JETON \JET.un\ n. a coin-like token often used to represent money in casino games, dispensing machines etc; also JETTON

Strictly speaking, a jeton is not really ‘money’, but I figured it was close enough to make its way into this month’s theme. Besides, it gives me an excuse to introduce another cool word…

Hopefully you recall that numismatics is generally used to refer to the study or collection of coins. Strictly speaking, though, this word covers a great deal more than coins; it encompasses tokens, medals, bank notes, and pretty much anything related to currency.

Now if you just want to refer to the non-coin part of numismatics (especially the study of tokens, medals, and other coin-like objects), the correct word is EXONUMIA (literally ‘without/outside coins’). A person who collects these sorts of items is called an EXONUMIST.

So it is the exonumist, rather than the numismatist, who is likely to have the most impressive jeton collection.