A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma).
Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coins (and possibly, other currency) in object-based research.
[1] Although use of the term numismatics was first recorded in English in 1799,[2] people had been collecting and studying coins long before then all over the world.
(The branch of numismatics that deals with the study and collection of paper currency and banknotes by notaphilists is called Notaphily) This group chiefly may derive pleasure from the simple ownership of monetary devices and studying these coins as private amateur scholars.
As a result, most scholar numismatists will approach numismatics from within another academic discipline (e.g. history, archaeology, ancient or modern languages, metal sciences), perhaps after attending a numismatic summer school, usually based where there is an excellent coin collection.