Coins Books

With the millenium at our doorstep, this book is an excellent way for anyone to see how much the Vikings, and their explorations, still linger in the minds of people around the world. There are many good photographs and discriptions worthy of studying. Many new medals and coins are planned for 2000 by several nations so the material presented by Rulau should gather plenty of attention for the next several years.

This book contains the warrants for the DFM, types of awards + example, distribution by year for all Canadian aircrew in the period of 1939 to 1945. Allso the information from The London Gazette are given. Great source for historical research and for medal collectors.

I love this entire series of books. As a elementary school Media Specialist, I am constantly on the look-out out for excellent resources for students and teachers! This series offers large type, photographs to illustrate the content, information at a lower reading level -- but the information contained is exactly what students need to know! Close-up pictures of the back and front of the bills are especially nice!

These books are ideal for students with an interest in money; reading specialists in schools; and elementary media centers.

The only drawback is that I can only find the series in paperback, and not library or hardcover editions.

Early dated coin collectors such as myself finally have reason to cheer. For decades the only similar work has been Frey's "Dated European Coinage Prior to 1501". Levinson's new book on the subject blows Frey completely out of the water and makes it obsolete. Correcting the errors and removing the duplicates in that work, Bob Levinson's 15 year effort in gathering information and writing expands the number of coins catalogued and described to over 1,000 distinct types and numerous more subtypes and variants. The difference in organization and the increase in scope are startling to anyone familiar with Frey's work or its occasionally revised editions. Levinson adds legend transcriptions, weight info, catalogue references, and an estimate of rarity to each type listed. Additional sections and appendices after the main catalogue are as follows: An overview describing the location and brief history of early dated issuing cities and realms, with maps of the areas drafted by myself specifically for the book, a listing of all early dated issuing states and mints, legend translations, the patron saints appearing on the coins, a photo glossary, a list of a listing of the errors in Frey, early anno domini coins from the Crusader States, plus an extensive bibliography. Included in the back is a small pamphlet giving a rough price guide for the coins, rough because some of these coins are off the market for years at a time and gauging their values is difficult at best. Perhaps most wonderful of all are the literally hundreds and hundreds of photos and line drawings of nearly all these fascinating coins, many probably never seen before, so that if nothing else you can admire some of the rarest coins in the world. Many are unique or are known from only a handful of examples that exist only in museums.

If early dated coinage is an interest, there is no other way to put it than to say you MUST own this book. There will be no reason to keep Frey except as a curio.

About the Book :
This book presents an account of the early Indian coins found from Sugh, the ancient Srughna, an extensive and very important archaeological site of Haryana located about 5 km east of Jagadhari/Yamunanagar on the old bed of the river Yamuna where it debouched into the plains from the Shiwalik hills of the Himalayas. Naturally protected on three sides by a bend of the river it occupied a very strategic position on the ancient trade route connecting the Ganga valley with the western world. Silver coins struck on the half karshapana (16 ratti) weight standard found from Sugh and in its vicinity can undoubtedly be attributed to the Kuru Mahajanapada.
It is for the first time that a hoard of a new series of the minuscule silver coins from this place has been brought to light. These coins conform to 4 ratti weight standard and represent the pada or quarter denomination of the above - mentioned coins. Unlike most other minuscule coins these pieces have silver core and contain fairly high silver content. Un-inscribed cast copper coins have also been found from Sugh in substantial numbers and so also the Imperial five-symbol punch-marked silver coins. Two hoards containing respectively two and one Indo-Greek coins and some stray pieces recovered from the site have also been described and their importance discussed.
Copper and lead coins bearing the early Brami legend Kadasa are known since long but their exact provenance was not known. New evidence establishes beyond doubt that Sugh is the provenance of these coins. The monarchical nature of these issues has also been established. Coins of the descendants of Kada including the Mitra-ending rulers are published for the first time together with the earliest octagonal lead coins of India.
New data and analysis of the tribal coins, particularly the Kunindas and the Yaudheyas, has also been presented.

About the Author :
DEVENDRA HANDA holds postgraduate degrees in Sanskrit, History and Education-all in First Class and with top positions in the University. He obtained his postgraduate Diploma in Archaeology from the School (now Institute) of Archaeology (ASI, New Delhi) in 1964 with distinction. He is the recipient of Maulana Azad and Archaeological Centenary Commemoration Medals, Sir Mortimer Wheeler Prize and various other awards. He is known to the Indologists through more than three hundred research papers. His major published works are listed on the back of this jacket.
He has attended numerous national and international conferences and delivered lectures in various institutions. He made academic visits to the United Kingdom and Belgium in 1991. In 1992, he was awarded the Lowick Memorial Grant of the Royal Numismatic Society, London. In 1993, he visited Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lanka Numismatic Society. He was honoured for his contributions to the science of numismatics at Calcutta in 1994. After his retirement from the Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1999, he was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla (2000-2003). He presided over the 88th Annual Conference of the Numismatic Society of India at Nagpur in September 2004. He is presently a Senior Fellow of the Ministry of Culture, GOI, New Delhi.

Contents :
Preface
List of Illustrations
Transliteration Table
Introduction
Sugh
Coins of the Kuru Mahajanapada
Minuscule Silver Coins
Punch-Marked and Indo-Greek Coins
Uninscribed Cast Copper Coins
Kada Coins
Coins of Sujyeshtha
Lead Coins of the Mitras
Tribal Coins
Resume
Bibliography
Index

"The Elymais Coin" unfolds like a well-constructed Chinese puzzle revealing depths of research and insight into ancient history and our post 9/11 world. The first few pages quickly drew me in to an expected 1950's era detective story set in New York's glittery social scene...just as I became absorbed in the murders surrounding 3,000 year-old artifacts, the pages exploded into a fast-moving international journey across today's headlines. John Manhold has interwoven Islamic factions, international trade, organized crime and the U.S. presidential race with beautifully-detailed descriptions of Paris, Morocco, Spain and Mexico. (The reader will feel that you are actually walking the casbah or sharing a meal with the protagonists). A timely and enlightening, yet thoroughly engrossing, novel..."The Elymais Coin" demonstartes the amazing versatility of Manhold's writing style but contains the same hallmark attention to authenticity & research as his earlier novel "El Tigre". I would highly recommend "The Elymais Coin" as a holiday gift!

From Rocky Mountain News Spotlight, Friday, April 25, 2008:
"This fast-moving, smoothly constructed historical novel quickly pulls readers into 15th century England and its growing discrimination against Gypsies.
Central to the plot is Kadriya, a beautiful half-Gypsy raised by an English noble family. When she agrees to marry Teraf, a Gypsy tribal king, she doesn't realize that he has stolen a valuable emerald-encrusted chalice from a nearby abbey. With both the abbey and Teraf's friends trying to recapture the chalice, their quest puts Kadriya in danger, testing her courage and loyalty. It also lands her squarely in the middle of prejudice when she realizes that the abbot and his loyal knight John Wynter seek death for her and Teraf.
Final word: Well-drawn characters and the strong sense of time and place will have readers rushing to read Tabor's Trinket, the prequel to this book."
..... Joan Hinkeymeyer, Reviewer, Rocky Mountain News

This 643-page book covers the 500 year span from the early imperial days of Augustus through the reign of Anastasius. Includes beautiful color photography from the world's top auction houses, a biography on every ruler (over 200) and a catalog with over 8,000 different entries. Hardcover with dust jacket

This is the definitive authority on error coins.

"Tells virtually all the beginner needs to know to start, develop and maintain an accumulation of U.S., foreign and ancient coins with fun and investment as objectives." - The New York Times

A complete guide for the beginner as well as a reference book for the advanced collector, this handbook by two of America's foremost numismatic writers covers U.S. mintage completely and samples the most interesting foreign coins as well. It tells you how to go about collecting coins by denomination, type, and year, as well as in proof or roll, and, most important, explains how to determine each coin's condition and value.

Among the helpful features:
Enlarged recognition photographs of key coins in each U.S. series, with arrows pointing to mint marks...a valuable list of "collector" coins...up-to-date catalog of coin values...sound advice on coins to buy for future value or historical interest...how to take care of your coins.

"So well organized, so clearly written, and so rich in excellent illustrations that it will certainly delight nayone starting out in this field. - The Rotarian

WITH HUNDREDS OF ENLARGED PHOTOGRAPHS ATTRACTIVELY ARRANGED FOR EASY IDENTIFICATION