NUMISMATIC COMMUNICATION IN THE LAST DECADE

The first decade of the 21st century, which we close this week, will be known for vast changes in the numismatic field, but most importantly in how we communicate with each other. Internet. Email. The World Wide Web. Blogging. Google. The E-Sylum. Publishing on demand. CD publishing. Kindle. All things numismatic, from researching to putting numismatic literature in the hands of the individual numismatist, have changed in the last ten years. Numismatists have kept up with the technology.

That magic word "technology." Jeff Starck wrote a magnificent lengthy article on numismatic communication technology in the January 4th issue of Coin World. He covered what numismatists -- authors and dealers particularly -- are doing with new computer capability. We now have instant access, and virtually divine knowledge of the field with a few keystrokes. Got a question about any numismatic item? You are likely to learn the answer from your computer.

Stay tuned. The future will be even better. Numismatics will be more enjoyable for the information you will be able to garner about even the most insignificant item, and be overwhelmed with the data on the most prominent items.

Speaking of Jeff's technology article, we should extend an enormous debt of gratitude to Beth Deisher and the staff of Coin World for their four-part special issue to inaugurate the new year. "Technology: Changing, Shaping the Hobby." is an outstanding piece of journalism, covering paper money, coining technology, marketing in addition to Jeff's communication article. Well done.

Coin World does special editions well, ever since the first in 1960 on Civil War numismatics. We hope to see more such specials during the publication's 50th year and forward.

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