1 comments about Statehood Quarters Collecting Kit.

1. The folder that you put the quarters into only shows one side of the quarters. For these new quarters, I wanted to be able to see both sides of the quarters. Whitman's other binder is much better.

1 comments about Near Eastern Seals (Interpreting the Past Series).

1. Collon's book provides an excellent overview of Near Eastern Seals. A useful chronology for both stamp and cylinder seals is provided, as well as information on materials, designs, and stone-cutting techniques. The majority of the photographs and text focus on cylinder seals, but a few stamp seals are also included.

No comments about Washington Quarters Folder 1948-1964.

1 comments about United States Gold Coins: An Illustrated History.

1. Magnificent classic on the history of United States Gold Coins, illustrated, giving the reader, student and collector a guided tour of how these coins were made, and of the special interests these coins hold for collectors, such as Eliasberg, Virgil Brand, T. Harrison Garrett to name a few.

No comments about Chairman Mao Badges: Symbols and Slogans of the Cultural Revolution (British Museum Research Publication) (British Museum Research Publication).

1 comments about Medallic Portraits of Washington.

1. This book is a fantastic resource for collectors of Washington medals, exonumia, coins and Washington portrait ephemera which sets a standard for coin and medals books of any kind. It attempts to catalogue all of the known Washington medallic portrayals of the Father of our Country and, frankly, does it well. While there are such things as pillboxes, paperweights, porcelain portraits and even fantasy coins included, these are relegated to the Odds & Ends chapter at the end of the book while the majority of listings are of coins, tokens and medals struck either for events directly related to the life and times of George Washington, or which have been struck to honor his memory. The distinction is, for instance, Indian Peace Medals which were bestowed upon American Indian tribal notables that may or may not have a portrait of the Great White Father on them but may be considered of his time even if issued in 1843. On the other hand the token issued in 1892 by the League of American Wheelmen which uses a portrait of Washington for the obverse device may be considered a tribute in honor of his memory. Granted, the distinction is pretty thin, suffice it to say that this book attempts to catalogue everything remotely coin-like that pertains to, arguably, the greatest figure in American history.
   The roots of this catalogue date back to 1885 when one William S. Baker published the first book of this title wherein he identified and numbered his vast collection of Washington medallic portraits. It is a testament of the strength of his cataloguing abilities that these so-called Baker numbers are still in use today. Over the years there were remarkably few attempts to improve upon Baker's work which made for an ideal situation for the present editors Russell Rulau and George Feld to gather all of the pre-existing material into a single book and then expand upon it with all of the material they could find issued since. These editors not only used the old Baker assigned numbers but also created new 'Baker' numbers to later issues and also have cross referenced to other reference numbers (HK, KM, Collins, et al). Needless to say, this was a Herculean undertaking and the amount of information the editors managed to fit into this book in approx. 316 pps. is nothing less than amazing.
   If you decide to dip into Washingtonia I predict that two things will occur: First that there is so much really great stuff out there for such a low cost that you may become addicted to collecting this material and second that you will chuckle with delight when you find that it is all but impossible to find some new medal or coin that has been left out of this reference. The editors also helpfully included rarity information, previous auction results where known, and supplied a pricing guide for the material in different conditions. Obviously, with a 1995 publication date much has changed to date but the pricing material is still much appreciated and helps one to get a mental picture of what he is likely to want to pay or sell for. As a side note whilst attending the Baltimore Whitman coin expo in June, 2008 I saw a copy of this book trade hands for twice what it costs right here on Amazon as I type this review (hint: in the 20's).

No comments about Sylloge of Islamic Coins: The Egyptian Dynasties.

1 comments about The complete price guide and cross reference to Lincoln cent mint mark varieties.

1. I stumbled upon this little gem at my local bookstore and was immediately blown away at how well-constructed the durned thing is. I'm not talking about the physical characteristics, although I must say that I do like the fact that it is a spiral bound paperback, and slightly larger than a pocketbook. What I mean is that it is chockablock full of inumerable nuggets of vital RPM and mintmark Variety information such that it seems to leave no aspect unexamined. What is really cool about it is that the b/w photographic blow-ups are of Extremely High Quality so that, unlike in most coin books, one can actually see what the author is attempting to point out. (Note: For an impossibly bad example, I mean excellent example of the impossibly bad, see 'the best of the jefferson nickel doubled die varieties....only thing unfunny is the high price that you will pay to get the lavishly photographed book whose beautiful pictures almost never show what the author purports to be pointing out). Also, the book has a delightful feature titled the 'Most Wanted' which dedicates a whole page each of information and photo to a number of particularly good and rare varieties. The book also has broken down the varieties into varieties so, for instance, there is a section on 'Over and Dual Mint Mark Varieties' and one on 'Non Doubled Mint Mark Varieties' both with heaps of excellent information. Plus there are population reports, comparative raritiy charts, and all kinds of other great info that will leave the unbelieving reader in awe of the authors/editors. I highly recommend this book even if you don't collect Lincolns: I don't and I think this is a Super Book and an ESSENTIAL to own.

5 comments about 1999 Handbook of United States Coins: Official Blue Book of United States Coins (Serial).

1. I bought this book looking for values to my coins when I realized it was dealer buying prices. Regular collectors should not own this book, and go for the Red Book. The Blue Book has little insight on the history of US coinage, and most clad coins (post-1964) are face value in MS65. But even the Red Book can be a bit misleading. The Coin Prices periodical, a bi-monthly, gives more insight on the prices of the best pieces. However, Red Books are the way to go for any collector.



2. I found this book to be one of the worst I've bought. The information is very inaccurate. Great for someone buying coinage but very poor for the seller, not a fair way of doing business. I feel that this book was writen by a seller for the porposes of cheating buyers. When a book is set out to the public as an official handbook the information should be accurate. I find the pricing indexes to be very low at best. I buy and sell as a hobby and these are not the prices I pay nor are they the prices I sell at. I figure on average the prices are 200-500% below what they should be. I feel this is a poorly researched book that should not be taken seriously, nor should it be used as a standard for your dealings. My sugestion don't buy it find another price guide. Yes I do own this book and would not sell it do to the facts that I have stated, this is my loss so don't let it be yours.



3. This is an absolutely essential book for the collector of U.S. Coins. Now in its 53rd edition, this book just gets better and better. A must buy for any U.S. coin collector.



4. This is the greatest coin price guide available



5. Gotta put something here... I think I forgot to tell you who I am in my last review on this great little book.

5 comments about Chinese Cash: Identification and Price Guide.

1. There are several major problems with this work:
   1. Starting at page 131 and continuing to page 178, the illustration numbers do not match the numbers mentioned in the text. Thus, for example you will read that "The Tianming coins (Nos. 644-5) were cast by Nurhaci in AD 1616" but illustration numbers 644 and 645 (and the catalogue numbers too) actually refer to Ming rebel coins. No more than annoying if you recognize the characters for "tian ming" and find the correct illustration, but this defect will be a serious impediment to those who don't read Chinese.
   2. Pricing system is poorly explained. Jen tell us that his prices are "based on the current Chinese market conditions" but says that the reader cannot expect that a coin available in China for 10 yuan could still be purchased for that price in the US. He also notes that a coin valued at 1000 dollars in China should probably sell at around 3000 dollars in the US. With that Jen ends his price discussion, leaving the reader to wonder whether the values given in the book are the prices to be found in China, or China-based prices with the expected mark-up for US sale included.
   3. no citation of sources - ANYWHERE.
   4. no coin weights or weight ranges.
   5. history articles are written with an outdated Han nationalist bias. Learn how peasants chafed under the yoke of alien rule. Anti Yuan rebels strike "a common chord with freedom-loving people everywhere" - we have to hope we're not talking about Ming Tai Zhu. The Taiping rebellion is presented as an ethnic freedom fight against Manchu oppressors, a false start on the road to the overdue revolution of 1911.
   
   Still, updated types and realistic prices make this a useful work.



2. The previous reviews make good points for the most part and no need to repeat them here. So I will add a few additional comments. I have been a serious collector of Chinese coins for a dozen years or so with much of one full year and a dozen other trips spent scouring the local markets and back alleys of China searching for coins.

   A lack of comprehensiveness is endemic with anything Chinese, so too much can be made of Ren's omissions--it is after all an identification and pricing GUIDE. In the 1990s coins relatively common in Beijing may have been relative rarities in Chengdu, Urumuqi, Xian, Lanzhou, Datong, Shanghai, etc. This regional character of markets in China is indeed not only disappearing, but is leaping from regional to international which should result in a sorting out of rarity and price relative to a more coherent market demand.

   Ren's price guide is a very useful attempt to reconcile a coin's value to this rapidly approaching, more integrated international market. Rather than being "most useful only for the gullible", as an earlier reviewer unkindly suggested, I find it quite useful, thoughtful and honestly advanced with its assumptions and rationale clearly stated. Having followed the China, US and internet markets I think it is a very reasonable evaluation effort. I would differ in opinion here and there but that's what makes a market and Chinese price guides are by no means uniform either. I think Ren's valuations will be looked on as very conservative as the collector community expands and disposable income increases in Asia.

   I do think a next edition should collapse sections 1 and 2 into a single section. I would also ask Mr. Ren to throw another 100 (you pick a number) pages into the book to cover some of the more common Schjoth type omissions and add a bit more informative text. A very good job will be an even better one.




3. David Jen, an American citizen who spent much of the 20th century living in China, is a volunteer assistant at the American Numsimatics Society, the world's leading insitute for the study and conservation of coins. As a paid employee of the ANS, I would like to stress that the ANS does not endorse this work directly, and the following are my own opinions.

   Many collectors have primarily worked from one of four works in Western languages: the catalog of Terrien de Lacouperie, F. Schjoth, the George Fisher translation of the Ding Fubao collection, or the Arthur Coole series. Although there is much merit in all of these works, very few of them work with the economic history of China and are far more concerned with the aesthetics of the coins they collect. Primarily interest has centered on the spade and knife coinages during the Zhou period. Jen's work instead concentrates on coins that have a primary place within the economy, and key variants upon those coins. It is a much smaller catalog than the 6-volume Coole, which cannot be used easily, and I do not believe Mr Jen attempted to supplant the Ding Fubao or Schjoth catalogs.

   However, I am distressed that none of the readers have noted that there are fine catalogs now in the Chinese and Japanese languages, which are truly most important. The 12-volume Daxi catalog, published by the Shanghai Museum, is the standard reference work for Asian numismatists, which far supplants the Ding Fubao or Schjoth. In addition, it appears that French is no longer a reference language for numismatists, because the fine work of Francois Thierry of the Bibliotheque National is completely omitted in reviews.

   David Jen's book is a nice update to the Schjoth and "Fisher's Ding" catalogs for those who only read English, but anyone serious about Chinese coinage must read Chinese, and will instead use the Daxi. Thierry's many researches are important, and as his catalogs tend to represent hoards, are important for their economic significance. In sum, for the collector who only speaks English, this is a good supplement to the Schjoth and Fisher's Ding. In that sense it is an important addition to any numismatic library, but it does not supplant these earlier texts, nor do I think it was intended to do so. Serious scholars of Chinese numsimatic history may wish to use it for its variants of some Chinese coins, but their research is likely to be more profitable in working with the standard catalogs instead...




4. Dear Review reviewer - my previously submitted review was edited to omit a note the the effect that only part of the review was posted, and included my email so that readers could obtain the rest. I saw nothing in your review guidelines to forbid this, so why was it omitted? Please have the courtesy to contact me at SSemans@aol.com and explain how I may make it clear in this review that only part has been posted. Thank you.



5. ...The eighties and nineties have seen an explosion of numismatic research and publishing in China, but largely without benefit to western collectors. Very little has been translated, and most of the collector oriented catalogs are for the Chinese market, with no western-language text, and often without a numbering system. Although several concordances and attempts at a comprehensive catalog have been started in the past 50 years by westerners, some of them reaching published form, the standard has remained Schjoth's 1912 catalog of his collection. Recently George Fisher published a very usefully enhanced photocopy version of Ding Fubao's 1940 catalog, the long-time standard among Chinese collectors, and a better work than Schjoth in every way though lacking in background information and sidelights such as calligraphy and weight varieties, and mother coins. When I learned that a new work, drawing on Chinese sources and authored by New York dealer and tireless ANS volunteer David Jen was already in press from Krause, I hoped that Chinese Cash: Identification and Price Guide would replace these works. Having examined it, I believe that it is more of a gap-filler and will help bring the western collector up to speed with his Oriental counterpart. It is not the ultimate Chinese cash catalog for the western collector. It will not replace Fisher's Ding, though the two books complement each other nicely and together make an excellent basic reference, rendering Schjoth largely obsolete. Jen's work alone is a fair choice for someone who is not collecting the series and wants just one reference, but anyone acquiring coins should have Ding and/or Schjoth as well. In a nutshell, this is a non-comprehensive type catalog with fairly good rubbing illustrations, a number system, transliterated legends and attributions by emperor, cross-reference to S and FD numbers, market prices in two grades and, incorporated into the catalog portion, the sort of historical information contained in Schjoth, but of greater depth and recency. There is an extensive listing of pre-production and pattern coins, special sections on calligraphy varieties and counterfeits, and a dynastic list. Some Central Asian series are represented. Pinyin is used throughout. Uniquely, this work explains the importance many types have to the Oriental collector, a perspective richer than that gained from any western work. My biggest problem with Jen is its lack of comprehensiveness. The author has tried " . . . not to encumber this book with material that can be found in other catalogs prepared carefully by western writers . . ." but the result has been to omit many commonly-found types that appear in both Schjoth and the amazingly comprehensive Ding. The catalog numbers tell the story. Fisher's Ding covers the field in 2708 entries; Jen in 1491, including numerous charms, and some exotic types Ding missed. For knives and spades, Ding has 341 entries, Jen only 57, but including 5 missed by Ding. This means that many of the city-named late spades are simply missing, and the highly varied Ming knife is essentially served by a single entry. The complex coinage of Shun Zhih, enlivened by the transition from Ming to Manchu rule, has been deeply studied by Werner Burger. Leaving aside calligraphy differences, 76 types emerge from his plates, of which Ding lists 71 and Schjoth 57; Jen only 42. Certainly it is hard to fault any work in this complex and under-researched field for omissions, but here the omissions seem completely arbitrary. Missing are many types commonly available for under $50, while extreme rarities, priced in the thousands of dollars, are found on nearly every page. The generous margins and loose layout of the plates give the work a comfortable look, but I can't help feeling that 341 full-sized pages could have been used to cover the field more thoroughly. In an attempt "to avoid a cluttering of material" Jen has divided his main catalog into two parts, what he calls mainstream issues, and "variants." Apparently the idea was to provide one or more pieces of each reign title in Section I to ease the task of the page-through attributer. I have been unable to discern any criteria, however, for what was put in each section, nor indeed to what was left out of both. An atrtribution guide such as R.B. White's, requiring perhaps 10 pages, would eliminate the need for page-throughs and be helpful to the casual user as well. Aside from the inconvenience of flipping back and forth between two sections is the numbering problem. The number sequence runs historically from #1 through #868, with Taiping and other Rebel coins, Xinjiang (Turkestan) and other outlying series adding up to #928, which is sensible enough. Then Section II begins all over again with knife and spade "variants" from #929 to #1491, forcing the user to interpose the two number runs to keep his listing or collection in historical order. This alone will dissuade many collectors from using Jen's numbers as their organizing thread, and most dealers and auctioneers from referencing the work in their listings. There is a fascinating section on calligraphy varieties. Jen attempts a breakdown of the Wu Zhu (Han) and Kai Yuan (Tang) types, which, along with the earlier Ban Liang, are conservative series just now yielding their secrets to a few dedicated researchers using published hoard finds. Most western collectors, however, will find these pages more tantalizing than useful. In simplified form, Jen recounts the fascinating evolution of these types with rubbings and calligraphy descriptions as aids. Roger Doo is gradually publishing much more detailed studies, some i