Coins Books

This book is a fantastic resource for collectors of Washington medals, exonumia, coins and Washington portrait ephemera which sets a standard for coin and medals books of any kind. It attempts to catalogue all of the known Washington medallic portrayals of the Father of our Country and, frankly, does it well. While there are such things as pillboxes, paperweights, porcelain portraits and even fantasy coins included, these are relegated to the Odds & Ends chapter at the end of the book while the majority of listings are of coins, tokens and medals struck either for events directly related to the life and times of George Washington, or which have been struck to honor his memory. The distinction is, for instance, Indian Peace Medals which were bestowed upon American Indian tribal notables that may or may not have a portrait of the Great White Father on them but may be considered of his time even if issued in 1843. On the other hand the token issued in 1892 by the League of American Wheelmen which uses a portrait of Washington for the obverse device may be considered a tribute in honor of his memory. Granted, the distinction is pretty thin, suffice it to say that this book attempts to catalogue everything remotely coin-like that pertains to, arguably, the greatest figure in American history.
The roots of this catalogue date back to 1885 when one William S. Baker published the first book of this title wherein he identified and numbered his vast collection of Washington medallic portraits. It is a testament of the strength of his cataloguing abilities that these so-called Baker numbers are still in use today. Over the years there were remarkably few attempts to improve upon Baker's work which made for an ideal situation for the present editors Russell Rulau and George Feld to gather all of the pre-existing material into a single book and then expand upon it with all of the material they could find issued since. These editors not only used the old Baker assigned numbers but also created new 'Baker' numbers to later issues and also have cross referenced to other reference numbers (HK, KM, Collins, et al). Needless to say, this was a Herculean undertaking and the amount of information the editors managed to fit into this book in approx. 316 pps. is nothing less than amazing.
If you decide to dip into Washingtonia I predict that two things will occur: First that there is so much really great stuff out there for such a low cost that you may become addicted to collecting this material and second that you will chuckle with delight when you find that it is all but impossible to find some new medal or coin that has been left out of this reference. The editors also helpfully included rarity information, previous auction results where known, and supplied a pricing guide for the material in different conditions. Obviously, with a 1995 publication date much has changed to date but the pricing material is still much appreciated and helps one to get a mental picture of what he is likely to want to pay or sell for. As a side note whilst attending the Baltimore Whitman coin expo in June, 2008 I saw a copy of this book trade hands for twice what it costs right here on Amazon as I type this review (hint: in the 20's).

'Medieval Anglo-Irish Coins' provides a medium depth review of the history of Anglo-Irish coins (i.e. coins issued by English kings and princes for use in Ireland) from 1179AD to 1607AD. The writing is clear and concise with coinage placed in a historical and economic context. The coins are illustrated in the text with high quality photographs. The appendices contain information on Irish coin hoards and, most importantly, a comprehensive bibliography of other related books and academic papers with brief reviews of each. This book should be in every medieval coin collector's library. And will be of great interest to any student of Irish medieval history.

In my book, "Astronomical Symbols on Ancient and Medieval Coins", I devote a number of chapters in the book to the astronomical symbols that were depicted on medieval European coinage as signs of divine right to sovereignty. As part of my research, I read numerous books on medieval European numismatics and history, and I found that Grierson's book, "MEC Volume I," was especially useful.

It is extremely difficult to find so many coins of the first half of the middle ages described in a single volume. There are many, many plates of photographs of coins, and also some plates showing forgeries.

This book was originally published as a hard back with a list price of $125, but was soon sold out and was going for almost $200 on secondary markets. I sold my first copy to a friend, and then found out how expensive it was to buy this book for a second time. Now that it is available as a paperback, the cost is once again more reasonable for obtaining a copy.

I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in European numismatic history.

Marshall Faintich

Coin collectors interested in more than just values will welcome MILESTONE COINS: A PAGEANT OF THE WORLD'S MOST SIGNIFICANT AND POPULAR MONEY. It's a history telling the stories behind over 100 famous world coins and tokens, covering a history of civilization through its coinage. From Biblical coins to pirate coins, Celtic gold, and unique world coin manufacture, chapters pair a fascinating coin history with insights on world trends. Perfect for collections catering to coin collectors and history buffs alike.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

MODERN WORLD COINS covers the periods 1850-1964, and comes from a hobby legend who produced the well-known 'Red Book' reference on the topic. This 14th edition has been completely updated with new photos and retail valuations by coin type in up to four grade levels, and comes from a team of exports - editor Arthur Friedberg and group - who provide clear photos and quick reference data. Any collection strong in coin collecting needs this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Very good book. Contents is in Russian and English. Book is in Russian. More 150 b/w very contrast images. Contents: 1. Currency in first years of Soviet state 2. The birth of soviet coins 3. From Great Victory in WW2 up to our days (1986) 4.The coins of Moscos OIlympic Games 5. The determination of rarity 6. The design of a coins of USSR 7. The estimation of condition, cleaning and keeping of soviet coins 8. Short vocabulary (dictionary) 9. The information about people and events that became subjects of soviet commemmorativy coins 10. Bibliograpy.

Written by the coins and medals experts of the British Museum, this handsomely designed work succinctly but comprehensively explores the entire history of money, from its earliest beginnings to the electronic transactions of the 1990's.
The book features over 550 beautiful color and black-and-white illustrations, with essays covering ancient and modern coinage in global perspective, and relating the moral, political, religious, and social meanings inevitably associated with so powerful a force. Highly recommended as an excellent introduction to a complex subject, or just for enjoyable and informative browsing.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

About 25 years ago M I Finley championed in his _Ancient Economy_ the idea that the ancient Greeks' love of coins was a political phenomenon, a sign of "patriotism or advertisement with no far reaching importance." What Finley had in mind was something akin to modern communities where a "national currency and national essence" have become common. This book presents a series of scholarly papers which show new studies of the social and economic use of coins and money in the Greek world.

Kim begins with a paper in which he shows that coins were a symbol as well as a commodity. Other societies bordering the Greek world (especially the Phoenicians) did not develop coinage for a century after the Greeks. Trevett explores the relation-ship between coinage and democracy at Athens. Democracy could not have existed without coinage. Oliver raises the question of whether or not Macedonian political control have an effect on the Athenian ability to issue coins. Meadows asks a similar question concerning the eastern Hellenisitic world. Von Reden argues that in Ptolemaic Egypt, coinage became a crucial bond between the central and local rulers. Ashton writes about the effects of the output of coinage from Rhodes from 408 to 190 BC. Davies writes about how coinage transformed "the ways in which the assets of collectives, cults, and sanctuaries were held, regarded, and used." Shipton studies the relationship between the State and those who owned state-owned property. And Rowlandson studies the records of Egypt for the relationship between peasants and wealthy landlords.

It should be pointed out to the reader that this book is an attempt to bridge the gap between numismatists and scholars of ancient history. Ashton's paper is as dry as any economics paper can be. The book is concluded with 12 plates of 350 or so coins from the Hellenistic world.

this book is written for people who don't expect substance in the books they buy. i returned my copy to Amazon.com as soon as i got it. it took less than 4 minutes to read, and it didn't say much. Avoid.

Posted in my office. Lots of curious (about the pictures) comments. Very attractive & intellectually stimulating at the same time. I hope they do one (or have one) that focuses more on banknotes than on coins for my 2008 selection.