1 comments about United States Pattern Coins: Experimental and Trial Pieces.

1. It would appear that the idea behind this valuable reference guide was that it become a mainstay of study in this in-depth and exotic world of United States pattern, experimental and trial strike pieces, and it looks like that idea has been fulfilled. I would also add that with this fairly new research guide, there is more information available to interested coin collectors in this realm than ever before. Up until now there was Adams and Woodin, Judd, Pollack and now this reference book, one which is quite essential to anyone attempting to build a library in which to study this most interesting area of Numismatics. As a professional coin dealer I strongly recommend the aquisition of this great reference book to all who are interested in this area of US coinage.

No comments about Washington Quarter Folder 1948-1964 (Official Whitman Coin Folder).

No comments about United States Coinage: A Study By Type.

2 comments about Money of the Bible.

1. Outstanding book that creates a logical, inspiring path of the money used when the Bible was written. Illustrations are colorful, it's like bringing the money into your home.



2. This is a very nice book on the coins that are mentioned in the Bible. The author does a very nice job of describing and using clear photographs of each coin. He also does his best on narrowing down what each coin could be in the Bible if it is not clear. For example, The "30 pieces of silver" that Juduas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus could be one of a few different coins and the bible does not state which coin or coins they were. However, he describes the most likely coin that was used based on what was in circulation at the time, etc.
   
   Could have been more on:
   1) The author could have also described what other coins, such as the "30 pieces" mentioned above, it could of been. Experts tend to agree with the author's choice but also state that the coins could have also been other coins.
   2)The author could have also suggested where the reader can purchase some of the coins more specifically.
   
   All in all, well worth the price and a GREAT coffee table book.

2 comments about 100 Greatest American Tokens and Medals.

1. This book is a wonderful collection of KEY MEDALS and TOKENSs. With beautiful pictures, this books tells the story of the medal or token featured as the Top 100 by a select group of Numismatic Experts on the subject. Fun to read; fun to see what medals and tokens made the Top 100 list.
   
   I liked the book so much, I even bought a copy for my local library... JAS



2. Libraries catering to collectors as well as any interested in the history of American medals must have this oversized, lavish survey of rarities in the medal and token world, which explores the U.S.'s first coinage, medals and tokens and includes a foreword by numismatics Russ Rulau and David Alexander. Full page, large-sized color photos of coins and metals provide extraordinary, exceptional detail making this a 'must' reference for any library catering to coin collectors or American history buffs.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

4 comments about All the Money in the World.

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. "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.

2 comments about A Guide Book Of United States Type Coins: A Complete History And Price Guide For The Collector And Investor (The Official Red Book).

1. US Type sets are a great way to learn about the history of the United States through its coins. This book is a great resource for learning how to compile said type set. The first ~50 pages are spent on a history of the US through its coins, history on the most famous set of all time (Eliasberg), some practical notes on grading (though if you really want a detailed resource on how to grade coins, you should look elsewhere), and then several pages on what to consider when assembling a US type set - such as by metal, everything but gold, just gold, how many varieties to include, etc.
   
   The bulk of the rest of the book is devoted to describing almost all types of US Coins that have been minted since 1792 (including the 1792 pattern half disme). Before each major type (such as half cents, large cents, small cents, etc.), a few pages are spent with an overview of the series, tips on collecting a type set with those coins, and then information on going "beyond a type set," in other words, what issues you may encounter if you want to assemble a set of all the coins in that series by date and mintmark.
   
   Then, almost all types are subsequently descirbed with full-color pictures, mintage information (e.g. 158.1 billion Lincoln memorial reverse bronze coins were struck), basic information, a "key to collecting," and "aspects of striking and appearance." It also has suggested grades to shoot for based upon three budget tiers. It then has tables of approximate market value at time of print (2004) by grade, certified population reports and approximate field population, and then market price performance for the last 60 years in decade intervals, which show how the value at (usually) 3 grades has changed (making you wish you bought back in 1950).
   
   Overall, if you want a general resource/guide to collecting type coins from 1792-2004 (I assume an update will be published within the next few years to account for the remaining Statehood Quarters, Jefferson 2005 reverse and obverse and the 2006 Jefferson obverse, and the new Presidential Dollar Series), this should be on your shelf. If you are an experienced numismatist, you may find much of it elementary, but still worth buying for the history section in the beginning and the relatively comprehensive data for each type.



2. If you want to start a "type collection" of US coins, this is the place to start. This book gives you the information that you need to get started. It also give you the price information that you need to make informed buying decisions. The history and other information will be extremely usefull to collectors that are new to this hobby. If you are a more experienced collector, the detailed numerical information will be a be help in improving your collection.

4 comments about Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria (Hellenistic Culture and Society).

1. Holt once again brings invaluable information about Bactria. In this book he uses mumismatics extensively. The first two chapters are very interesting. The end of the book is mostly about technical details of the coins and what they can tell us. Thundering Zeus is the figure of Zeus on coins issued by Macedonian kings in Bactria. Holt shows us the importance of the details for placing a date on the coins and for knowing who issued them. For those who are intrigued by Diodotus, I and II, this is a great book. If it is the first book you read by Holt and if you are intested in the history of Bactria, which now covers most part of Afghanistan, you can form for yourself a good idea of what other books by Holt can hold as surprises for you. It could be the gate opened to a new horizon, or just a very enjoyable way to learn about the subject. Holt writes in a simple manner so as to be accessible to all readers and I do appreciate that. Even scholars sometimes need simplicity. In any case, his simple and clear way is still carrying a lot of serious information with notes, bibliography, index, all items History students need. I would recommend this book for research as well as for readers who like to learn more.



2. Holt does an excellent job of updating the Beginnings of the Hellenistic Bactrian kingdom. His book is a much needed repair of the misinformation spread in the beginning of Tarn's otherwise enjoyable book The Greeks in Bactria and India. I thoroughly enjoyed it.



3. Frank Holt continues his assault on the deity of Alexander in this well-researched followup to "Alexander the Great and Bactria." Holt looks at the foundation and early history of Hellenistic Bactria, starting with the Diadochi. His analysis of the data - including a careful reappraisal of the oft misleading numistics - is fairly convincing. A good book for anyone interested in Central Asia in antiquity, ancient India, and modern historiography of Alexander of Macedon.



4. A full effort employing a variety of source materials, good methodology, and inviting prose.

5 comments about Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle.

1. I'm not a coin collector. There are one or two coins I'd love to own. And I do own a few lovely ones. I say this so you'll know I'm not a member of the society of coin collectors --- that closed society of people who have their own vocabulary and ways of doing business.
   
   But I wanted to read this book because I became interested in why Roosevelt the second opted to steal gold from the American public, making it illegal. I also was enchanted with this coin that Roosevelt the First wanted so badly. He wanted it to not contain the motto, "In God We Trust" because he believed in separation of church and state. So the story begins in 1907.
   
   Well, I got much more from this book than I bargained for. To begin with, it's written wonderfully well. If you remember the old Dragnet radio and television shows, you'll recall how Joe Friday always said, "It was Tuesday, March 1 in Los Angeles. It was raining. ETC." It drew you in. You could picture it, get a feel for it. Well, Tripp does that in this book. He accurately tells the reader when the action takes place --- sometimes including the exact time. He often tells what the weather was like that day.
   
   The book is exceedingly well documented. It is a true historical drama and mystery that, even today, is not really solved. All but one of these lovely coins are illegal. Yet we have reason to believe others exist --- somewhere.
   
   You'll enter the rather mysterious world of the true coin collector and dealer. You'll be thrilled at what you find. You'll meet people of greed. Just to hold this illegal coin, this beautiful, magnificent piece of history, must be the thrill of a lifetime. Yet few people have done so or ever will.
   
   You'll follow the coin from the mint to the final auction that makes this one coin legal (the others, if there are others, are illegal.)
   
   This is a fascinating book and I recommend it highly.
   
   -Susanna K. Hutcheson



2. As with any thriller, the book opens with the background and history of the our protagonist, in this case, the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle. Tripp repeats the well known history of how President Theodore Roosevelt wanted to extend the gilded age and update the design of US coinage. Roosevelt thought the design of the Mint's Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber's were bland and not fitting of a great nation. Tripp reproduces reports of conversations and letters from Roosevelt to Barber and other US Mint officials demanding they follow the instructions of sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, as to how the coin would be minted. If you have not heard the details of this history, the first chapter is a must read.
   
   From the history of the rise of the Saint-Gaudens $20 Double Eagle, Tripp then talks about its demise. With the country in the throes of the Great Depression and the country revolting against President Herbert Hoover at the polls, Tripp discusses the tension between Hoover and the transition team of Franklin D. Roosevelt. While the country was experience a near total economic collapse, Tripp writes how FDR did not want to do anything that would give Hoover credit for doing anything before the March, 1933 inauguration.
   
   Hours after FDR's inauguration, the Senate approved the appointment of William H. Woodin as the Secretary of the Treasury. Woodin worked tirelessly with the Hoover administration to try to stop the damage. Tripp paints a great word picture as to how Woodin and FDR created a policy that helped the country pull out of the depression.
   
   One of the problem was the amount of gold leaving the United States and being used for overseas trade. More gold was leaving the Treasury than they were taking in. At Woodin's urging, FDR signed an executive order recalling all privately held gold. As this executive order goes through many updates, Tripp brings us inside the Philadelphia Mint facilities as they continue to mint 1933 $20 Double Eagles. Tripp puts us right in the Mint and traces the path of these gold beauties.
   
   With the order to melt these coins in 1934, the mystery begins. Tripp weaves the story in true mystery novel style following the trail of several of these coins as they leave the Mint. This includes the one coin with a legal export receipt that was shipped to King Farouk of Egypt. Tripp' coverage of the "Palace Collections of Egypt" or King Farouk's by the Egyptian government (website in English) is a classic twist of capitalism and greed meeting politics.
   
   The book bogs down a bit starting in the late 1950s as the trail for all of the Double Eagles gets cold and the various law suits are settled. The story picks up again with the discovery of the Farouk coin. Tripp follows the trail from its consignment in England through the seizure in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City by the United States Secret Service. From there, the book reads like an episode of Law and Order leading up to the settlement and auction of this one-of-a-kind coin.
   
   The only thing that makes this only a four-star book is that Tripp's prosaic tome makes this composition a somewhat arduous read. One may require a dictionary close at hand to fully understand the lexicon he uses. If nothing else, the book did help improve my vocabulary. Otherwise, Illegal Tender is a wonderful book to read and better than most mystery novels because it is true!
   
   Illegal Tender won the 2005 Book of the Year award from the Numismatic Literary Guild.



3. This book is about a 7.5 million dollar gold coin. Obviously, this cannot be a normal coin. The book explain how the 1933 gold double eagle came to be. It begins with Saint Guadens designing the design because Teddy Rosevelt wanted new and inspiring designs. From there heads into the depression and the recall of all gold. The book invesitigates the murky beginning of all the 1933 double eagles. From there, it gets interesting. The secret service has a major headache on their hands. The plot thickens as more people come into play with these rare coins. However, you will have to read the book to see how everything plays out!
   I would reccomend this book to any numismatic interested in the history of these coins. However, some parts of the book can be slow. Do not stop reading it; keep going because the action picks up. Just remember, 10 more 1933 double eagles were just (2005) recently found which would add a new chapter to the book. That development makes the story even more interesting.



4. Although hard core coin collectors will enjoy this book, those of us who enjoy reading non-fiction crime stories will be a little disappointed. The author does a good job in describing the history of the coin at stake but loses something in the translation. The sad fact is that this coin's history is checkered and unknown. Therefore, the reader is always left guessing and speculating about how it ended up at auction. There is very little that is "known" when it comes to how this coin escaped the melt-down. Perhaps this is not the author's fault as he is limited by his subject. The book is readable and grabs the reader at times with the description of the auction as well as the FBI investigation in the 1930's as they tried to track down where the coins came from and who had them. All in all, the author did a competent job but the subject, which could have been fascinating, is somewhat dull.



5. The author is a journalist. It is clear that he accustomed to writing shorter essays and getting paid by the word. He spared no words or overstatements. This book is about a federal investigation of a coin wanted by collectors. I am a federal investigator and a coin collector. The first eighty pages of the book are a good read and a nice discussion of U.S. coins and the double eagle. The book then drones on and on discussing an unlikely series of circular interviews described with pointless details. The author attempts to tell the story in a colorful fashion by including passages that are reminiscent of detective novels but falling far short - to the point of being trite. Face it, this investigation lagged for 60 years. Obviously, evidence discovery was slow.
   
   If you are getting on an airplane and want a pleasant read that will put you to sleep, go ahead and buy it. The price is cheap.

3 comments about Ancient Coin Collecting IV: Roman Provincial Coins (Ancient Coin Collecting).

1. The study of Roman Provincial coinage is one that needs greater attention now than ever before. With the combined factors of the fall of Soviet Communism, the advent of the Internet and it's various auction sites - these coins are becoming plentiful and an inexpensive overview was sorely needed and Mr. Sayles book fits the niche well. While it is not comprehensive, it is an excellent starting place. For the person who is thinking of collecting Roman Provincial coins or who has started already and feels themselves a bit overwhelmed with choices, this book might help them find some direction and focus.

   Like all the other books prior to it, it is about 200 pages in length and it has over 300 coin photos. The print is easy on the eyes and the layout over all is well executed and there is a bibliography within most of the chapters and an index in the back of the book as well as a glossary.

   The first two chapters describe provincial coinage itself and the provincial territory in general. The third chapter is the longest part of the book (100 pages) is "A Tour Of The Provinces" and takes the reader through the western provinces, the Balkans and Greece, Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, the Levant, Roman Egypt (it is notable here that Kerry Wetterstrom the current publisher & editor of the Celator - formerly Mr. Sayles publication who is a well known collector of the coins of Roman Egypt wrote this section) & North Africa.

   The fourth chapter covers some interesting portraits and "client kings" - often the puppet monarchies of the Roman Empire. The 5th chapter is on understanding provincial coinage and the sixth is on deciphering them - attributing them. Make no mistake though, this book makes no intention of being an attribution catalogue/reference work. Rather, chapter six is sort of a guide for the user who has a "coin in hand" that they are trying to decipher.

   Chapter seven is on iconography, items like portraits, temples, astrological symbols and other things common to the series. The eighth and final chapter is like several of it's predecessors in the series, a number of "Masterpieces" of Roman Provincial coins - a sort of gallery of the finest types you may come across.

   As a collector of Roman-Syrian and Roman-Egyptian coins as well as some other types, I found the book very satisfying and it is my favorite of the whole series. This book put into the hands of young and old readers alike is sure to inspire a fair amount of daydreaming. I would highly recommend this book to the lover of ancient art as well as the numismatist, it is just as beautiful as it is an informative work.




2. I recently purchased a copy of this book on the strength of other volumes in the series. I was happily surprised to find explanations to many of the questions on Roman Provincial coins (Greek Imperial Coins) that I had not been able to find elsewhere. If you are looking for an excellent introductory volume to this area of ancient numismatics, I can't think of a better place to start. You will want to keep the volume right at hand when you examine your coins, and will enjoy reading it from cover to cover as well. Highly recommended.



3. If you are a starting collector of ancient coins, or even a seasoned pro, this series is a must for your library. Mr. Sayles does a wonderful job of covering a vast subject in a concise and interesting way. Highly recommended!!