2 comments about Standing Liberty Quarters.

1. If you have a 3rd edition of this book, you don't need to buy the 4th edition.
   
   There are no color photos of the coins. Also, the market data just expands on the last 11 years by adding 2002, 2007, and select auction results. One additional passage about "Speedy" and the rest of the book read like the 3rd edition. I had higher hopes for this book as a SLQ collector and 3rd edition owner.



2. Now in a newly updated and expanded fourth edition, J. H. Cline's "Standing Liberty Quarters" continues to be the best single volume authority for collectors and dealers on the subject. This nicely illustrated compendium with more than 200 high resolution images covers all the Standing Liberty quarters issues from 1916 to 1930. Each page dedicated to a specific coin includes prices, rarity, relative values, mintage, and types. A work of painstaking research and meticulous numismatic scholarship, "Standing Liberty Quarters" is an essential reference for all coin dealers and collectors of this increasingly valuable American coin.

2 comments about The Authoritative Reference on Buffalo Nickels.

1. The only reference I'll ever need. Fast and easy on mintages, values, double strikes and much more. By having this information on hand, you will be digging back through your collection again double checking for things you may have missed. Its like having a new pile of Nickels to check out. If your a serious collector, this ones a must.



2. At approx. 320 pps. this is certainly not a demure or weedy tome, and as a 2007 publication it is definitely timely. Having said that, I believe that this book is not an essential acquisition for the straight forward Buffalo Nickel collector (that book would be Lange's 3rd Ed. on the Buff). However, if you are a variety collector it is right up your alley. The book's discussion of the general issue coins is uncannily similar to the format of Lange, and the authors propose to provide the same information as Lange with a couple of added kickers in the form of historical pricing information by grade, and population studies of NGC and PCGS slabbed coins by year and mint. While I found the historical information marginally helpful but definitely welcome, the population guide was a really, really smart idea and a big help. I'm sorry to say that the year by year analysis of the business strikes seemed a bit paltry in the information department. However, the section on the Proof strikes has a lot of new (to me) information and is a big improvement on Lange's book. The real strength of this book is all of the time and effort spent on the known varieties found in the Buffalo world. The lists within are quite extensive and are accompanied by numerous helpful and unhelpful blown-up pictures. A really great addition to this panoply is the inclusion of 'de-listed' varities, i.e. those previously catalogued varieties that have subsequently been deemed not to be. A large part of the book is taken up with a discussion of what a variety makes and related information not specific to the Buffalo. At present, there are numerous used copies of this book available on amazon at prices well below the retail or issue price. As such I would encourage you to acquire it because at the lower prices it is a huge value.

1 comments about The Spanish Treasure Fleets.

1. It is indeed! It is a book about the unbelievable efforts made to transport gold and silver from New Spain and Peru to Spain between the 15th and 18th century, how these precious metals initiated worldwide commerce, about the rise and fall of the Spanish/ Habsburg empire and how it helped European countries to become economic and political world powers. Waltons book moves through three centuries of world history in an appropriate pace, without leaving out interesting details. It simply is a fascinating book!

2 comments about A Guide Book of United States Commemorative Coins: History-rarity-values-grading-varieties (The Official Red Book).

1. I received my copy the same day I did a Grant Commemorative. I turned to the photo example to see how the detail on the reverse around the house of my new acquisition compared. I couldn't see any in the photo,the pictures are actual size and too small! Too bad, I consider this a serious shortcoming from what otherwise would have been a fine book.



2. This is a great book on U.S. gold and silver commemorative coins. Anything by written by Q. David Bowers on coins is a fun read. The book covers both the classic era (1892-1954) and the modern era. Today, a type set of the classic 50 coin silver commemoratives would run approximately $30,000 in Mint State 64 condition, $60,000 in MS65, and $140,000 in MS66. Slightly less than double those figures would be needed if you wanted to have a complete classic 144 silver commemorative coin collection. If you aspire to collect classic U.S. commemorative coins, you must buy this book.
   
   Dave Bowers discusses the statistics, background, and key to collecting each coin. Time and time again, Dave explains that coins laden with abrasions and bagmarks were the result of the original planchet surfaces not striking up fully at the mint or that the coins were simply mishandled at the mint. And he encourages you to keep looking for a finer specimen. Critical information for those looking for exceptional coins.
   
   Dave uses the Lafayette Dollar as an example of how the price increases as you go up the grade ladder. He also advises what grades he thinks are getting the best value for the money; he likes MS64 ($4,000) and MS65 ($12,000). A triple increase in the price of the Lafayette (or $8,000) for one step up in grade is a big difference! It would have been appreciated if Dave had gone a step further and explained what you actually get for the money, beyond the "label," when you go from a MS63 to MS64 to MS65 to MS66. Perhaps it would be overkill to do it for every coin; but, an example could have been made using the 1928 Hawaiian. I was delighted to learn that undipped Hawaiians often have a yellowish tint; I thought the yellow was the result of overdipping or a bad bath!!! How many coin dealers know that the inner "circle" or "line" often found near the obverse rim of the Panama-Pacific half dollar is due to die characteristics?
   
   Some readers may be disappointed that there isn't more of an emphasis on investing; but, Q. David Bowers is above all, a smart coin dealer. He knows that emphasizing investment isn't what sustains the coin collecting hobby; especially, with the roller coaster pricing of commemoratives. It's the collector that sustains the hobby and Dave is always trying to encourage the collector side of us.

No comments about Chinese Coins: Money in History and Society (Arts of China).

No comments about Scott 2008 US First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist (Scott Us First Day Cover Catalogue & Checklist).

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.

No comments about Blue Mauritius: The Hunt for the World's Most Valuable Stamps.

No comments about A Guide Book of Tokens and Medals.

No comments about Washington Quarters: State Collection, Vol. 1: 1999-2003.