Numismatics and Ephemera

By Geoffrey Bell

Numismatics is the scientific name for coin collecting. Of course, coin collecting includes decimal coins, paper money, tokens and medals. Coin collecting is a very old hobby and in the beginning it was for only the very wealthy. Every castle or manor worth its salt had a coin cabinet. This piece of furniture was about four feet tall, usually made of expensive wood like walnut or mahogany and consisted of shallow shelves where coins were laid to rest on velvet. Today this method of housing coins is obsolete and the hobby is popular with young and old, rich and poor.

Normally, most collectors start collecting pocket change and try to acquire one coin of each date. Some collectors concentrate on cents or silver dollars for example. Paper money costs more to collect for obvious reasons. Chartered banks were common before the Dominion of Canada and Bank of Canada notes became standard currency. Banks like the Bank of Hamilton, Molson’s Bank, People’s Bank of Halifax or the Bank of British Columbia were organized in the 1820’s and 30’s to accommodate local needs. Most failed at some point or were amalgamated with the larger banks like the Bank of Montreal or Bank of Nova Scotia. Tokens were used by merchants because coin was scarce or non-existent. Often store employees included woods workers or farm workers, so paying them in store tokens was beneficial to the merchant because it cut his wage costs since he made his profit markup off his employee’s purchases.

Medals are for some collectors the most interesting. Each has its story to tell as to who made it, who received it, how many were made, who designed it and of course the pure beauty of sculpture in metal.

The value of coins is determined by several factors including supply and demand, condition and the number of coins minted. Newfoundland coinage, for example, has low mintages and is beautiful, yet its coins are reasonably priced because collector demand is moderate. These coins are just not as popular as other Canadian coins. Coin collecting has proven to be a good financial investment as well. Many investors claim that investing in good coins is as good as investing in the stock market. If you calculate the many hours of enjoyment, how can you lose?

The transition from numismatics to ephemera is a logical one. Ephemera refers to the collecting of paper items including photos, postcards, stereoscopic views, posters, advertising items, pamphlets, magazines, autographed photos; the list is endless. Many collectors connect their coin collecting with ephemera collecting. For example, collecting pictures of banks on postcards connects well with banknote collecting. Collecting pictures of Governor General’s and medals of Governor General’s make an interesting combination. One collector writes to authors after reading their books and asks question about content. Invariably the authors write back with their comments. Soap salesmen like to collect all paper items relating to the soap industry. The topics of interest here are endless.

On the Canadian Antiques Roadshow tour we saw beautiful posters of the World Hockey Championships held in Poland in the 1930’s, photos of the 1850’s Franklin expedition, early magazines on the history of Canada, a program of the world premiere of the movie ‘Thunderball’ signed by Sean Connery, historical documents relating to land transactions and lots more fascinating ephemera. You can imagine the excitement created when a Western collector brought in albums of early autographed pioneers of aviation, people like Roy Brown, Billy Bishop and the Red Baron. Sports enthusiasts would have loved to see the program put out by the City of New York welcoming the winning Yankee World Series team of 1955. It was signed by the whole team including Don Larsen and Mickey Mantle. You can easily see why people collect paper!

Ephemera or coin collecting need not be expensive. Choose an area that interests you and go for it. Select a theme like boats, trains, sports, banks, winter, fish, aboriginals, whatever. Writers might enjoy first editions, sailors ships, farmers tractors, teachers children, etc. There is room for everyone.

-- Geoffrey Bell