Coins Books

well worth the price.Never knew they were so many modern coins with errors.Covers all,Lot in the 60s,70s,80,s 90s,and on into 2008.If you collect coins,Its well worth the price.

This book appears to be a very helpful source for determining hot prospects to watch for when searching coin shops and shows. It gives details needed to learn what to look for when hunting for great deals. My main focus is Morgan Silver Dollars and this book should be a valuable source for my 'cherry picking' ventures.

Error and variety collecting is a relatively new form of collecting. Since the discovery of the 1955 Lincoln Cent Double Die Obverse, collectors have been looking at coins differently. From double dies, repunched mint marks, and off-center strikes to difference in die varieties for the same series--even within the same year--the hobby of error collecting can be as satisfying and profitable.

While other books can discuss the profitability, the Cherrypickers' Guide teaches what to look for. With fantastic illustrations and a solid, usable binding, experts Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton show collectors what to look for while looking for errors and varieties. The book covers nearly every series of coins including dollars, commemorative, gold.

One caveat I will give is that those who are interested in varieties of Morgan and Peace Dollars, you may want to also buy Comprehensive Catalog and Encyclopedia of Morgan and Peace Dollars. This book is out of print, but some Amazon Marketplace sellers do have copies.

Happy Hunting!

I have had this about a month, and have used it extensively for 20th century silver issues. Just learning the angles of identifying doubles, recut dies, repunched mint marks, etc. makes this book worth it. I found some sections of no use - such as the extremely rare coins (gold, seated dollars) but the 20th century silver (Dimes, Quarters and Halves) very interesting and enlightening as well as the section on Morgan dollars. If you have a few rolls of Washington Quarters or Mercury Dimes (even circulated) you can probably pay for this book by just going through them for varieties.

It's a nice book for prices and such (I'm no expert on coin books) does have some great photos (in color) and some information that's helpfull. But i find myself all ways turing to "Strike it Rich With Pocket Change".

"TR"

This book is a live classics in the numismatic literature. Being an editor of a numismatic site www.monetarium.ru,oblige me professionaly to have all reference material about coins an paper money and this book is a must!

Great book for small amount of money...
I didn't expected that size of book, first I thought that this book is like a manual (200 pages max.) but when I received package and when I took the book out from the package I was astonished...
Inside you can find a lot of stuff, all kind of coins in natural sizes. Only thing that is not so good (in my opinion) is thickness of the paper.

This 1500+ page work is not only comprehensive but interesting to those who collect world coins, either professionally or as a hobby. It includes wonderful descriptions of coins from nations around the world, currently in existence or not, and shows photos of the coins that make determining exactly which denomination and type of coin you are examining. Furthermore, its appendices include bullion values, terminology, and a wealth of other information about both the enterprise of collecting world coins and the specific coins one might come across. Highly Recommended!

for a 2006 edition this catalog is missing many many coins from previous years that one would expect to find. there are even missing items from before 2000! not very good for an edition that soppose to be 2006. in other cases, complete countries are missing like the new set from cocos islands with the 2004 set.

I need a guide so I just do not blindly pay big bucks for cute pictures. There are a lot of good guides and some more specific on particular eras and locations such as Westphalia. But as you do a coin search you are bound to run across something you are not familiar with and need a guide. This guide is a great place to start; it is easy to navigate and gives cursory information on particular locations and times surrounding the coin's production.

Keeping in mind that this is just a guide, there are holes and the coins are not displayed in color. On the other hand the coins shown are in actual size; size is hard to translate form internet pictures.

With all the electronic references today it is nice to have something tactile, static and transportable. This book meet al those needs.

Read this. It's only a hundred pages. When you're done you should understand why winning small wars is important and "bomb them back to the stone age" doesn't work. If you need another recommendation, ask Dr. Conrad Crane, U.S. Army Military History Institute, in Carlisle, Pa., and one of the leaders in drafting FM 3-24, the Counterinsurgency Field Manual. Buy an extra copy to loan to your friends. I did.

The book provides a good overview of COIN theory, added insight to a complex and debated topic

If Israel would employ this strategy in dealing with Hamas, Hizbollah and Fatah, I am convinced they would be able to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians. The ultimate goal of an effective counterinsurgency is to win the hearts and minds of the people themselves -- to establish yourself as the protector of the people in turning the tide against terrorism and the urban guerrillas who exploit the civilian population and endanger their lives and well being by hiding among them.

General David Petraeus has already offered his expertise to the IDF and has toured the Middle East, visiting Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians themselves. Indeed, Petraeus is the world's foremost expert actively working in the field of counterinsurgency technology and wrote the forward to the latest edition of this classic. He now uses it to train the American military and it's principles became the foundation of "The Surge" in Iraq, which has miraculously begun to achieve stability there despite doubts expressed by Petraeus that it was already too late after Rumsfeld's brutal policies radicalized the entire region and turned the civilian population against "The Great American Satan."

Currently, the IDF is conducting the same conventional military strategy in The Gaza that renders short-term gains against the Hamas insurgents but sets the Israels up for a long-term struggle. Rumsfeld's strategy in destroying Fallujah twice over with air strikes and heavy artillery is the classic example of this self-defeating brutality. Israel's debacle in South Lebanon in 2006 is another.

The fact that Israel refuses to deploy the more functional and civilian friendly counterinsurgency suggested by Galula and Petraeus can only indicate one tragic conclusion -- that Israel intends to hang onto a quixotic and archaic strategy of expansionism against the native Palestinians, institutionalized in the late 40s by the government of David Ben-Gurion. The strategy is that of early 20th century Zionism and its goal of recreating the Davidic Kingdom of a "Greater Israel." The continued stubborn use of this strategy has led to polarization and radicalization of the native populations in the Middle East, resulting in a strident, Jihadist Islamism we see today.

The United States alone has the influence and responsibility to insist this effective counterinsurgency strategy upon Israel in the interest of a lasting peace in the region. Again, it's hallmark is its overall goal of winning the hearts and minds of the people themselves. Yet, American politicians continue to speak of "surges" in conventional military terms without having a clue about what they speak.

This book should be read by every member of Congress, by Obama's Chief-of-Staff Rham Emmanuel, by his National Security Adviser General Jones, by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, by Obama and Biden themselves and by every member of the Israel Lobby who are so obsessed with the security of Israel that they don't see the solution under their noses.Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice (PSI Classics of the Counterinsurgency Era)

This Was a very good book which should have been writen before the Vietnam War. Ir was needed badley.

There is absolutely no doubt that Galula is THE expert on COIN. If you are a student of COIN you will find that virtually every other author cites this work. This should be titled as a COIN 101 primer. Outstanding read for the professional for learning or reviewing knowledge of Counterinsurgency.

This collectors folder looks very nice. The two problems that I had were that the coin holes are very tight and the folder cover paper, behind the coin holes is rather thin, making me worry about tearing it. It should be backed by cardboard. You just have to be careful putting the coins in.

I purchased another collector folder that I was really disappointed with. This one is just great!

This is a very good product. Nice and sturdy. And the cover is so colorful. Dollars pop in real easy.

The folder was exactly what I wanted. Something to hold the dollars I'm collecting for my grandkids. Economical enough to buy 5 of them, and sturdy enough to last the duration of the collection. Good size, and interesting presentation.

It is exactly the one I want! It holds coins tightly and also provides useful information about the presidents in the United States' history. For those who don't care about collecting P and D together, it is a good choice--one hole per dollar. The nice thing is that it also has extra spaces to hold new dollars that not in plan to create yet. I put some old dollars there.:)

With over 27,500 illustrations the standard Catalog of World coins is the Bible for any serious coin collectors. Accurate, precise and inclusive.

It belongs in the library of any serious coin collector.

Nice Catalog. Needs more updating on Guatemalan coins. Some mistakes regarding the diagram or design. Example: lines very close or out of definition.

very good catalog, can know all the detail about all the coins arround the worlds, very good quality of papers

If you collect Modern Foreign this book is a MUST HAVE, I have looked up 100 or more coins and have yet not to locate the coin I am looking for. It is comprehensive, has good pictures most of the Obverse and Reverse some just of the Obverse.
I highly recommend this book, its great.
David Jackson

This is a book that every collector whose interests exceed his backyard and go beyond his birthdate must have at home. There is no better help to start expanding your collection beyond 1901.
There is no better does not mean that there cannot be a better one. Some remarks must be taken into consideration
- this is an American catalog so prices in your country (if you're not American that is) are most certainly different and there is no point to waste your time to prove Krause wrong. E.g. prices of German states' coins in Germany are 50 to 100% higher than in Krause. They are which means that if you are looking for them you move to eBay and look for them elsewhere but not in Germany. Foreign dealers treat Krause prices of foreign coins seriously.
- this is an American catalog which has a soft spot for American coins. Most foreign readers will be mildly amused by eighteen pages of remarkably uninspired designs of the US patterns (fortunately most of them are not shown) or twelve pages of "territorial gold".
- this is an American catalog so you may find some of coins from your country missing completely or missing a picture.
If you can accept all this, you will be happy with your purchase. If you can't, you should think if you won't be much happier with a more specific coin catalog but be sure that no other can give the kind of general view you find in this one.

A very helpful book even for beginners.
Only downside the paper most of the illustrations are on is poor considering the fine detail they are trying to show

I purchased this book along with another book on coin grading. My initial purpose in purchasing this book was primarily to read the section on detecting counterfeit coins. However, I found this book very good in providing information on coin history, handling, storage and grading of coins. The section on storage of coins was particularly interesting since I've experienced the detrimental effects of improper long-term storage of uncirculated coins. I wish this book had been available 50 years ago when I started collecting.

Although controversy will always exist when applied to grading coins, this book provides essential criteria and photographs, which can serve as a basis for assigning a grade to a coin. The series of photographs depicting different numerical grades of AU to Poor for pennies and nickels was presented very well. Color photographs depicting red, brown, artificially toned vs. natural toned, and dipped coins serve as a valuable reference to collectors.

The section on detecting counterfeit coins was excellent. Close-up photographs illustrating counterfeit vs. authentic coins illustrated the points the authors were making in the text. Further reading about counterfeit coins made me realize how sophisticated counterfeit coins are today and if buying a rare coin it is in your best interest to become knowledgeable about what to look for and have it authenticated. This book is a definite must have for the new collector as well as the experienced collector.

This is a useful book in today's coin buying world. There are so many counterfeit coins around that you need to know what to look for when you buy. If you fail to get information, you'll certainly get cheated. This book has lots and lots of good, usable information.

The author is a renowned coin expert and has published many great informational books on the subject. Some of the material is recycled from other works, but my main grievance with the book is it lacks detail regarding counterfeit detection. There is little more than a solid chapter of the book dedicated to the subject of counterfeit detection, yet; this topic is mentioned on the title. Additionally; all that the reader is ever truly explained is how to spot a genuine coin, not how to spot a counterfeit. I understand the approach the author takes towards counterfeit detection; but he should provide a 360 degree analysis on the subject if he is going to include it in the title of the book. The coin grading portion of the book is great for written descriptions, but lacks pictures.

Not long ago was estimated that half of all coins sold and traded at coin shows, coin dealers, and in private hands where altered or counterfeits. Knoweledge is the best way to avoid loosing your money when your coins submited for grading are returned in "bodybags".

Created and updated by PCGS is undoubtedly one of the best coin grading and counterfeit detection books ever written. Though there are many good choices nowadays The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection Edition, Edition #2 (Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection) still the best reference book for learning about coin grading and altered coins & numismatic counterfeiting by a long shot!

Get it, read it, use it.

Book has some nice pictures and descriptions. Novice collectors will enjoy it.

This was the first book I purchased on the topic of ancient coins, and it provides a first-rate introduction to the hobby. It's a good general overview of what is available, and is written in a style that is welcoming to the greenest of beginners.

This book would be a very good "first book" on the subject, and it would also make a great gift for someone who is just getting started on an ancient coin collection, especially for the price!

This well illustrated book is quick and easy to read and provides some basic information to for those intending to collect ancient Greek and Roman coins. It will help you recognize many common coins. It will allow you to interpret the inscriptions and in many cases the imagery on these coins. It is inexpensive.

Some things will not be found in it, however. Republican Roman coins (a fascinating area) are strangely not covered at all. There is no information regarding assessing the quality of coins, cleaning them, recognizing fakes, determining price or caring for your collection. For this type of information you should look at Wayne Sayles' more extensive series. For coin valuation David Sear is invaluable. This book is a cheap and simple way to form an impression about ancient Greek and Roman coin collecting. Eventually, recognizing that the price of almost any coin described in the book is far greater than that of the book itself, serious collectors will want to invest in more extensive reference sources. One must start somewhere however, and this is a good place to do so.

I read only the part of this book dedicated to Greek coins (my area of interest) and learned much. There are many (black & white) pictures of coins as well as text dedicated to the inscriptions and people/gods found on the coins. However, the amount of information contained barely scratches the surface of the subject matter. I would buy the book again, but will continue to look for another title with more in-depth information.

This is the book to begin with if you think you may have an interest in ancient Western coins. This covers Greek coins from 680 B.C. to Roman Coins up to 476 A.D. The scope of this book is basically European coinage for roughly 1,000 years. What this book does NOT cover: Byzantine, Persian and Far East ancient coins.

About 60% of the book (the first half of the book) is devoted to Greek coins, and the other 40% to Roman (mostly imperial) coins. There are lots of black and white pictures of real coin examples in both sections of the book. I will be focusing mostly on the Roman section.

THE GREEK COIN SECTION:
This begins with a description of how ancient coins were made.

Greek 101 is not a prerequisite! The book teaches you how to read Greek characters on the coin inscriptions.

It also goes through a pictorial history of Greek coinage: The Period of Archaic Art (680-480 B.C.), The Period of Transitional Art (480-415 B.C.), The Period of Finest Art (415-336 B.C.), The Period of Later Fine Art (336-280 B.C.)The Period of the Decline of the Art (280-146 B.C.), The Period of Continued Decline in Art (146-27 B.C.), and finally The Imperial Period (27 B.C. - 268 A.D.). There are lots and lots of pictures.

THE ROMAN COIN SECTION:
This was what I primarily bought this book for. There is a brief history of early Roman coins (how they were cast instead of struck), but there isn't much in the way of text or pictorial examples in regard to Roman Republican Coinage...this is nearly all Imperial (From Caesar Augustus (29 B.C.) to Romulus Augustus (476 A.D.).

It goes through the denominations of Roman coins. It gives relative Roman values of: Aureus to Denarius to Sesterius to Dupondius to As to Quadrans. What it does NOT give much hint about ancient values is of later denominations like Antoninianus, Follis, Siliqua, and Solidus.

There is a big picture section on Reverse Types of Roman coins, going through all the gods and goddesses that appear on the backs.

There is an excellent section on how to read Obverse inscriptions. This is probably the most helpful section for the beginner. Included also is an extensive list of Emperor's names as they most commonly appear on the coins.

Finally, there is an Emperor-by-Emperor coin-by-coin history of Rome, with very brief comments about each ruler. Only one coin per ruler is listed, so don't expect to find a lot of examples of each Emperor.

CONCLUSION:
What this book will NOT do is give you the present-day values of coins, the relative rarity of a coin, and it speaks nothing about grading coins. If you have poor-quality late Roman coins that you are trying to attribute, this book will be of minimal help. The best book I have found on the Subject of Roman Coins is David Van Meter's Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins: A Complete Guide to the History, Types, Symbols and Artistry of Roman Imperial Coinage. It is much more in-depth, but of course, it is a lot more expensive as well.

This Handbook of Ancient Greek & Roman Coins serves as a fine introduction to these two subjects. Without breaking the bank, the huge amount of information contained in this 288-page Volume will give you a good idea if you want to pursue this subject further. For the range of coverage and the price, you can't go wrong.

The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, Fourth Edition, is not the most complete chip guide out there, but does make a very good attempt on the subject.

If you specialize in chips from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, this guide does provide one of the best sources for that casino. As for as other casinos like the Palms in Vegas only their basic
chips were contained in the guide, none of the special releases(such as Playboy or Betty Paige) were in the guide.

This guide does not feature any casinos in Arizona. I found a number of errors as well in the guide, a caption quoting a $5 chip as a $1 and a picture for a 3rd Edition Excalibur $5 chip, but no price or listing for that matter in the Guide itself.

Actually the title says it all. While somewhat out of date (it's been 3 years since this was published) it is the most comprehensive guide to casino chips at this time. I wouldn't bid on a chip without first looking it up in this guide.

This Fourth Edition is much better and a lot more detailed than the price guide in the past. And much easier to look up chips this time. I love all the new pictures. If you collect casino chips or a history buff of the past, what a better way to learn about the old casinos as far the chips they used and designs. Thanks

The Official U.S. Casino Chip Price Guide, Fourth Edition, is a comprehensive catalog of casino chips from U. S. Casinos, which includes: Nevada, Atlantic City, NJ, Colorado, Deadwood, SD, and the Riverboat states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi. Not included are tribal casinos and card rooms. The Guide includes values and rarity ratings for each chip and has pictures of many of the chips. It is also includes a lot of information about the casino collectibles hobby. It is a must have for anyone who collects casino chips or has casino chips that they would like to sell.

This is the best casino chip price guide currently available. It is incomplete in that it does not include any of the Silver Strikes or metal slot token issues.

The price guide is a paperback, not a hardcover as listed in the title.

Walter Breen's was the most Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins, one of the best numismatic reference available.
Does need updating but any edition is better than none.
In my opinion a must buy.

Totally unreadable , very distort view on this subject :(

Perhaps only a coin collector can realy appreciate this book for what it truly represents, but anyone that wants to know about a coin variety can use it !! This book is a one stop shopping coin variety encyclopedia. Variety of coin means nothing more than coin variations, the different things done in manufacturing throughout a coins life that differentiate from any other of the same minted coins in series. The Lincoln cent has been minted for almost 100 years; and there are litteraly 1000s' of Lincoln cent varieties, ie: 1909, 1909s, 1909svdb, 1922 plain no "d" weak obverse & strong reverse, 1960 lrg. date, 1960 sml. date, 1955/55 double die, and on ....... These variations hold true for all coins ever minted in the U.S. The pictorial examples of these variations, not to mention the research that went into them, is surpassed by none !! Its always been difficult for this writer to acquire this book do to its cost, but Amazon.com not only priced it right, " it made it possible ", Thanks Amazon

As a professional rare coin dealer, this is one of the books I recommend to new investors as well as investors and collectors who are trying to gain as much insight and information into numismatics "before they invest". In-depth and informative, Breens encyclopedia is a must have for any investor or collector of rare coins.

If you collect US coins there is simply no better referrence than this book. It is absolutley full of useful and vital information for the serious collector. Its expensive, but worth every penny.

Get it.

This is the best book on medal collecting out there. Period. Combining detailed, color pictures, specific award criteria and a comprehensive thoroughness it easily outdistances any other medal collectors guide in *any* field (Third Reich, British, American, Imperial German (would that there was one even half as good as this)). Only Previtera's "The Iron Time" can match it in quality and "The Iron Time" is limited to investigating one award (The Prussian Iron Cross) so it has a very narrow focus despite it being a five star book in it's own right. Schmitt & McDaniel's book has set a very high bar that any "comprehensive" medal collector's book issued in the future will have a struggle to match. Not only that the publication of this book helps legitamize the collecting of the "evil empire's" awards unlike any other publication from the past. Well worth it's price.

If you have any interest in collecting Soviet orders and medals, this is the only book you'll need. Every other reference on this subject I've read isn't even close to this one in detail, information, history and variants. From the earliest days of the revolution to the fall of the USSR, this book has detailed info for them all.

My only complaint is that it's a bit outdated when describing known fakes. For example, for the Order of Nevsky (probably the one medal who's value is increasing the fastest) the author lists no known fakes of sufficient quality to consider. That may have been true then, but not today. I've seen fake Nevsky's that are completely indistinguishable from the real thing, even when compared side-by-side. If it's worth enough money, someone will fake it.

An excellent reference guide, but NOT comprehensive. The pictures are beautiful, detailed, in colour and comes in plenty - this is necessary for the serious collector. Their grading system (both concerning rarity and different variations) is usefull but NOT comprehensive. If you have travelled in Eastern Europe as a collector, you know much more about rarity and variations than they do. Furthermore, their variation-system is only really usefull if your counterpart has read the book. Say, does The Order of the Red Banner Variation 3, Type 2 means anything to you? Their rarity-system may be helpfull as a guideline - not as a fact. I'm not saying their information is incorrect, it's just that there is a difference between living in Europe and in the US. It's probably a matter of distance and therefore price and rarity. What is really good about this book is the information about the fakes. It's very usefull (and unfortunately VERY brief) but of course outdated the moment you get it. But again, use it as a guide - don't trust everything you read. Remember that your common sense is your most important tool. Conclusion: You will not find a lot of books on this subject in english so I recommend you buy it, while it's still in stock. At present it's the best buy on the market. If you consider buying it, remember to check their Newsletter with the latest updates (and it's allways about 2-3 months delayed) at Historicalresearch.com

Being a relative newcomer to collecting Soviet Militaria, but collecting German Militaria for years, I found the book to be the best all around book on medals that I have ever read. This book details in very clear color photographs the intricacies of the medals of the Soviet Union. I would recommend this book strongly for anyone who is interested in Soviet Militaria or even Militaria in general as it is an excellent resource book.

The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals is the bestbook on the market so far, and if you are a collector in this field, I strongly recommend you buy it. It's good - very good actually - but it's not comprehensive. McDaniel and Schmitt try to list all known different types and variations, and this is of course, almost impossible. But it's a start. And it's needed. Furthermore they illustrate their descriptions with very detailed pictures - that's excellent! The only problem with this kind of book is lack of information, but I'm sure they are working on it. Especially their information on fakes needs an update. In all case this is a book to buy...