No comments about Antique Iron, English and American: 15th Century Through 1850 (348p).

No comments about Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection.

No comments about Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797-1843.

5 comments about A Guide Book of United States Coins 2001 (Guide Book of United States Coins (Paper)).

1. I've been a coin collector since I was 6 years old (1961). I'm not hard core like my brother, so I don't buy a Red Book every year, but I have a couple of them lying around the house. I still refer to them for mintage numbers and other technical info from time to time.

   I've seen other coin guides and price lists, etc. and they all pale in comparison to the "Red Book".

   Get this one. It's the best.

   --George Stancliffe




2. Handy, convenient, and more reliable than the internet. Together with a currency guide, this is all most people would ever need. My latest copy was 13 years old, so I figured it was time to break down and get a new one.



3. A good guide to see what dealers will SELL you coins for. This is not what you will get if try to sell your coins.



4. The 58th edition is out, I expected a newer edition than the 54th edition I received.



5. The 2002 edition of the red book is so similar to the 2001 edition, even Amazon's computer seems too pool the reviews together. The casual collector probably should not invest in the 2002 edition if they have the 2001 or even 2000 edition. Regular collectors will want it simply for the updated mintage figures or price guides. I would encourage any new collector to pick up a copy, because it is an excellent reference to have handy.
   The book continues the annual trend of replacing black and white photos with color (particularly in the gold coin section), to generally positive ends. Oddly, the 1797 plain edge half cent photo has vanished. A glaring omission is the absence photos of the 2000 state quarters, particularly given the fact that there are two blank pages set aside for future state quarters listings, and all the 2000 mintage figures are included. Since that the primary value of the redbook is as a reference, Bressett has overlooked an important addition that should have appeared. On a positive note, a very helpful open wreath image has been added for the 1849 gold dollar.
   Some minor modifications and additions exist in the commemorative section, and a great photograph of some gold from the S.S. Central America has been added, which is very appropriate given the magnitude of the find.
   The redbook continues its trend as a very handy reference, but it is difficult to justify the exclusion of five new coin designs, costing the 2002 edition a star.

1 comments about Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint: 1839-1909.

1. This is the 3rd of Doug Winter's books that I have bought and it is the best by far. I have already commented on his work on Dahlonega gold and I stand behind my critical comments on the photos. Whether the original pictures were good is beside the point. We can only judge the work we have in front of us and that work had lousy quality pictures regardless of who was responsible. Intent is nothing in this regard; finished product is everything. His work on CC gold was much better, for although again no pictures were in color, nevertheless the quality of them was good. Here, however, all things come together to produce an excellent work. The population analysis, the discussion on strike, luster, etc. are everything we have come to expect from the foremost expert on gold coins. I consider this book invaluable whenever I consider buying New Orleans gold and consult it religiously before making a purchase. The photos are excellent, are all in color, and provide a succulent icing on an already delectable cake. I hope he publishes an update on Charlotte gold soon with the same results.

5 comments about Sterling Silver Flatware for Dining Elegance: With Revised Price Guide (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. EXCELLENT customer service provided for this very informative book. Helped identify many very unusual pieces.



2. This book is full of absolutely beautiful photos of (mostly old) American sterling place and serving pieces. Its strength is to help identify unusual pieces that people today don't have a clue about. Not very useful for identifying patterns, unless you happen to stumble across a photo of a pattern whose name you are seeking. Patterns are not indexed, but types of pieces are. The price guide (e.g., $30 to $85 for a teaspoon) is absolutely useless. Interesting form to photocopy to use to keep track of pieces you acquire.



3. I could not be more pleased with this book. It contains page after page of beautifully photographed flatware and contains the history of numerous popular patterns and the great number of pieces available in the various patterns, including the rare and unusual pieces.



4. I could not be more pleased with this book. It is 204 pages of excellent photographs and descriptions of many patterns, along with a history of the unusual pieces and their original uses. The price guide is just *one* page in this book and is meant only to provide a range. Such a guide would be out of date as soon as published, and it is not realistic to expect it to be current or definitive. (It may have been better left out!) This is the finest book I have seen for a serious silver flatware collector.



5. Lovely pictures and good descriptions for use of various pieces of flatware.

   The "Price Guide" is totally useless! Examples: "Dinner Forks $45-110" "Teaspoons $30-85" "Macaroni Servers $295-1250"

   All pieces are priced and listed just this way. Listing such a dollar range with no patterns or manufacturers mentioned, makes the price guide of no value.

3 comments about Four Centuries of Silver: Personal Adornment in the Qing Dynasty and After.

1. Margaret Duda's new book magically transported me into a place and time I'd previously known little about: China's epic Qing Dynasty, with its fascinating legends, myths, customs, religious beliefs, and cultural norms. The author astutely displays hundreds of beautiful artifacts - pendants, symbolic locks, grooming sets, eating kits, embroidery-needle cases - to bring this vanished world to life.



2. For anyone who has a love affair with China and or silver adornment this book is a find. For those of you who don't, read it anyway and you will be delightfully surprised. Margaret Duda is obviously a scholar and an immensely readable one. Her son, Paul Duda, who did the photography is equally talented. I'm buying this book for Christmas presents for family and friends.



3. This is an uncomparable tome for anyone interested in adornment or Chinese social history. The level of scholarship, depth of information, and narrative ease will impress academics and laymen. The photography has obviously been done by an accomplished visual artist. Such an incredible collection and wealth of research has obviously been done as a labour of love. I hope Mrs. Duda's love for her subject continues in many other volumes. Well Done!

2 comments about Gold Coins of the Dahlonega Mint: 1838-1861, Second Edition.

1. Doug Winter's updated reference on Dahlonega gold is a superb work and a vast improvement over the previous edition. The information on strike, color, surfaces, luster, and eye appeal are complemented by interesting "personal observations" and updated information on die varieties. Of course, the condition census is a moving target but believed to be current at the time of publication.
   
   There has been some criticism of the photography. Actually, Mary Winter is a superb gold coin photographer, and I have seen color photographs of these same coins taken by her (they are available on the Heritage Auctions coin website if you search the auction archives for Green Pond Collection, FUN 2004). I believe that the publisher bungled the presentation of the images (too small and not enoguh contrast). This will undoubtedly be corrected in future editions.
   
   Overall, anyone with an interest in Dahlonega gold coins will find this to be a valuable and important reference.



2. There is much to like in this book. It is scholarly in its approach to population data condition, census data, and rarity estimates. It discusses well various die varities, and the history surrounding the mint, although brief, is informative. It is in the area of photography that this book falls dismally flat. It is, after all, a book on gold coins, and one of the major appeals of gold has historically been its color. Yet there is not one single color photograph in the book. They are all black and white, almost thumbnail in size, grainy and lacking in detail. When photos are enlarged to show some detail, a D/D for example, they fail to adequately illustrate the variety they are meant to. Compare this to some other similar books, David Lange's "Complete Guide" series for example, and you will see what a disservice these photographs do to the rest of the book. The photographer is listed as Mary Winter, who I presume is related to the author, probably his wife. While it's a noble goal to offer employment to a family member, maybe some other task should have been offered her rather than make her the photographer on what otherwise would have been a fine book. Having said that, I am still glad I have it for the information it provides, ergo the three stars, that, with better photographs, would have been five.

1 comments about Gifts for Good Children Part Two - The History of: The History of Children's China 1890 - 1990.

1. This book was a disappointment as title is a misnomer. It should read "The History of BRITISH Children's China". No other countries are represented here. Author has organized alphabetically by mfr. rather than design type or years made. Only 8 pages of color photographs. Plentiful B&W. Good background info. on makers listed. No price values. It's a decent enough reference for English children's china, but not especially helpful to collectors wanting to know which pieces are more desirable, etc. At this price, book should have mainly color photos!

2 comments about Georg Jensen: A Tradition of Splendid Silver.

1. The first edition of Janet Drucker's Georg Jensen: A Tradition of Splendid Silver was published just four years ago, in 1997. Now, just a few breaths later, a revised and expanded second edition with an updated price guide is out. Given the impressive richness of the first edition, one might say,"So soon?" The first edition had gone out of print, but it would have been more usual at this remove to reprint it without revisions. The reasons are not especially apparent at first glance; the jacket design(and the jacket advertising copy) has barely changed, the general organization and graphic design of the first edition have been retained in the second, and the number of pages is about the same. When one sits down with both editions and begins to compare them page by page, the differences quickly become apparent. A very large amount of new material has been added into the new book, including 250 new images and expanded archival information on production and designers. Since the publication of the first edition, so much previously unavailable material came to light that its inclusion seemed paramount.
   No matter how long and fully one has worked on a research project in the arts, as soon as one publishes, more material, often keenly interesting material, appears in response to the publication. A study of the second edition's acknowledgements suggests that the beauty and inclusiveness of the first edition brought the suthor new contacts with other dealers, collectors, museum curators, auctioneers, and other specialists, each of whom had something wonderful to add to the story.
   In the case of the new photographs in the second edition, many previously unlocated Jensen pieces turned up. Some pieces illustrated in the first edition only in rather murky old catalogue or magazine photos became available for new color photography. Additional historical photos surfaced as well. The net gain of images in the new book is(by my count) just over two hundred color and black-and-white images overall. That the new addition is physically about the same size as the old one owes to a meticulous reworking of the layout on perhaps half the pages in the book. There was enough "air" (unused white space) in the basic design of the text pages for the first edition to accommodate many more photos in the second edition without choking the graceful layout of the book.
   One of the most important innovations of the second edition is also easily overlooked in a casual inspection, and it will prove very useful to collectors and dealers in understanding Jensen product. The photo captions now include all Jensen design numbers that were stamped on their items of jewelry and hollowware, along with the trademarks and other marks on the back and bottoms of the pieces(only some of these were available to the author for the first edition) All Jensen jewelry and hollowware items were so marked, except for special-order pieces, and much of the earliest flatware was also marked in this way. As in the first edition, there is a full explanation of the marking system near the end of the book. Other important additions to the book are more readily apparent. These include complete reprints of the Jensen illustrated flatware catalogues for the Cactus(flatware pattern 30) and Acorn (flatware pattern 62) patterns, and for the so-called"Unique Serving Pieces". These include seventy-two ornamental serving utensils in a variety of numbered patterns not matching the full-line flatware patterns. The new edition also includes both chronological and production data for all of the sterling silver designs of Henning Koppel that were produced for the Jensen company. The Value Reference Guide has also been updated. This guide is not based on opinion but consists of actual auction records from sales in the major American and British houses over the past decade.
   Given that the first edition had been sold out before public demand for the book had subsided, a reprinting would have been welcome enough. Both the author and the publisher are to be congratulated for instead producing this most significant and valuable revised and expanded second edition. I am glad to recommend it to owners of the first edition along with the ever-expanding group of collectors of Jensen"estate" silver who were not able to obtain the orginal book.



2. Collectors of jewelry of any type now have another acquisition for which to long. It's a signature piece, finely detailed, a valued addition to any serious collection. It is a jewel indeed, but you may not find it at the jewelers. It's a creation of Janet Drucker and it should stand the test of time, for Drucker has crafted Georg Jensen A Tradition of Splendid Silver into a splendid guidebook.

   Not a dry tome, crackling with boredom, this book offers an at once scholarly treatise on Jensen amd a readable reference as well. Drucker sets up the volume by putting Jensen's ascendency into prospective. She grounds him in his time period and explains the forces which created his work and appeal. Not settling for another long line of picture strewn collection catalogs, she introduces the reader to Jensen's life story in a well written and very readable text. Next the collector's delight: the litany of his accomplishment.

   Chapters are devoted to his jewelry, his holloware and his flatware. Then Drucker offers the benediction with a look at Jensen's worldwide legacy. But don't stop there, because the appendix offers the musuem collections of the master and a listing of the artists whose work built the Jensen line.

   Now, lest you think this book is a must for scholars only, rest assured the exquisite photography and the easy to read captioning will make this gem a perfect adornment for your home library. If you know Jensen or not, Georg Jensen A Tradition of Splendid Silver will be splendid for you.