I just got my Amazon purchase in...

Johnscoin

I ordered Abe Kosoff Remembers.
It's a collection of the late dealer's articles in numismatic periodicals and tells some awesome stories about coin collecting from the 50s-80s. Anyone ever read it?

Mark

I have read it and enjoyed it. Of course, I also remember Abe Kosoff from when I was collecting in the 1960s and so the columns (as I recall, his book is comprised of Kosoff's Coin World columns) had more interest for that reason.

I wish David Bowers would put together a collected series of his Coin World columns WITH a commentary added that placed his topics in a more general framework. For instance, I recall one of his columns about how a dealer sold Bowers counterfeit coins when he (Bowers) was just starting his coin business. When Bowers tried to return the coins, the dealer essentially told him "tough luck, guess you just learned an important lesson." Now in this case, I presume the dealer has died, so identifying him won't harm the dealer's self esteem. So, I think it would be interesting to know who the dealer was, what Bower's reaction was, and did Bowers ever do any business with the dealer in the future? In other words, I think it would be fascinating if Bowers would flesh out his columns and go behind the scenes to pass on stories that otherwise will never be known.

Mark

Johnscoin

I totally agree! A compilation of Bowers' articles would be awesome!
Another compilation that is quite interesting is Gerald Tebbens' Coin Lore
An aside on the Bowers counterfeit story...
In one of his books, maybe How to be a Successful Coin Dealer, he discusses the counterfeit story a little more. While he doesn't identify the dealer, he said he never did business with him again and that he indeed learned his lesson, in a way none of us would have preferred...
I wonder if Bowers has ever considered this? From what I understand at the moment he is working on a revision of the Akers' gold coin series?
Anyone know if this is correct?
John