Coins Books

An excellent reference for unusual coins. The book would be better if a brief history of each coin was also included.

This is a coin catalogue worth buying even if you don't have a single coin it lists. The Unusual coins are really unusual in the way they depict human vain hopes, unattainable dreams, and impossible ambitions. You can see here coins from imaginary or lost empires (Russian monarchists struck their coins in 1990), states that have not been recognized by a single sovereign nation (Hutt River Province) or worlds which existed only in the imagination of writers (the Middle Earth) or private mints (Russian euro coins...). All this is a great tribute to human imagination and entepreneurial spirit, neatly presented in the form of a handy volume.
Naturally, you may actually collect these coins. In this case you will find the typical Krause quality - lots of pictures are missing, some coins are not listed completely (just my luck - I have only 1 euro coin of the 2002 Vaticane euro trial issue and this coin is missing - there is #6 - 50 cents and #8 - 2 euro but no #7 - 1 euro ;) but as it is in the case of all Krause catalogues: you just won't find anything better!

This is a better that average book if you are interested in looking for what to look for in a fake coin. There are descent photos and information on tell tale signs. There is no real model to tell you of any specific markings to determine if it is a genuine coin, just what to look for in a fake. Better detail, die marking information and die pairing would have made this a great book. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in stepping into the gold coin market.

As a budding gold coin collector, this book is a must have. Currently, I have 4 gold coins in my collection. Two have been graded and are genuine specimens, one was returned counterfeit, and one I have yet to send in. Now, I have a guide to help me screen my coins.

The picture quality alone of the coins shown in this book makes it a buy. They are most helpful in showing you what to look for. Having only heard of the "Omega Man" up to this point, there are a few of those coins pictured in the book.

If only the grading service I use would return coins telling you what makes it a counterfeit like the book shows you.

I rated it at 4 starts because I think there should be more than the 200 pictures. Also, more info on the "Omega Man" and other history of counterfeiting would be nice to have. When was the first "Omega Man" coin discovered?

This book is fair for the beginner; it does teach some easy sleights and vanishes. For those who may be starting out in magic but are fairly serious about it, Modern Coin Magic is a much better value.

Great tricks, easy to understand. It's a great book to flip through. At parties and around kids, I have shown off these tricks, andthey are very impressive. The book is well worth your money.

I found this folder to be great. It not only has the slots for the states, but also slots for the upcomming D.C and outer Territoies. It also has four additional slots to place whatever you want in it. My choice was the Bicentennial Quarters.

I just wanted a quarter that would fit each state, regardless of mint location which this folder does. However, I found this folder to be of poor quality. The first two pages fit the quarters fine, but I could not get the quarters to fit in the later coin slots (2007-2008).

I just bought the Littleton quarter folder because of the excellent reviews I saw online and I'm very pleased with the purchase - The quarters fit great in the slots and the book cost less than this one. I threw out this folder.

Good Value. Need to be handle it carefully to prevent the panels from coming apart. However, Elmer's Glue solved that problem (I think permanently).

No need for anything more expensive, as this item fulfilled my desires for saving the State quarters just fine and completely.

It was a nice product. The only thing that I didn't like was that it was difficult to insert the quarters.

much more detailed than other books I have bought. Well worth it if you collect small size currency.

This edition was updated significantly since the last one came out. More serial numbers and star notes are listed.

Still it need more listing and better explanations of grading/pricing for each series. Also the values seem high, although not as bad as previous edition.

An incredible book if your looking for a complete reference book to use on a daily basis. This reference book is updated every year which is very important to any Small-Sized U.S. Paper Currency collector. I find this book gives spot on values for each and every small-sized U.S. note that anyone could have an interest in collecting. I use this reference book like I use my right arm so that should tell you just how important this reference book is to my collecting. I purchase the revised book every year without question. No collector should ever be without this book. Well lets say any serious collector should never be without this book !!!

I personaly collect Star Notes, I have been hording GL's and GF star notes. I was waiting on the book release for value's, just to find they have incorrect figures for printings. They have 96,000 for the unbelievably low 9600 print of the Atlanta(GF) $10 star notes.
So, I as well as 3-4 other collectors wait again till next years release for the correct numbers and therefore guide on value. Maybe the mistakes are how they sell new editions? Guarantee sales?

I agree with many of the reviewers comments. This is a very useful book, it is a must for the serious small size currency collector. Quality control is a major problem however. There are just too many errors which cause confusion. I am surprised that KP books can't do a better job. These errors run through all of the editions 5, 6, and now 7. These errors cause one to question some of the pricing information. A typical example is in the 7th edition, 2004 A Atlanta star listing. 96,000 sheets? What does that mean? It has been widely reported that there was a printing of 9,600. I suggest Oaks, Schwartz and Lindquist take special care with the 8th edition and perhaps find a new editor.

This review pertains to the 1944 edition --

The premise of this book is completely lame. A group of counterfeiters are stealing rare coins that are worth a lot of money and melting them down, then recasting them into quarters and half dollars. Then they spend the money in order to receive dimes as change, and then a young guy disguised as an old guy turns the dimes into paper money at banks. ...Really? Possibly the worst plot of any of the original Hardy Boys books. The subplots are also not interesting.

However, the language in which it was written in is pretty cool as are some the exchanges between Frank and Joe & their friends... Still, this is a book (especially the new edition) that is worth skipping if you don't plan on reading all of them.

I just recently started reading Hardy Boys books to my son because I enjoyed them when I was young. This is the third one we read together (going out of order obviously) and probably the least enjoyable of the three. Had we read the book over a course of 2 days, it may have been easier to remember who was who. For the most part, the plot really lacked in surprise. We both had a good idea of who was guilty from the start. In addition, the two subplots were way too coincidental when the author tied them together. The best part about it was the involvement of Chet and the Hardy's other friends. This one is for serious fans only.

The great knock against this book was the plot itself. This review concerns the original 1944 story where a gang of criminals steals valueable coins and melts them down for sale. The metal is worth more if they are still coins and are not melted. Isn't this like "shooting one's self in the foot"? I suppose it could be argued that the purpose for melting the coins was to avoid detection. Well...."Big Sigh" In any event, I really liked this book for many reasons. The criminal Black Beard was perhaps the most memorable of any Hardy Boys villain. And in the end - he was not that bad. The scene in the tattoo parlor was a classic. The book moved along well and had a beautiful cover art for its 1944 edition. This was the second last edition to be completey revised chronology wise. The Short Wave Mystery was the highest volume to be drastically altered. The original Melted Coins is a great book. RATED A-

PS: The revised 1970 text was completely different and cannot hold a candle to the original.

This review concerns the revised 1970 edition. Frank and Joe are called upon by a member of the Seneca Indians to find a gold tribal relic that was stolen from them. Also they believe that their friend Chet was scammed by a summer school called Zoar College. I enjoyed this book; I thought that the mystery was quite interesting and not as predictable as some of the other books. There was a fair amount of action and the book moved along at a good pace. I liked this book and think that other fans of the series would as well.

The 1970 revision of this book is about the theft of a group of melted coins that appear to be a face. Apparently the Seneca believe that Dr. Rideau has the artifact, and is deliberately keeping if from them. On the other hand, Dr. Rideau seems to be having a good deal of problems with intruders and small acts of vandalism that his renters, a couple of professors from Zoar College, continually attribute to the Seneca.

The story begins when Frank and Joe Hardy convince their best friend, Chet Morton, to investigate Zoar College. Fenton Hardy, the boys' father, ask the boys to talk with Rod Jimerson, a Seneca who lives in Cleveland. The story begins to get complicated when the boys travel to Zoar Valley.

It turns out that Zoar College is an abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere. Soon Chet's application fee is returned, evidence that the questions the boys asked about the college are troubling someone. The boys also have their doubts about the ethics and credentials of the professors boarding with the Rideaus. The boys also noticed the Rideaus have a substantial coin college in a vault in their house.

The Hardys and Chet soon receive warnings to leave Zoar Valley. Seneca masks are stolen, and before you can guess who the criminals are, the Rideaus' coin collection is stolen. Actually, by the time the coins are stolen you pretty much know who the criminals are.

In terms of a mystery, this story is one of the lesser books in the series. There is actually very little mystery, except for the location of the melted coins, and once you learn where they are there is little surprise. I did like reading the book, but this book is more for fans of the series than a casual reader, who may be somewhat disappointed.

Though the Hardy Boys series was written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

I recieved the book in a timely manner and the book was in better shape than I had expected. Good job. Thank You.
Sandy

I have never received this item yet even though it was ordered 7/23/07,it is not here yet.

I didn't care for this book for a few reasons. First, this really isn't a price book. Sure it gives very general prices but nothing really pinned down. Second, this book is very hard to just look up a specific coin. The book is not very well aranged. This would be a good book if you just wanted to know the different varieties and how they were made. So if that's what you want then that's what you will get. As far as a price guide forget it doesn't tell me much about the value of a coin, especially with no specific year of coin or denomination.

If you are into error coins big time, this book is for you. The book has hundreds of different errors, saying how they were made and a general price. It is like a encyclepedia: many different general entries, not going to specific on any one type of error. If you are a begginner to numismatics I would not reccommend this. Instead you should go for something like the Redbook. However, if error coins are your expertise, this is a must buy.

The review below lodges some valid and important complaints. To wit, this book really is not a price guide as such as the 'guidance' is so broad as to be meaningless. Also, it is quite difficult to look up specific varieties such as the one you may be holding in your grimy little paw, and it doesn't give enough up to date information on the populations of various errors. Having said that, it is one of those I believe any nonprofessional coin collector ... coin scout should have for the following reasons: Alan Herbert, the author does give examples of the broad panoply of mint errors that are out there, with description, level of rarity and, usually, a photgraph for visual reference. More importantly, the book includes a complete description of the rating system and all of the nomenclature surrounding the rating and identifying of various errors. This information alone makes this book worthy of purchase. There is other information here too, such as a simple, lucid and photographically enhanced description of the entire minting process that will definitely help you to get your head around the world of error coins. To be sure, this book is deeply flawed and on that basis should probably draw only three stars, but I've looked and there just isn't that much literature on error coins out there for the casual coin collector. So, if you want to fill out your knowledge of error coins but aren't a hardcore error hound, go ahead and get this book. You won't be sorry, I'm sure (possibly a little disappointed though).

If you see a book written by Karl Fulves on magic that has the words Self-Working in the title then buy it. There is a wealth of knowledge in each of these books. -Diamond Jim Tyler

i love this book. it has some very good tricks using coins and bills, which are extremly easy. very clear instructions. no skill nedded to do these tricks. it even has the misers dream in here. i recomend this book to the beggining magician intrested in money magic. you will learn alot.

I really enjoyed the book very much and use some of the tricks for close up work.

Not all self working, not all magic. Unlike Karl Fulves other books, this one is terrible.

If you think asking someone if they know where a certain word appears on a dollar bill is a magic trick, then this book is for you. Saying "where does an anagram of White Snow appear on a dollar" and then when they give up you point it out - is NOT MAGIC. It's not even a trick. Its just a rather sad puzzle or riddle.

Most of the tricks in this book are that bad. A lot of them don't take more than 2 lines to explain in the book.

There are a few good coin tricks, but they aren't 'self working' and involve palming. Some of the tricks aren't even coin tricks, they use bills. So its really money stunts.

If this book had been called "80 stunts that are rather cack and a couple of tricks that need some practise" it might have been more honest - but then it wouldn't have sold.

Fulves self working card trick books are awesome, but when it comes to coin magic he seems fairly clueless.

Great reference book on gold coins. All the important facts on gold coins from around the world. Classic world gold, world commemoratives, world bullion, and U.S. gold all categorized in an easy to use reference. I find myself reaching for "Gold Rush" everytime I need to know the data on a specimen coin. It really comes in handy.

This book is nothing more than a week description of Gold coins. I was very disappointed.

I was a bit disappointed that the book was more or less a pricing guide. And, of course, the prices are outdated now. But on the good side, it tells you how many coins were produced in any given year and what coins actually are rare. This will help you in selecting that perfect rare coin.

It didn't really get into grading, which I hoped it would address. It did, however, show lovely photos of most of the major gold coins of the world. It tells you what to look for, how to care for your coins, how to store them and much more.

This is not a book to set down, open and read. It's a reference. But if you invest in gold coins or collect them, you'd be wise to invest in the book.

There are advertisements in it, which I didn't care much for. But there's nothing wrong with that either.

The book is really lovely. It's not a cheap paperback. It's very entertaining and has lots of interesting information and suggestions that will help you to avoid many mistakes.

Highly recommended.

Like the first reviewer of this book, I was disappointed. The book did not live up to the name on the cover. It was more of a price guide with outdated prices and was very much lacking on insight of "How to collect, invest, and profit with gold coins."

Although it is a very beautiful book with great color photos, the content seemed very much incomplete. It felt like it was the result of a half-hearted effort by the publisher to cash in on the current gold craze. Even as a price guide, it seemed very incomplete.

But, I do have one positive thing to say, at the same time I bought this book, I also bought "The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins" by Q. David Bowers. After reading both books, the Q. David Bowers book had everything that I thought the Gold Rush book was lacking. What a wonderful book by Mr. Bowers! Whether your interest is collecting or investing, you won't be disappointed by Mr. Bowers book. Save your money on this book and buy that one instead!

The "Bluebook" is a better choice of coin collectors. The redbook is a RETAIL price guide, intended for dealers. I also noted the population data for state quarter proofs is significantly incorrect. The book's data only accounts for proof quarters sold in 5 piece sets. There were millions more made each year included in the 10 piece sets. Compare the numbers on pages 70 and 152.

This book is good for what it includes, but there is a glaring and shocking omission! There is no info on proof sets, only on some individual coins. With the introduction of state quarter sets, annual proof sets have become a hot commodity, yet this book completely overlooks the entire category!

This 2004 edition of a standard reference disappoints; if you can get it, I recommend the 2003 edition for now, especially if it's your first coin book purchase. While there are some ongoing improvements (more commemorative coin images), there are two major strikes against this edition: 1) A bunch of new color images have been added throughout - and they're horrible. 2) Whitman has filled some of the blank space with ads, increasing the number of ads for Whitman products five-fold, usually popping up between denominations.
The new images are failures because they are digital images that were incorrectly prepared for press. The artifacting in the images is so bad, for example, that the 1858 flying eagle cent large/small letter variety isn't clear to the novice eye. Many of the large cent date varieties look terrible, and in some pictures you can't even discern what the difference is supposed to be. The editor has provided a reference book that fails as a reference - no small feat.
As for the ads, Whitman certainly has the right, but the vivid colors just feel distasteful; I don't mind them at the back, where they're a handy reference, but our lives are stuffed with enough commercial filler - can't I avoid it while looking up my coins?
A couple of new varieties are added, expanding beyond the addition of recent Lincoln varieties in 2002. The state quarters section has been attractively improved, and images now exist for all quarters designs to date. Interestingly, the hard times tokens at the rear are eliminated, and a section on pattern pieces added instead. I always find patterns fascinating examples of 'what could have been', so I laud this addition, as it lends the starting hobbyist a little peek into an area I find more exciting than tokens. That's a subjective viewpoint though, and the only reason I gave the book a 2 instead of a 1. I'm saddened that it falls so far short of where the 2003 edition came to.

Sorry LeadPedal2, but you are wrong, and I hope not too many people have been driven away from this wonderfully written, helpful, and complete book by your false statements.

This book DOES contain information on Proof and Uncirculated sets sold by the U.S. Mint, on pages 68-71.

Also, to the previous reviewer - I don't know what problem you see with the color pictures, perhaps your edition was misprinted. The full-color pictures in my edition are beautiful, clear, and very helpful.

I've been collecting both the Red and Blue books since 1993 as a nice compliment to my coin collection, and this edition maintains Yeoman and Whitman's high standards. I am very happy with this book, and highly recommend it to other coin collectors, beginners through those with much experience.