Coins Books

The album looks good and holds the coins tight. I like they have various albums for various coins in the same format that looks good on your personal library or display. Also, the deep sea-blue (may be just a little too dark) provides nice contrast with the shiny coins.
I like they provided more transparent sleeves than necessary, so if you remove or scratch them, you have replacement.
You can later buy additional pages and even adhesive letters and numbers and add them to your current album by simply removing two screws.
All in all, the album looks solid and elegant in the same time.

The Whitman album is an easy and attractive display for your presidential dollar collection.

The album and pages are made of heavy paper board with through cutouts for the dollars so you can see both sides of the coin. Both the album and pages are Navy blue in color with gold lettering. Included with the album are thin strips of clear plastic that slide into the free edge of the pages to hold the coins in place.

Each row of coins gets a piece of plastic on the front and back side of the page. I found it easiest to insert the back plastic piece, insert the dollar coins and then slide in the top plastic piece. There are indentations along the edge of the page to make inserting and removing the plastic pieces easier. Removing a plastic sheet to insert more coins takes a bit of manual dexterity as the plastic edges are separated by an eighth of an inch or so.

The pages are joined to the album with aluminum posts and can be taken out of the binder if necessary. The last page of the album contains plenty of blank spaces for dollars that may be issued after Nixon (Ford and Reagan for example).

The Whitman albums are, hands down, simply the best in their class. This one pairs quite nicely with the quarter album!

Perfect size to go with other coin collections I have and with only one space per coin - perfect for the novice who isn't worried about each mint location. Cover won't hold up if you plan to admire your set EVERY DAY but for the standard collector - this book will serve very well.

I recently started collecting presidental coin proofs and I found this folder to be perfect for them. As the title states, this particular folder houses only one slot per coin, so it is ideal for people who simply want to collect one of each coin (Philadelphia or Denver) or if you want to collect proofs (San Francisco) like me. The folder is about 1 inch thick and the pages within are nice and sturdy. It is a great folder to add to your set (it looks great with the statehood quarter set as well) and with Amazon's discounts, you really can't go wrong.

For those you are still interested in obtaining a presidential folder which can house coins from more than one mint, I believe Whitman does have one, but it may not be available on Amazon. I urge you to check out Whitman's actual website so you can get all the info you need, then see if Amazon has it (as Amazon may sell it cheaper.) That way, everyone gets satisfied with their purchase.

Professor Holt must be a stimulating, admired lecturer in his subject, for this book brings a wealth of knowledge together from a large variety of sources. Primary sources are the medallions themselves, of course. As for myself, this is the first time I have been fascinated with numismatics enough to stay with the whole book (which is easily absorbed in a day). Never again will I briefly skim over exhibits and pictures of ancient coins! Dr. Holt has made me a bit of an expert on many aspects of this subject, and he invites us to delve further with extensive, annotated footnotes on each page. He is certainly a dedicated scholar with deep and wide knowledge of his field, able to clearly present his interpretation while giving a balanced analysis of various theories. Each of his conclusions is supported by strong references to the literature.

"Alexander The Great And The Mystery Of The Elephant Medallions", by Frank L. Holt. Published by The University Of California Press.

Holt tells us that there have been 2000 books and papers published about Alexander in the last 40 years. What he kindly omits is that most of them have been rubbish; this one is not. It is a fine and valuable contribution to Alexander Studies admirably thought out and very well written. The University Of California Press has, as usual, well presented and marketed the work which is enjoying a popularity it should not have had otherwise. Basically a study of some unusual coin- like medallions depicting Alexander battling elephant mounted men. Holt gives us what might have been a tedious article in an obscure numismatic journal as a fascinating mystery and, along the way, manages to present an unsullied glimpse of Alexander without any of the contemporaneous tints which have been so blithely applied to him over the years. This is an excellent small book by a fine scholar with a keen analytical mind and an unusual facility for communicating with non scholars without pandering.

Where should I begin? Above all, Holt supposedly invented a mysterious story, but there is no real mystery in it. In fact since the coins were found researchers have come to understand that those coins had been imprinted in memory of the battle between Alexander the Great and Porus, the Emperor of India. It is only the place and time which we think are of secondary importance could not have been determined precisely. In the introduction to his book Holt assumes himself to be Sherlock Holmes, but the solution he suggests at the end of the book is far away from reminding the persuasive arguments of the famous detective and only serves to surprise the reader because of its speculative quality. The majority of the book deals with many ideas which had been previously proposed and refuted by other studies, and apparently re-refutes all of those. When we reach the final part, we encounter the very principal elements of "Sherlock" Holt's solution; the first of these is about the imperfect apperance and imprint of these coins and Holt explains this unusual event by the rushed minting of these coins on a return journey from the Indian expedition, under exteremely difficult conditions caused by muson rains! The historian meticulously discarded a great many arguments throughout the book yet he surprised us by bringing forth this meteorological solution towards explaning the bad apparences of the coins. Perhaps this can justify a reader who may come to propose that the man who was in charge of the minting process was having a bad day! Or even because he did not received the merits he deserved from Alexander. Even more surprising is the explanation which concerns the other side of the coin showing the Alexander holding a thunderbolt. We can't understand why Holt discards the perfectly reasonable, simple yet adequate solution which is in accord with the traditional Alexander narratives deifying him- especially the one which deals Apelles' portrait of Alexander-. Instead he insists on seeing particularly a reference to the the rainy night on which Alexander won a victory against the Indian King Porus. Yes, there are many events in history about rainmaker army leaders. But, for God's sake, Alexander and his troop already knew India's disastrous air and field conditions. While, they advanced to the interior parts of India, they always encountered with such stormes, muds...So, if storm and rain had been an unexpected incident, maybe Alexander's powers which brings rain would have been good and miracolous news. And even after that battle, during the journey to the Babil, Macedonian army suffered from bad meteorological conditions. According to Holt's argument, one may think, Alexander, just after the battle, having been minted that coins, maybe has also seen responsible for that terrible field conditions! But, this time, his men, could not mint properly those coins, because of very same musons(in last chapter, the sentence which concludes with footnote 25!)
Thus Holt's theory -searching the "textual" help to that night- extends to the assumption that these coins were minted in memory of "a dark and stormy night" and these coins function as a narrative picture of the whole war. But this sounds rather weird or impractical because Alexander gifted each of these coins, which allegedly individually represents a particular scene of the war, to his men which means the coins would never come together to form such a picture: One of the generals saves the one with elephant, other has Alexander with thunderbolt and maybe other one has the one with a chariot? As a matter of fact Holt himself was not persuaded by his suggestion that he claimed that these imperfect coins were indeed a turning point in the history of numismatic by this aspect.

As for the much praised popular style of the book, as I read the translation I am unable to comment adequately; however I did not see any extraordinary features that deserve credit. By the way, it seems to me, Mr. Holt's only field of interest -expect coins- Darwinist biology. He mentions him several times, curiously enough, but most of these are unnecessary element of the failed rhetorical construction.

That is exactly what I thought when I was assigned this book in Dr. Holt's class, but I was later proved wrong. As stated before he definitely has a knack for communicating with those not in this academic circle. Although I have had the privilege to have a class with Dr. Holt this does not in any way taint my recommendation. I encourage others to read other works by Dr. Holt especially his latest "Into the land of Bones"

This book is a delightful read. Like a good mystery, I was mystified by the clues as they were presented in the narration and wondered at times "so what?" But that only made the satifaction so much more pleasant when the meanings of the clues were revealed at the end and the medallions tell their story after thousands of years.

Coin Chemistry is a reunion of articles previously published in several magazines, and W.W. White tried to assemble them in a consistent and coherent way. Taken in isolation, most texts are well written and very useful. Everything you would like to know about the chemistry of toning. You will find the book very useful, if you are interested in numismatics. As a numismatist and a chemist,I did.

This was a very informative guide to perserving old valuable coins. I picked up many tips regarding storage, cleaning (or not cleaning) of coin collections.I recommend this reading to new beginners and individuals who want to preserve what they have now.

There are both good and bad books about coins out there, and this one definitely belongs to the second category.

Coin Chemistry is actually a collection of separate articles, most of which have been published in Coin World magazine. As a result, there is a lot of overlapping material that reduces the 72 pages book to something like 40 to 50 pages. It is not just the same information presented over and over again, but the author uses the exact same words and phrases so by the time you finish the book you will be able to quote him pretty accurately.

Moreover, if you omit the blank pages between the articles, the sources that take a lot of up space and reduce the font size (which is more appropriate for childrens' books), you will probably come up with less that 35 pages and if you leave out the pictures too, you will end up with 15 to 20 pages at best. There are also some articles completely unrelated to coin chemistry and coin preservation, such as the one about the debasement of the US currency(!). In any case, the book offers less than a coin magazine but at a much higher cost and I definitely wouldn't recommend it for the Value Award.

To make matters worse, from beginning to end the Coin Chemistry advertises instercept shield products and even includes an appendix about them.

Having said that, I did find interesting information in this book and the pictures of the author's experiments with coins are pretty impressive too. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this book and instead of reading it, let me just some up the author's conclusions.

1. Air includes particles that cause chemical reactions to the coin's surface

2. Toning = tarnish = bad

3. Nothing is better then intercept shield products when it comes to coin storage

4. Nothing is better then intercept shield products when it comes to coin storage

5. Nothing is better then intercept shield products when it comes to coin storage

Weimar White does an outstanding job of explaining the science behind original toning, coin preservation and conservation, environmental factors of coin appearance, and coin doctoring. A very useful book for coin dealers, numismatic investors and all serious students of numismatics.

Author Weimar White, a chemist by trade and a coin collector by desire, explains the nuances of coin preservation, toning, and how the coinage system in the United States has been debased through the decades.

This book will answer questions that collectors have asked for years. The information herein, will establish a level playing field between collectors and dealers concerning the topics covered.............Rusty Goe

Hardback - 72 pages - Illustrated

This is the most complete book every written on the subject of Lincoln Cents. With information from all three leading grading services (ANACS, PCGS & NGC) you can tell exactly how rare is rare.

This is a Collector of Lincoln Cents a must have BOOK. I didn't know there were so many diffrent varities of each date. This book has all the information anyone would need to properly collect Lincoln Cents.

This reference is a nice piece, although to me, it falls a bit short of Sol Taylor's Complete Guide to the Lincoln Cent. The book has very good photographic reproduction, and has some interesting information on die varieties and RPMs. It also reveals a lot about some key issues such as the 1909S VDB and 1922 Plain!

So where does it fall short? To me, it reads a little too much like a reference. Aside from a few key dates, many of the date listings give very little information on the quality of the coins produced for that issue. This is where Taylor's book seems better suited, as it very often describes the colors, die states, and strikes of virtually every issue.

If this is addressed in later editions, than I think this title holds the potential to really achieve a legacy among Lincoln Cent collectors!

This is an excellent book for anyone collecting Lincoln cents - It lists EVERY known variety of the entire series from 1909! It's great for finding valuable coins you didn't know you had.

This is an interesting book for Lincoln cent collectors. Overall, the book appears to contain a lot of information about varieties. This is no doubt the result of a great deal of background research. There are, however, at least two areas that I puzzled over.

The first area is related to the description of blistering. On page 18 in the second paragraph of "Wrong or improperly mixed alloys", it is stated that blistering is caused by residual chemicals left on the planchet after plating. I'm a little puzzled as to how blistering can be caused in this manner, unless the copper is compromised and a contaminant attacks the zinc. A majority of blisters that I've observed using a 30x stereoscope appear to be between the zinc material and the copper plating with no apparent penetration or compromising of the copper plating. The conclusion that I've arrived at after examining the later type of blisters is as follows: 1) The zinc material is not being cleaned properly before the plating process. 2) The plating process traps a contaminant between the zinc material and the copper plating. 3) The contaminant reacts with the zinc, thereby resulting in a blistering effect of the copper. The blistering phenomenon should have been explained in greater detail.

The second area has to do with the descriptions and pictures of the 1909S VDB die varieties. Specifically, the description of the Die No 2 variety (page 40) would tend to indicate that the mintmark, while being level with the bottoms of the 9s, would have the same relative position between the 9 and 0 as the Die No 1 variety. The description for the Die No 2 variety seems to be vague on this point. In addition, the picture that is provided for the Die No 2 variety seems to match the description and the picture for the Die No 3 variety. It's obvious that these two pictures are of different coins, but the variety appears to be the same. This leads me to question the picture representation of the Die No 2 variety, a better description would have helped (or maybe the correct picture).

I would have liked to ask the author about these to points rather than writing a review, but no e-mail address was provided at Amzazon.com.

One more point of frustration - The grading section could have easily included pictures and did not.

I have had a difficult time encouraging my 11 year old son to read independently in his free time. Since purchasing two Hardy Boys books, he has not been able to put them down. Both books were hardback and look beautiful. I will keep them in our library for our other sons too.

Frank, Joe and Chet head to Los Angeles to track down a ring of car thieves and to find a rare, valuable coin stolen from Chet's cousin, Vern. I would rate the book average to good; although, it proved to be much better than I had thought it would be.

The Hardys track down a missing coin in this book. It's a great book for kids, it's action-packed and has a neat coin in it.

This is an educational, action packed book. I recommend it to any fan of the Hardy Boys series.

This book is educational - it taught me about the 1913 Liberty Head nickel, which does exist like it was described in this book. It's interesting and action packed.

From the back cover:

For generations, an ancient coin has passed from mother to daughter--a talisman of luck joining those who dare to dream of love. Now three very different women will hold fate in their hands...and discover the passion that awaits them.

Love will always find a way...

Forced by circumstances to live with her tyrannical aunt, Corinna Towers knew that Boston society held little opportunity for poor relations like her. That is, until enigmatic businessman Stuart Grant offered to pay her handsomely to pose as his betrothed. Deciding it would be foolish to cling to girlhood notions about her mother's lucky coin bringing true love, Corinna accepted Stuart's unorthodox proposition...only to discover that an unlikely romance can surpass dreams.

And my review:

This was my first try of a book by Gabriella Anderson, and I was not very impressed, especially after all the good reviews this book got. The writing was choppy and confusing. It didn't have the easy flow that allows a reader to get completely absorbed in the story.

The author liked to head-hop, switching between points of view dozens of time during a single scene. And not just between the hero's or heroine's thoughts; scenes were a hodgepodge of thoughts from everybody in the room. Even servants and minor characters got to have their thoughts read. Good writers refrain for jerking the focus of the book around from person to person.

When reading this book, I'd often go to turn a page, only to realize that I'd zoned out and didn't remember a sentence of what I'd just read. Again, this doesn't happen with a good book. A good book will take you away to another place, until you forget the world around you. This was not the case with A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE.

But what really killed enjoyment of the book for me was the constant bickering between the hero and heroine. Their mutual antagonism was interesting--at first. But it got old really fast.

I can't recommend this book. If you're still determined to read it, I would suggest that you borrow it from the library, rather than buying it.

I Read "A Matter of Convenience" on a long overseas flight. I though it was a great way to spend 4 hours. I look forward to the next book in the series.

When Corinna Towers was still a child, her mother gave her the Destiny Coin and told her to learn what the coin said: Numquam tuas spes dedisce--never forget your dreams. Her mother died soon after, and Corinna was left with nothing of her mother but the coin. Many years later, Corinna lives with her aunt and cousin in Boston as a Cinderella-type drudge. Her cousin, however, is no wicked stepsister, and they are planning a daring escape-at-the-altar plan for cousin Katie. Katie is to marry Edward Grant, a loathsome man with a loathsome father--and a handsome half-brother, Stuart. Since Stuart nearly runs Corinna over with his carriage, they have shared a relationship sparked with antagonism--and attraction. When Corinna is instrumental in Katie's elopement, an event humiliating to both of the families involved--Stuart finds himself helping Corinna while helping himself, first in an engagement of convenience, then a marriage of convenience. While they both fall in love, lack of communication prevents them from sharing their feelings. Also, someone is trying to kill Stuart and doesn't care who gets in the way. Sometimes it feels like the plot and the subplot don't quite mesh, but this is a pleasant way to while away an evening.

Fast paced, entertaining and satisfying, this author has a gift for bringing a romantic tale to life. Characters and events in A MATTER OF CONVENIENCE sizzle across the pages, making the reader sorry the story has to end. I can hardly wait for the next book in the Destiny Coin series.

Gabriella Anderson has the gift. After helping her cousin leave her intended at the altar to run off and marry the man she really loves. Corinna makes an arrangement to marry a man she hardly knows and doesn't really like (Stuart). Stuart and Corinna agree to make this a "Matter of Convenience" for her to get away from her controlling and mean Aunt, and for him to fend off the mothers that are trying to get him to marry their daughters (he is very rich and handsome too). Then there are the scheming relatives and the long lost friend, the constant friction between them, not to mention the Destiny coin. This is a quick moving story that will keep you entertained from start to finish. You will laugh, and cry what more could you ask for in a book? Buy it, read it, and enjoy it! I certainly did!

Not what I was looking for. It sounded like there was pricing information in book, but there was none.

Bowers has compiled a substantial body of material that traces the evolution of American currency from the wampum used by native Americans and early settlers to the broken bank notes that effectively disappeared after the Civil war. Even a tome this size is unable to cover that much ground in any real depth, but Bowers makes intelligent decisions about when to go into depth and when to trace the superficial edges. On the whole, this is an invaluable resource for the beginning collector who wants a lot of information in a single place.

This will be the authority on broken bank notes and obsolete currency for years to come. Mr. Bowers is no doubt one of the very few individuals in the world that could bring all this material together and make an extremely readable and much needed volume available to numismatists and students of economic history.

if you are looking for a great history reference that shows how paper money fits into the history - this is your book, Mr. Bowers does a great job in researching his history and he shows how the currency and banking fit.

If you are looking for a good paper money reference, you will find this book very frustrating to use. As a paper money reference I thought it to be very disorganized and frustrating for me to use. BUt this book is still a great addition to my library.

Coverage of Northeast states like Maine, was excellent and probably better done here than elsewhere.
What I can't understand is why Mr. Bowers tries to do everything, when there are still books needed in areas where he has the most expertise.

I liked the book.

This book is not your typical data book with only pictures and current values for each note (such as Haxby, etc). It is a history book of many notes issued in the United States. It covers the years 1782 - 1866 and is mainly focused on "obsolete notes."

For those who only collect notes as a commodity, this is not the book for you. For those who collect to own a piece of history, this IS a great book for you. Given the large task that the author had, he has done a very nice job. If he were to cover every detail of every note, he would never finish. However, the final work is very nice!

I give it 4.5 stars and not 5 because he did not (and could not) cover all notes and history.

"I don't know of any country that has successfully introduced the equivalent of a dollar coin without getting rid of the corresponding paper unit," said Douglas Mudd, author of a new book on the history of money, "All the Money in the World." Also quoted my local newspaper, Palm Beach Post.

I lived in Germany 10 years and for most of those years used 5 DM coins and 5 DM notes. My wife is from Hong Kong and we visit frequently, using the 10 HK$ coin and the 10 HK$ bill among other matching HK$ coin and bills.

While some of the "reviews" here do not even really review the book, here is the real story. This is a beautiful collection of illustrations of coins and currency from all over the world. I obviously could not afford to include some of the items illustrated here in my own collection -- they are just too expensive. But owning this book is a great substitute.

This is a wonderful overview of the world's money, written in a concise, knowledgeable manner. The illustrations a magnificent and I would recommend it to anyone with any interest in the subject. But then isn't everyone interested in money? If you read this and remember half of it, you will be an expert of the highest order.

As a historian (former corporate historian for Grumman Aerospace) and an educator, I found Mr. Mudds book informative, insightful and entertaining! It is especially useful to educators as an introduction to the amazing world of money. The author has a wonderful way of presenting historial events and anecdotes that is compelling to all age groups. The illustrations and photographs are especially striking. My students are actually vying for the privelege of borrowing it. If you are a history or business teacher it is sure to become a classroom favorite!

I noted in some previous reviews that the author, Mr. Mudd, has been misunderstood in regards to his comments on the introduction of new dollar coins. If one were to take the effort to review his original quote, it is clear that he was not saying the dollar coin has never been successful, but rather, for it to be successful, the existing paper notes must first be withdrawn. It is understandable for children to misread data but it is sad when adults do so.

Well-written. informative on life in Roman Britain in the later days of R oman occupatiion. Not of the quality of books by Stephen Saylot which to me are the best of this genre.

The master of the mystery set in Roman Britain. A scholar with a sense of humor

Libertus, the mosaic maker of Glevum, Britannia, must solve a murder on the property of his patron Marcus Aurelius Septimus before the Lemuria, the festival for the souls of the departed, takes place. Mystery builds on mystery. Complicating the matter, the daughter of an an irascible tribal farmer has disappeared at about the same time. As Libertus sets to work, he is constantly belittled by the haughty guest, strange things happen, more bodies are discovered, and Marcus' gatekeeper is murdered, and there seems to be obstruction all around.

As all the novels in this series, this book is written in a rather serious vein. Nonetheless, there is quite a bit to smile about, mostly about the young slaves in both households, especially the eager to please Maximus and Minimus, who are signed over to Libertus while Marcus travels to Rome and tend to finish each others sentences. Life in the villa, town life in Glevum, Libertus' little household, and the hostile British farmers whom Libertus encounters, are believably portrayed. All in all a good book by a dependable author.

Rosemary Rowe's exhaustive scholarship on Roman Britain is admirable, but doesn't really make up for a story that is unnecessarily dense and convoluted, overly burdened with mundane dialogue and generally lacking in punch and mystery. This book did not compare favorably with any of the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis or "The Water Thief" by Ben Pastor.

Maloney has written the book that newcomers to gold and silver investing
should read before they sink their money in these metals. There are great pitfalls and Maloney reveals them more clearly than any sales pitch hacked out by other writers.

The price of gold just hit $1,000 an ounce. With the decreasing value of the dollar, the emergence of significant inflation, the unpredictability of the stock market, and the expanding recession within the general American economy, gold and precious metals has resumed its traditional role as a place that capital is being invested to protect it from the instability of the national and global economies. Part of the Zyrus Press 'Official Strategy Guide Series', Jeff Ambio's "Collecting And Investing Strategies For U.S. Gold Coins" is a premier instruction guide to understanding the specialty investments in, and collections of, rare American gold coins. From gold dollars, quarter eagles, gold pieces, gold stellas, half eagles, and double eagles, each variety and sub-variety of gold coin is identified, illustrated, described, backgrounded, and provided with investment tips. An indispensable manual, "Collecting And Investing Strategies For U.S. Gold Coins" is a core and essential addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library gold coin collection and investment reference shelves.

I found this book to offer all of the basic information on coins without being overly dry and dull, as often books of this type can be. The format is easy to follow and skim. Overall a good book worth the money.

You would be better off buying the Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins. It gives much more information in much greater detail. If you already own the Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins or a similar book, you definately don't need this one, as it contains only redundant information.