numismatist

/nuˈmɪsməˌtɪst/

Other forms: numismatists

The person who looks closely at every penny might not be cheap — he might be a numismatist, a coin collector, looking for old or rare coins that somehow got into the mix.

This word literally means "someone who studies coins." These aren't the coins you have in your pocket right now. Instead, a numismatist studies and collects coins from other places and time periods. The word comes from the Latin word numisma, meaning "coin, currency." The word numismatist was coined — no pun intended! — in 1799.

Definitions of numismatist

1. noun

   a collector and student of money (and coins in particular)
   synonyms: coin collector, numismatologist

   type of:

   aggregator, collector

   a person who collects things