NUMISMATICS AND COINS: FOR BIGGINERS

WHAT IS A COIN?

Any piece of hard material (mostly a metal/alloy) that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a medium of exchange or legal tender.

WHAT IS NUMISMATICS?

Numismatics is both a hobby and field f academics. As an academic field it deals with study of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While as a hobby it is the collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects.

WHAT ARE THE OBJECTS THAT FALL UNDER CATEGORY OF NUMISMATICS AS A HOBBY?

It includes the collection of it is the collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects like  other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF COINS (ANATOMY OF THE COIN)?

In the below given image you can see the different parts/regions of a typical Coin of Republic India. The details of each part are given below.

OBVERSE SIDE:In Republic India's coins the obverse side refers to the side on which, Lion Capital along with the motto 'Satyamev Jayate' is struck.

REVERSE SIDE: It is the side on which the designs changes either based on definitive series type or commemoration type. For example, in above shown coin we can see the United Nations' logo; this side of the coin makes the reverse side. Generally obverse side design remains unchanged except minor changes and all the time it bears the lion capital and the motto 'Satyamev Jayate', whereas reverse side designs are changed constantly from  one commemoration to other commemoration issue.

LION CAPITAL: It is the Emblem of India and derived from the Ashoka Pillar, as a symbol of sovereignty and indigenous motifs of independence.

DENOMINATION: It refers to the value of the coin mentioned on it either in terms of rupee or in terms of Naya Paise/Paise/Pice.

MOTTO: Republic Indian's coins bear the motto "सत्यमेव जयते" meaning Truth Alone Triumphs. This motto was derived from Mundaka Upanishad Mantra 3.1.6 (सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम् सत्येन पन्था विततो देवयानः । येनाक्रमत् मनुष्यो ह्यात्मकामो यत्र तत् सत्यस्य परं निधानं ॥)

YEAR: This refers to the year of commemoration in case of commemorative coins and year of minting in case of definitive coins.

LEGEND: Legend is the written alphabetic script on the coin which generally indicates the details of Commemoration or any other details related t coin but it will be in terms of alphabetic and numeric script. 

FIELD: This is the any flat/Plain area of coin which is free from any designs or which is not raised.

RELIEF: This is portion of the design that has been raised.

MINT MARK: It is generally given below the date, but in some cases at the top of the vertical axis of the coin. It indicates the mint in which coin was minted. In India there are four mints, namely; Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Noida Mint. Kolkata mint doesn't use any mint mark, whereas Mumbai mint have diamond shaped (Rhombus), Hyderabad mint have Star shaped (or Dot in Diamond) and Noida have Round Dot shaped mint mark. In addition to these, India also got its coins minted through foreign mints during 1980s and 1990s. Mint mark 'B' and 'M' were used by Mumbai mint on proof sets where as Mint mark 'U' was being used on UNC sets issued by Mumbai Mint.

EDGE: The edge is the actual side of the coin, and shouldn't be confused with the rim. Edge can be either Plain, Milled/Reeded or Security edge.