Chapter 18 - Bermuda
• Chapter 19 - Bolivia
• Chapter 20 - Brazil
• Chapter 21 - Canada
• Chapter 22 - China
• Chapter 23 - Cuba
• Chapter 24 - Egypt
• Chapter 25 - Finland
• Chapter 26 - France
• Chapter 27 - Germany
• Chapter 28 - Greece
• Chapter 29 - Hungary
• Chapter 30 - Iceland
• Chapter 31 - India
• Chapter 32 - Ireland
• Chapter 33 - Israel
• Chapter 34 - Italy
• Chapter 35 - Japan
• Chapter 36 - Luxembourg
• Chapter 37 - Malta
• Chapter 38 - Mexico
• Chapter 39 - Morocco
• Chapter 40 - Mozambique
• Chapter 41 - Nepal
• Chapter 42 - Netherlands
• Chapter 43 - New Zealand
• Chapter 44 - Norway
• Chapter 45 - Pakistan
• Chapter 46 - Palestine
• Chapter 47 - Philippines
• Chapter 48 - Pitcairn Islands
• Chapter 49 - Poland
• Chapter 50 - Portugal
• Chapter 51 - Russia
• Chapter 52 - South Africa
• Chapter 53 - Spain
• Chapter 54 - Switzerland
• Chapter 55 - Syria
• Chapter 56 - Turkey
• Chapter 57 - United Kingdom
• Chapter 58 - USSR
• Chapter 59 - Vatican City
• Chapter 60 - Venezuela
• Chapter 61 - Vietnam
• Back Cover

ANCIENT COINS: COLLECTING HISTORICAL COINS Courtesy of Victor England, Jr., Senior Director of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. Coins are the most important form of money. For over 2,000 years these small pieces of metal have represented units of intrinsic value. Today we take coins for granted; but since coinage emerged in the late 7th century B. C. it has played an important role in the eco-nomics of many cultures. Today we are fortunate to have coins as records of past history. Through the collecting of coins you can acquire significant histori-cal artifacts that can lead you down many paths of research and ex-ploration. If only these small objects could talk—I am sure they would tell many interesting tales. The collecting of historical coins from the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods is an affordable pastime that can provide many hours of enjoyment. The collecting of ancient coins is perhaps the old-est part of numismatics. Once only the hobby of kings, it is now a re-warding field readily open to all. A recently published book series, Ancient Coin Collecting by Wayne G. Sayles, is a must for anyone wanting to look over this fas-cinating area of numismatics. These books are available from your favorite bookstore or numismatic bookseller. Over the next few pages I will introduce you to 32 ancient coins that might form the beginnings of your collection. Condition, strike, and style play important roles in the price of ancient coins. I have provided price ranges you might expect to pay for some of these coins. The price categories in the order they appear on the following pages are as follows: Fine–Very Fine Very Fine–Good Very Fine—Extremely Fine Over 2,600 years ago in Lydia (Western Turkey), small lumps of metal were stamped with a simple design. These lumps of metal, made from a natural alloy of silver and gold, were called electrum. They represent one of the earliest coins. 115