Coin collecting is said to be one of the worlds uniting hobbies, no matter your country of origin you can sell, exchange, trade or swap with anyone in the world today particularly with the use of eBay. Our world uses money in many forms such as banknotes, cheques, cards, computer printouts, and coins. Of them all, coins are the most fascinating, for me the Australian Shilling is an attractive coin to the eye with much history unique only to Australia. They last for centuries, they reveal history, and many are beautiful works of art in their own right. We use coins so often that it is hard to imagine a world without them, yet primitive man had none. He hunted, fished and gathered without a notion of buying or selling anything. As primitive man became tribal man and began to cultivate crops and raise herds, the practice of exchanging some goods for others – the barter system sprang up into life. It served mankind for thousands of years. Old artefacts and records show that tribes bartered livestock, tea, almonds and furs. In ancient China, India and Egypt, grains were bartered from group to group and sometimes, people were bartered for animals and goods. The barter system did not call for the use of money or coins but it did raise the concept of value. For instance, one old record tells us that a slave girl was worth twenty oxen. In Babylon, barley determined the basic unit of weight, the shekel, the measure was 180 grains of barley to one shekel. From value, the next step was money. Tribal man had become trading man and trading man needed objects to make trade easier. The objects had to have stable values, they had to be easy to carry from place to place, and they had to be durable to stand up to repeated handling and the test of time. The first currencies known today through records were not coins as we know them but things of nature, such as rare kinds of shells or stones. Cowrie shells, formerly used as money in parts of Africa, South Asia, and the South Pacific which, Marco Polo described as, “white porcelain” found in the sea, were among the earliest forms of money in China and India. Precious metals gradually came into use, gold rings were used in ancient Britain, and in ancient China bronze miniatures of items previously bartered, such as knives and spades, were used as money. The use of metal objects for example the 19th century, “tin hat” money of the Malayans persisted until modern times. So as you can see, history, friendship, and trade are the cornerstones of a much loved hobby, the oldest hobby of all time which brings people together from all parts of the world. All you need to do if you are a beginner is select a denomination you are keen to learn about and you are up and running. Maybe start with small purchases while you are learning and after a short period you will find yourself being caught up in the goals of completing your perfect collection. I have found the eBay system as a fundamental element in the growth of this hobby which enables people across the planet to connect and trade. So enjoy your journey in coin collecting, have fun, and meet all kinds of people.Read full review
If you collect coins from around the world this is a great one to get. It is a beautiful silver, minted during WWII in Australia.
Verified purchase: Yes
Verified purchase: Yes
I apologize in advance for the bad english and machine translation. I like silver. I like silver coins. Coins of silver is a good investment. I started collecting silver coins of the country. Later I liked the coins of other countries. Thanks numismatics, I met with the culture and history of other countries. Thank you for your attention.