Excerpt from Coin-Collecting: An Introduction to the Study of Numismatics Most persons who become famous in any branch of human interest show preference to that subject from youth up. It is because they have thought about it, drilled themselves in it, and studied it all their lives, that they have become authorities in the subject. So nearly all who have hobbies incline to them in youth. Boys who collect coins are numerous; many soon give up. But some think so much of their pastime that they never quit. Many able men have been numismatists The United States Gov ernment collects rare coins, having commenced in 1838. Most historical societies and art museums own collections. Thus we see that while the collecting craze is generally thought of as a childish notion, mature people and digui hed bodies of men show their approval of the pursuit of coin-collecting. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.