First, the analysis of ancient coin collectors
At present, art (antique) collection is an all-encompassing market, and there are many art trading centers and antique markets all over the country. As we all know, collecting historical collections is a kind of feelings, is a kind of fun, because collecting is people’s review of the past; Remembering history enables the spirit of The Times to be passed on and fine cultures to be passed on. Therefore, more and more people are keen on collecting, and the historical significance behind the collection is more precious than the value of the collection, so that the collector has not experienced the extraordinary but can feel its magnificence.
The golden age of art (antique) collection has arrived, has entered the era of the whole people, into the homes of ordinary people, and opened a new era of unprecedented collection, which is a very gratifying era. Art (antiques) collection of many categories, the number of large, not only Bo, and miscellaneous. Among them, the collection of ancient coins is a large number of personnel and a large number of teams in this collection army, which is unique.
Why is the collection of ancient coins so attractive that people are trapped in a fog and difficult to extricate themselves? Because each ancient coin carries a heavy history, from the copper shell coin found in Yangshao culture, the coin has gone through the history of China for thousands of years, creating more than 70 of the world’s best. China’s coin system is complete, rich in categories, clear in context, broad in connotation, wide in variety and huge in quantity, which can not be matched by any other country.
Some ancient coins are mysterious and difficult to distinguish between true and false, so that many people are willing to risk acquisition, collection, trading, and enjoy the whole process of stimulation. Collecting ancient coins is actually the sublimation of knowledge, the sustenance of spirit, the enjoyment of fun, the competition of vision, and the bridge of making friends.
After thousands of years, ancient coins tell a long history in a silent way. Every bit of ancient coins contains blood, tears, sweat, hard work and wisdom of ancestors, leaving a vivid national story with twists and turns for future generations.
The process of learning ancient coin collection is a natural process of honing character and developing skills, which is both enlightening and educational. Not only temper people’s will, but also exercise people’s quality, but also adjust people’s mentality to promote human blood circulation. To make careless careful; To soften the impatient; Make those who have no ambition become diligent; Make the weak become healthy. The continuous increase in the number of ancient coin collectors has also enhanced the awareness and ability of the whole people to protect national cultural relics, benefiting the country and the people and benefiting themselves.
So, what are the types of ancient coin collectors today?
One is coin collectors. This is a group of coin market “Taobao family”, they do not necessarily take making money very important, but pure coin players, they collect coins because of love, enjoy the fun of the process of Amoy. During holidays, they often stay together in various antique and coin markets, sometimes reaching the level of obsession, and whenever they “Taobao” a very favorite coin, they are often overwhelmed with joy. Some can go a day without eating, but not a day without looking at their coins.
Second, coin investors. People in this group don’t necessarily really like collecting coins, and some don’t even appreciate them. They buy coins just like they buy stocks, and use coin collection as a new means of investment and financial management. Generally, they are rarely seen in antique stalls or coin markets, and these people are more likely to appear in special coin auctions around the country, or to participate in some higher-grade coin salons, and they are often accompanied by senior officials. Always pay attention to the latest market conditions of various coins, and find and explore coins with value-added potential.
The third is the possessor of the precious currency. Some of these people do like coins, but some do not really like it, there are private enterprise owners and market investors, they only have rare coins as a symbol of personal status, although sometimes they will also use the collection of coins as a means of investment, but more to satisfy a sense of “no one else I have” pride. They will frequently “kill in and out” at coin auctions across the country, and take home valuable rare coins, which are so rich that many professional coin collectors also sigh. These numbers are small, but the impact is huge, and many of the astronomical prices of rare coins are created by them.
The fourth is the professional coin dealer. Here are some professionals who deal in all kinds of coins. They are professional coin merchants, existing in antique and coin market shops all over the country, proficient in this way, understand the value and market of various coins, and are keen to earn the difference and profit of various coins. They believe that even in first-tier cities, such opportunities are still available, and sometimes they can pick up from the market and collect cheap goods. Their greatest wish is that the coin market often has a big market, so that they can often make money. These groups of people are the main participants in the current coin collection investment, of which the first group is the largest, but their impact on the coin market is very small, and the number of two, three and four groups of people is not large, but to a large extent, it determines the future direction of the coin market.
Second, the future development trend of ancient coin collection
First, the current collection of ancient coins is in a state of “not seeking solitude, but only seeking beauty”. The so-called “solitary” refers to the solitary, the best, and the “beauty” refers to the perfect beauty or excellent beauty. This phenomenon is not difficult to understand, because with the increasing number of people collecting ancient coins, blindly pursuing lonely and rare goods, not only may not be able to buy heavy money, even if you buy lonely and rare goods, as a collection, an ordinary coin with good appearance is more ornamental than a lonely item with poor appearance. For example, the exquisite production of “One knife equals five thousand” in the New Mang period is the beauty sought after by the public in the collection of ancient coins. In addition, in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the “Five elements of large cloth, cloth spring, and Eternal passage through the nations” of the Northern Zhou Dynasty are also rare products of the spring. These three kinds of coins are written in 玉箸篆. They are exquisite and collectively known as the “Three pieces of the Northern Zhou Dynasty”. In the collection of ancient money, there are the best cost performance of the northern Song Dynasty Huizong cast “Grand view Tongbao” and “Chongning Tongbao”, its imperial book “thin gold body” tall and graceful, very beautiful, the price is close to the people.
The principle of “not seeking solitude, but seeking beauty” is also prevalent in the collection of modern mechanism silver dollars. Although the current concept of collecting ancient coins is still limited to this stage of “only seeking beauty”, it will certainly further change and develop with the needs of collection.
Second, while “only seeking beauty” in the future, the diversified trend of ancient coin collection will also deepen and gradually develop into “seeking solitary beauty”; At the same time, there will be different versions of the collection, the collection of the period, the matching collection and so on. At present, the collection concept of “not seeking solitude, but seeking beauty” is only a necessary stage in the development of ancient coin collection. With the further improvement of people’s taste in collecting ancient coins, the concept of collecting ancient coins will develop in the direction of pursuing “solitary beauty” coins, that is, pursuing the scarcity of beautiful coins at the same time. For example: The Han Dynasty in the southern region of Xinjiang casting the use of “Han Qu two body money” (commonly known as Xinjiang Hotan horse money), one side is a horse or camel and Khaqu, the other side of the Chinese character seal “six baht money”, purely handmade, pure copper or lead, only 13 domestic, because there are two kinds of writing, this coin can be said to be the country’s earliest and even the world’s earlier “international currency”. The number of horse qian in the world is small, the quality is excellent, and it belongs to the “solitary beauty” sequence. (See my special article on Han Qu Dynasty money.)
Third, with the deepening of the collection of ancient coins, it will inevitably become a trend to search for the source. Such as: The well-known “Qing Dynasty Xuan three Qu Shu dragon” one dollar silver coin, the Ministry of Coinage General Factory at the same time designed the “long beard dragon”, “short beard dragon” and “Qu Shu dragon” three kinds, but ultimately chose the “Qu Shu dragon” casting and issuance, to seek the reason for choosing “Qu Shu Dragon”, people will inevitably study “long beard dragon” and “short beard dragon”, so come, “Long bearded dragon” and “short bearded dragon” will be more people to pursue, to collect and study. In short, in the foreseeable future, the collection of ancient coins is still a hot spot in the field of art collection, and it is constantly upgraded.
Three, the preservation of ancient coins
One is the more precious paper coins, it is best to use the paper coin positioning album to store, spread out under the plastic film. Choose the model that matches the size of the paper coin, and put wadding, paper and other things as padding for the thin, small and tender paper coin. To prevent oil stains and other pollution, pay attention to anti-mildew, anti-moth, in order to strengthen protective measures, you can also use vacuum packaging, filled with nitrogen and other special means to slow down the oxidation rate.
The second is that metal ancient coins are best stored in dry cardboard boxes or hard plastic boxes, packaged independently, and put as much desiccant around as possible. You can also buy some “rust-proof paper” or “tinfoil”, load it into small pieces, and package each coin separately to play a sealing role; For precious iron money, it is best to use vacuum packaging. On average, every 3 to 5 months, you can pick a dry and sunny weather to take out the iron money one by one to ventilate and turn it.
Third, the surface of ancient money generally has rust, this old rust rust hard, green, blue, red, can play its own protective role, unless the rust is illegible, or harmful rust (cuprous chloride) gradually converted into copper carbonate (CuCl) need to deal with, generally do not clean up, it is best not to destroy the original rust.
Fourth, the “born currency” should be properly stored and not processed. Due to the copper problem of the ancient coins themselves or the long-term wet and acidic environment, the ancient coins will appear extremely serious oxidation, which is called “birth” in numismatics. “Born” money is very tender, texture like a piece of tofu. It is best to use a coin box to store it independently, handle it lightly, throw it at will or accidentally collide, and the whole money may be damaged and broken.
Fifth, the collection of coins is recommended according to The Times, categories, classified storage, because the texture is different for temperature, humidity and other requirements are not the same. You can choose between drawer type cash drawers, you can also use different coin books or block type coin drawers. Dry treatment before storage, avoid sweaty hand contact, coin cabinets, drawers, books should be placed in a dry place without light, so as to avoid adding new moisture and rust. In summer, especially after the southern plum rain season, it is recommended to see the sun at least once a year.
Post time: Nov-23-2024