Coins Books

I really like this book! It's really exciting! I read this book and I liked it so much I had my Mom read it aloud to me!!!! While learning about history, this book is filled with mystery and suspense. You can learn a little bit about England in 1569 and about how coins were made back then, too. I loved this book so much I can't wait to read the others in the series!

This book is really good. Lady Grace once again finds herself in a web of lies, treachery, and even MURDER! But with the help of Masou, Ellie, and a few new charecters, Lady Grace can solve this case, who knows she might even enjoy the Ice Fair.

Written in a personal journal format, this is a first-person narrative that takes the reader on a haunting ride back into the realm of British royalty in the sixteenth century. This is the fourth book in the Lady Grace Mystery Series. However, this is a book that stands well on its own without fear of being lost in a labyrinth of intricate relationships formed in previous books. This is a more advanced historical fiction novel with a hearty helping of mystery and intrigue that will largely appeal to girls in the sixth to ninth grades. One downside to this book is the somewhat lengthy and wordy dialogue. There is also a slight possibility that some children may become turned off on the idea of reading about individuals who they have very little in common with. Overall, however this is a fine introductory book into the complicated and sometimes treacherous world of English aristocracy. The story is unique, and unfolds at a good pace, and most significantly the characters are memorable: delightfully comic and full of personality. Perhaps the main downside is that the book ends so soon. This is a perfect book to serve as an accompaniment to a classroom exploration and discussion on British royalty.

There is also an interesting section at the conclusion of this book which discusses at length the historical background of the Tower of London. This is a nice touch as it provides historically accurate information that is relevant to the story and provides a context of reality in a book of fiction.

4th in the series, it is written by one of Queen Elizabeth's Maids of Honor - Lady Grace Cavendish - in the form of her journal. Grace is young for a Maid (14), but her mother died in service to the Queen, so the Queen has taken her under her wing. But Grace also keeps an eye out for the Queen - and in this storyline Grace discovers some forged coinage that of the new coin that the Queen is having minted. The Queen gives her leave for 5 days to discover how the dead man found on the frozen river Thames had the forged coins. Grace takes her task seriously, but not without the help of her friends Masou and Ellie. I look forward to these creative mysteries - even if they are geared towards young adults.

In this book, coinage or coin forgery in Elizabeth reign is the thema. As one of a coin collector, I am very interested in scene of the Tower Mint. Although this series are for YA, adult such as am I sixty years old are easily submerged in the story.
Historical details are well investigated. Fair held on frozen Themes and people are descrived as if the auther saw them.

I could have done without this book. Its design is flawed, and the binding is stiff and brittle. I prefer the Redbook or Bluebook.

This book is EXTREMELY thorough. However, as a newcomer to the field, it was a tough one for me, as it seems the author already presupposes a fair amount of knowledge of coin-collecting jargon on the part of the reader (to be fair, perhaps it's my fault for not taking the "EXPERT'S" part of the title literally.)

I highly recommend this book if you already have some basic knowledge in the field. However, for genuine neophytes like myself, it would be better to get the basics from a source geared to beginners first (maybe COIN COLLECTING FOR DUMMIES.) I think this book would then be much more understandable and enjoyable.

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"The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins" is definitely worth reading. It is autobiographical and contains the secrets of his 60 years of success as collector, investor, numismatist, grader, dealer, auctioneer, ANA board member, and author.

Cramming six decades of numismatic life experiences into a single book is tough, requiring mental and spiritual strength. Doing this in a comprehensive, coherent and organized manner is unquestionably a laborious, taxing, onerous, and difficult task. Such a demanding project could only be achieved by the formidable Q. David Bower.

Mr. Bower is one of the most prolific numismatic writers of all time, he has written over 30 books and numerous articles and columns.This is by far the most important of his works and possibly the best ever, the quality of information & wide-ranging content makes it the cream of the crop, flower of the flock, pick of the bunch --whatever you want to call it.

It is full of valuable expertise, candid story telling, dealer & auctioneer trade secrets, smart buying and selling techniques and recommendations, and detailed descriptions of every US coin by type, complete with a close focus on: Rarity, Grading, Quality, and Value of coins. It also includes his recommendations and insights on Conferences, Life & Internet Auctions, Library, Protection and Conservation of Coins, Tokens, Medals, and Paper Money.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I Recommend this Book.

See my other reviews.



Official A.N.A. Grading Standards for United States Coins
High Profits from Rare Coin Investment
A California Gold Rush history: Featuring the treasure from the S.S. Central America : a source book for the Gold Rush historian and numismatist
A Guide Book Of Us Morgan Silver Dollars: A Complete History and Price Guide (Official Red Book) (Official Red Book)
The History of United States Coinage
The United States Gold Coin Collection
Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia
The Numismatist's Bedside Companion (The Numismatist's Companion Series)
A Guide Book of Modern United States Proof Coin Sets: A Complete History and Price Guide (Official Red Book)
The Inside Story Of The State Quarters (Official Whitman Guidebook)
A Guide Book of U.S. Commemorative Coins (The Official Red Book)
Coin Dealer Newsletter: A Study in Rare Coin Price Performances
American Coin Treasures & Hoards
Recollections of a Mint Director

Very informative, well written guide in investing in coins. The author possesses unquestionable authority on the subject and has a remarkably well-honed ability to write on an academic topic in an exciting manner. He is sharp-witted and enjoyable. The book is very complete and most importantly - relevant and timely. If you wish to invest and collect coins this is a must have guide.

I read "Gold Rush: How to Collect, Invest & Profit With Gold Coins" by Mitch Battino and Arlyn Sieber (see my review of that book) prior to reading this book by Q. David Bowers. I'm glad I did because while the Gold Rush book was a very big disappointment, it made me realize just how truly good Mr. Bowers book is.

I have to be honest, coin books are generally NOT books that you read from beginning to end and find that you can't put down. This book is an exception - I couldn't put it down and I read the entire book from beginning to end.

Although I've been collecting for years, one thing I enjoyed about this book was that some of those obscure numismatic terms that other authors assume you know, Mr. Bowers will stop and take a sentence or two to explain the term. I really appreciated that.

Plus, where the Gold Rush book failed in the "How to Collect, Invest, and Profit," this book did an excellent job of showing how to do just that. It is not a price guide with outdated prices. It is an excellent reference guide with information that will never get old. This book will still be great 10 years from now.

This book has excellent chapters with hands-on advise and great stories to help explain coin market cycles, determining coin prices and value (not a list of coin prices like other books but goes into things like grading, rarity, and demand), history of the coin market and predicting the rare coin market, techniques for buying and selling, and chapters on collecting advise for everything from gold coins, commemorative coins, to paper money and tokens and medals. The only thing I would point out as that this book sticks to the U.S. rare coin market and does not discuss World coins.

I own more than a few coin books and this book has shot up to the top of my list as the "must have" book. Whether you are a new or experienced collector or investor (aren't we all really both), you will enjoy and profit from this book.

In the future, when I'm asked by new collectors what is a good book to get, this will be the book I recommend.

This book was very good. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fresh story that will hold your attention and not have a predictable ending. The characters are so real, the deceit very deceitful, the lies and all else that make up this story are well put together.

This book tells a story about the secret lives of the wives of professional athletes...from stars to scars. If ever the games of relationships were painted vividly from the high dollar end...it is in this book.

Corey Harris, I am so proud of you. Having known you, I know you are capable of achieving whatever you set your mind to. I read this book in 3 days. I honestly could not put it down. I had to know what happened next. I am ready for the sequal. Don't make us wait too long. handle your business, boy.

This book was very good. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fresh story that will hold your attention and not have a predictable ending. The characters are so real, the deceit very deceitful, the lies and all else that make up this story are well put together.

This book tells a story about the secret lives of the wives of professional athletes...from stars to scars. If ever the games of relationships were painted vividly from the high dollar end...it is in this book.

I enjoyed this book soooo much, each story had me wanting more, I was hook and then he left me shocked..the one that really touched me was the last story, the husband really loved his wife dispite what his mom thought of her, gave her the world and due to her mom and upbringing she ruined his life in an instant but in the same instant he remembered he loved her in the end. I am hoping that the sequel to this novel is a continuation of all the stories. It took me all of 4 days to read it only due to me having to work and sleep..lol Corey Harris did this book well and I would recommend it to anyone that loves to read. I would have to say that I agree that this should be made into a movie, I think it will be along the same lines as "Crash", short stories all leading up to the same ending. If you read this review or anyone reads this review that knows Mr. Harris bring it to his attention..

The author of this novel, a former professional football player himself, sets out to show that although he and his brethren may be far from perfect, their mates are caught up in drama of their own doing. With hot sex scenes and even hotter men and women, Mr. Harris demos it all; bad men with worse women, bad men with good women made bad by their men's behavior, and wonderful men who are paired with women you have to read about to believe. True to its title throughout, readers will find that no matter the money or the notoriety, everyone has their issues at home.....a pageturner. I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel.


DYB

I purchased this book for my 15 month old as a 'down the road' book because it was recommended in the book 'Toddler 411'. Surprisingly, this book is a current favorite and she is actually saying 'a', 'b', '2' etc. Does she get the concept? I don't think so, but she's connecting the way a letter or number looks to its name (much like she does with other objects). The graphics are clear. My only small criticism is that the representation of 'v' is a heart with the word 'valentine' written on it. She is getting to know the shape off a heart so I think that might be confusing. Otherwise, I highly recommend this one!

This book is described as being for a baby or a preschooler. I agree, because by kindergarten, one is supposed to have learned all the letters and numbers.
Not a story, but for the age this book is aimed at, it makes sense.
For myself, I didn't care too much for some of the details. First of all, the information about the soft touch letters and numbers in the book is outdated-they are no longer manufactured as far as I know and the manufacturer's address does not work anymore(I tried contacting them and the letter came back). And second of all, for the alphabet side of the book, there is a letter and a picture of something beginning with that letter, but the word is absent. How will somebody at the target age be able to know that word without seeing it?
At least on the counting side, they show how much each coin is worth so the target age knows how to count by 5s, 10s, and what not. (They can see that 5 cents makes a nickel and what not.)
It was clever to make a book where the reader must flip over to see the other side. The endpapers tell the reader which side he or she is on.
Three stars. Beautiful photographs. The book has its ups and downs, but since some youngsters may want to own the soft touch letters and numbers in the book, I wouldn't buy it because there are other books that teach the alphabet and numbers that don't have outdated information about the toys used in the book.

Children take interest in this book. They are attracted to the numbers and letters with their bold shiny colors. They learn about the value of coins. They learn the names of 26 objects and what letter they begin with. This is a great book for your 3 to 6 year old or any preschool or kindergarten teacher. The students in my classroom loved it as much as my own child. Let it be a classic for you too.

This book has excellent examples of both upper and lower case letters in bright, fun colors that really got my three year old interested in learning them. The use of coins to teach counting is great and as the photos are actual size, I'm certain in the future I will be using real coins as a companion to the book. This is a really attractive book that would make a great gift.

There is no better way to teach children than with concepts they can grasp. Hoban's photographs allow the concreteness of money and letters to be real and not just a picture on a page in a book.

I have my classroom stocked with multiple copies of this book.

This is an interesting and informative book for anyone who is collecting the State quarters. It is light and well-written, providing history and anecdotes on each of the states and explains how the various designs were chosen. I have put it with my collection of state quarters and will give it to my grandson when the collection is complete - later this year.

I got the book for my husband who is collecting the quarters and it has added some nice bits to his knowledge of the idea, execution and history of the program. As well, it has contributed to his knowledge on how each state decided on its design. There are a couple of incorrect facts (minor) but all, in all, a great book to give someone who has an interest in the state quarter program.

This was a fantastic book that should be required reading for all students. It gave a quick, 5 page, history of the quarter, that most people would never have known. I am giving this to all my grandkids for Christmas. The research the author did was incredible.

this is an outstanding book; the perfect companion to any state quarter
collection. although collectors would've liked to see more details like
issue dates and quantities minted.

Written by attorney Jim Noles, A Pocketful of History: Four Hundred Years of America - One State Quarter at a Time is a treasury for history trivia buffs and coin collectors alike, as it relates how each of the fifty commemorative state quarters celebrates American history. There are fifty chapters; each one begins with a magnified, black-and-white rendition of a different state's unique quarter design, followed by the story behind the design and historical vignettes aplenty. Written in a reader-friendly narrative style, A Pocketful of History is the perfect companion book for state quarter collectors everywhere.

A very useful referance book for every coin collector. Every collector MUST have this catalog
Also the CD at the inner page of the back cover was a very nice surprise.
Now I will carry a 25 grams of catalog instead of a 2½ kilos during my trips.
regards

This book is very extensive and easy to use. The dvd though is not really that useful, because it is just a .pdf of the book`s content.

For an amateur this is quite adequate as it contains most of the major coinages of the world. Due to the extensive coinage systems of the world's many countries, these "manuals" are now separated into blocks of years. It is worth the price.

Excellent book. Best review of currant coins. In fact, it is the only in depth series I am aware of.

If you collect world coins, you need to purchase the Standard Catalog series from Krause Publications. The 20th Century book that I purchased came with a DVD. I kinda look at this as a "2 for 1" deal as the DVD has the same contents as the book. I noticed that the prices on some coins went up while others went down. With the DVD, I can look up countries almost as fast as the book (there will be some of you who will experience either fast finds or slow ones depending on your computer processing speed). Overall, I only hope that Krause will include DVD's in future editions.

This book has a lot going for it, it has over 300 illustrations, it is still only about 200 pages and is in the familiar format of it's two predecessors. The helps are good, it has a comprehensive portrait gallery and is written in Mr. Sayles usual easy to understand and engaging style - that of a writer who loves and cares about what he is describing. The one drawback is that the author felt it necessary to give at least a short bio for every emperor and to read it through can get redundant after a while as much of their history overlaps and repeats, particularly for those with short reigns.

However, if you decide to skip over the emperors who don't interest you and use the portrait gallery as more of a reference section than something that must be read - then it is a great and easy read. If however you really do love the regnal history of Rome - this might be a section of great interest to you and you may love it. Each emperor comes with his own brief bibliography and abbreviated family tree.

Like volume II, the section on "masterpieces" is beautiful and the focus on the coin as artform is a valuable contribution. If you enjoyed either of his previous 2 books this will not disappoint. This is a nice reasonably priced and accessibly written introductory work. It should prove enjoyable and useful for the newbie and experienced collector alike.

This is a good introduction to the fascinating world of ancient Roman coins, aimed at the general reader and beginning collector. Contains a useful photo gallery of Roman emperors and major usurpers as well as tips on how to attribute coins, read inscriptions and figure out the various images that may appear on reverses. Highly recommended.

Wayne G. Sayles knowledge of Roman coins comes out in his amazing series. Wayne's book's are fun to read. His book's are easy to use. Ancient Coin Collecting III is nicely researched. The third volume focus's on coins from the Roman Imperial Age from Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) to Anastasius (491-518 A.D.).
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Roman coins.

Mr. Sayles has written a beautifully presented introduction and reference to the hobby of ancient coin collecting. Any book on coins should have photographs and that's what's included in this book, along with terrific written explanations of the coins. Since ancient coin collecting is about history, Mr. Sayles spends a large part of the books detailing the backgrounds of the emperors who appear on the coins. There is also a section on "Masterpieces of Roman Coinage" which presents wonderful photographs of individual engraving art. All in all this is a "must" for anyone interested in ancient coins.

But, you really should have all six volumes of the series, plus his guide to counterfeit coins. You must have volume I, and volume II is very highly recommended. My advice: Get vol. I first, then III, then II, then go nuts. You can surely buy them over time.

If what one is expecting is a well illustrated overview of all gold issues, together with superb documentation of each and every piece of information presented, this is an epitomy of outstanding presentation and scholarship.

On the other hand, if one would desire to know detailed facts about each particular date and mint issue, the die varieties and the like, there are alternatives in multiple volumes, from authors such as Doug Winter for the Southern Mints or Carson City, that certainly detail much more information about those aspects than a one volume book could hope to cover.

I suppose much has to do with one's expectations. This book met my expectations much in the way that my volume of Breen does. Often it is a starting point. The information provided by Breen is not that deeply detailed compared with the immense amount of literature that has been published since his leaving the scene, and the varieties he identified often are not wholly complete. Yet, I have never found that to detract in the least from my enjoyment of Breen as light reading or my ability to use that volume as a first stop when viewing a coin in a series in which I have a limited knowledge.

This excellent,large coffee table type book lists every American Gold coin,proof,and pattern ever struck.Gives Population figures, mintages,beautiful pictures and the latest auction records and availability of all gold coins. No serious numismatist should be without this awesome reference book!!!!

Every now and then a real masterpiece of Numismatic research is created and made available to the public and the Encyclopedia of US Gold Coins: 1795-1933 is one of those masterpieces. As a professional coin dealer who specializes in better and rare dated gold coins I strongly suggest tha aquisition of this book as it will help the collector as well as investor of rare gold coins become more knowledgeable in the various series of US gold coins and there can never be too much information when researching this large and diverse area of coin collecting.

If there was a book that was over hyped, this would be it. This book gives you nothing more than production amounts and supposed current values. There is nothing in this book that can't be found elsewhere. I was expecting an abundance of information on things to look for in a coin, similar in nature to Walter Breens works, die markings, die pairings. What I have gotten is a book that has some nice pictures....and thats it. Do yourself a favor and skip this book.

Any coin collector enchanted by TRULY rare classic U.S. coins (i.e., coins where mere DOZENS of examples still exist!) would do himself a huge favor by acquiring this volume. Here is one book that more than replaces the groundbreaking multi-volume U.S. gold work of David Akers.

Believe it or not, there ARE still many bargains to be had in U.S. numismatics... and they reside in the U.S. gold series. Fact: Many U.S. gold coins dwarf in rarity the "keys" in any other U.S. series by 10X or even 100X.

Amazingly, today's prices (even with gold bullion way up) simply don't begin to reflect this incredible rarity.

Interested? Here's just the volume to guide you along the path to discovering all these hidden treasures.

Does it really get any better than GOLD? I don't think so. It (and silver) are the only metals historically and universally recognized as REAL money. But gold stands alone as the one metal not subject to hideously damaging long-term environmental contamination.

In its day and time, one gold coin might have represented an average working man's weekly or monthly wages. Accordingly, U.S. gold coins have historically been collected only by the super rich. But clearly this no longer need be the case. The rich collected ONLY the very top-grade examples available. These coins continue to be very expensive. Largely neglected, however, have been gold coins of lower grade (coins which would be perfectly acceptable specimens in any other U.S. series.) Bonus: In some cases, the gold content alone accounts for 30-50% of one's purchase price. So the value of your collection is meaningfully backed by gold itself.

We are fortunate to live in a day and time where these lower grade examples of incredibly rare U.S. gold coins are still available (albeit with considerable searching) at true bargain basement pricing -- a combination of rarity and pricing guaranteed to quicken a coin collector's pulse.

This all becomes clear in one glorious volume of amazing scope and breadth.

The price of this volume is likewise bargain-priced. Hundreds of beautiful full color photos on hundreds of pages -- all on glossy heavy paper stock. Paradoxically, the bargain nature of this book about classic Americana is likely due to its having been printed in CHINA. But I have to give credit where credit is due: There is absolutely nothing second-rate about this book's cosmetics or content.

My advice? Buy it as fast as your fingers can click on the order button!

Was a good read, a little wordy in places but reflected an excellent amount of research which added to the credibility of the tale. Not for all, but still historical and throws a good light on greed.

This book was a page turner. It's a true and interesting story that is well written. I'm very satisfied and looking for more books by this author.

I was not sure what to expect when I started my read. Within a few pages I felt like I was part of the 1930's. Len brings the reader through the time period as if you are traveling in a time capsule. Soon you are living the story. The historical facts, intertwined with the personal story of events, presents an educational history lesson of real life in 1930's Baltimore in an extremely entertaining fashion. Unlike "National Treasure" the movie this story is plausible and true. Excellent work Len!

Treasure in the Cellar is a real page turner and fascinating read. I was captivated by the story and drawn into the drama surrounding the coins. The smooth writing style and narrative account make the characters and the time period come alive. The author provides just enough detail and historical background to set the stage and to put the story into context without getting bogged down with too many obscure facts. The author does an excellent job of revealing how the effects of historical events such as the Civil War, the 1918 flu epidemic, and the Gold Recall Act along with treasure trove law impact the fate of the boys and the gold coins. A real gem of a book!

Treasure in the Cellar is a beautifully written true-life adventure. Len Augsburger's writing style makes you want to keep reading to uncover the next twist and turn as you root for these disadvantaged kids to keep their treasure. Meticulously researched, the book brings depression-era Baltimore and its characters to life.

I used this for cataloguing coins collected by relatives over the years. Using this book I was able to find and date coins in Hebrew and in Asian languages that were previously incomprehensible to me. The print is fine and the paper is newsprint, but there are many thousands of illustrations that helped me track exactly what I needed. Perfect for a casual collector with unusual 20th century coins and probably for many advanced collectors as well.

If you have world coins, this book is for you. There are coins from pretty much every country. Even countries I had never heard of. The book tells you the composition of each coin and the mintage. It also gives you a prices. For the most part the price seems to be a little high, but you get the general idea of the price.

I used the book to find out how much some Australian coins were worth. The only bad thing about the book is it can be a pain finding the coins within the country. It could be organized a little better. However, buy this book if you have world coins and you want to find out how much they are worth. Just have lots of storage because the book is huge!!!

Very good book! I was able to identify all of my previous "unknown" coins in a few hours! There is a chart with international numeral systems which came in handy for identifying my Middle Eastern and Asian coins. Also useful were the Monogram,Instant Identifier, and Illustrated Guide to Eastern Mint Names. The thousands of pictures also included are useful for quick identification of most coins. One last nice thing are the sections of info about each country before the coin listings start. Anyone with an interest in numismatics should own this book!

It may not have all the coins in the world, but darn near all of them. I've looked up about 300 of them and they were all there. It gives a little history of each country. It has a front section with some tables and charts to help you figure out what language is on your mystery coin. It's about the size of a big phone book and the pages are thin, just like a phone book. They have to be, otherwize the book would be huge. I don't know if the values for the various coins are exactly right, but who cares?

In fact there is no other book of its kind, for world coin catalogue. Surely I did not expect to find accurate values for all coins, but at least there is an indication. i.e Greek coins' values are very different in the Greek market. In general, it is an excellent book for beginners. For experts no book in the world, ever, will be good enough and this book will be used just for indication. Surely there are many mistakes in this book (even in name of countries) but still this book is one of a kind.