world gold coin reference guide?
BSquared
Posts: 14 ✭
I collected coins many years ago, attempting to fill all the holes in many Whitman folders. Then family demands and the Hunt Bros. came along and most of it ended up in (I assume) silver bars. I've just started collecting again, focusing mostly on gold coins, with an eye towards obtaining 1 example of each type I can reasonably afford.
As I'm not really interested in completing a "date range" or "mint" type set, but do appreciate the artwork involved, would the late date US commemoratives be worth looking into? For some reason, they don't seem to garner much interest today but I can't fathom why.
As a second request, I'm really pulled towards the 1800-2000th century World examples as I appreciate the artwork/design of them and the history attached. Can anyone of the experts here direct me to a good reference book that can give me more information in this area.
Much appreciated,
Comments
The Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins would have the world coins you're interested in. It is not a dedicated guide to gold coins, but has basic information about mintage, design, weights and measures, etc. You cannot rely on it for prices. For that, I use auction records and eBay completed transactions. I collect some European and Middle Eastern gold coins. Lots of beautiful designs and a lifetime of pieces to collect.
https://bishopricquid.com/
This book goes a bit further back in time than you specified. Also, this edition is ten years old. As you can see, it is a thick book. Some edition of this book is highly recommended.
I don't own this one, but it seems to be out there - probably also a decade back:
thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Looks like the Krause books are now split up into various issues, so having 1 covering 1801-1900 and a second one on 1901-2000 should keep me occupied for some time. I think this is going to be a lot of fun, especially once the colder weather shows up here in Pa.
"Gold Coins of the World" by Arthur and Ira Friedberg may be what you're looking for.
Gobrecht's Engraved Mature Head Large Cent Model
https://www.instagram.com/rexrarities/?hl=en
@Rexford I was not impressed.
Decidedly inferior to Krause, especially in that it used to show "date ranges" for coin types instead of listing coins by each date and mintmark. Also many fewer photographs. I perhaps did not see the latest edition, but that is how Friedberg used to work. Decidedly inferior book compared to the Standard Catalogs. I can't use the word "inferior" enough times. It is simply inferior.
You can probably find a used version of the Krause book on eBay for 30% of what a new one costs...so Id check there first