Has the Burdette Renaissance of Coinage books impacted the markets, particularly Peace dollars?

Longacre

If you recall, last year, the dynamic duo of Doug Winter and QDB put out a really nice book about $3 gold. I don't follow that market too closely, but I understand that the prices for those coins rose dramatically. Coincidence? I am not sure. Also, it seems that any book that QDB comes out with has at least a slight impact on the coins discussed. For example, there seems to be more of a focus at ANR on paper money. I hear that that market has been rising lately as well.

As you also may know, I am a big fan of Burdettte's Renaissance of American Coinage books. The first book, issued fairly recently, dealt with Peace dollars, among other issues. There was a lot of new and novel research done as a result of that book, and particularly on Peace dollars. I also recently received the following email from Pinnacle, which stated, in part:

"Twentieth Century Type Lights Up!

We have sold our Liberty Nickel collection and nearly all of the lovely Peace Dollar collection we recently acquired. Peace Dollars have apparently gained a strong new following, as we were inundated with phone calls about the set featured in our recent Coin World ad. Although we do not have more key date Peace Dollars waiting in the wings, we have acquired partial sets from both the Buffalo nickel and Mercury dime series in MS65-67 condition. While neither set is complete, each has a number of key dates and all coins are of top-notch quality. We will begin offering these on our web site after we return from next weeks Long Beach convention, but feel free to alert us to any new want lists you may have in these areas."


I don't follow the Peace dollar market, but do you think that the Burdette book has caused a feeding frenzy for Peace dollars? Although the book is excellent, it is more of a "graduate school level" book, rather than a basic text on coins, which might appeal more to the masses (reading the Burdette book reminds me of law school where the professor would always ask a question about something in the footnotes, just to stress the importance of the material contained therein; a friend of mine liked to say that if something was important, it should be in the main text, and not in the footnotes, so he never read them. He is probably a circuit court judge today). Did the Burdettte book influence the market for Peace dollars?

RYK

I don't follow the Peace dollar market, but do you think that the Burdette book has caused a feeding frenzy for Peace dollars?

I do not follow Peace dollars, but it would be interesting if it were the case.

In other words, ttt

DaveG

I don't follow Peace dollars either, but I'd be surprised of Burdette's book affected the market.

Most of the books that affect the market for a particular coin series are of the "these coins are rarer than you think, you'd better buy 'em now" type, which Burdette's book isn't.

As far as ANR's new focus on currency goes, the US currency market has been hot for at least a decade - I think they're late to the party (perhaps they think there's still a lot of life left in that market).

I guess the obvious question is: after reading Burdette's book, were you motivated to buy some Peace dollars?

RYK

I guess the obvious question is: after reading Burdette's book, were you motivated to buy some Peace dollars?

I think I would have to be kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) a la Patty Hearst and brainwashed over at least a decade for me to buy a Peace dollar.

Longacre

I happen to like Peace dollars, and actually bought one at the Baltimore show. I was not even kidnapped by the SLA (which, coincidentially, is a little before my time, old-man RYK. I really have no idea what you're talking about. )

RYK

Here you go, whippersnapper!

Longacre

<< <i>Here you go, whippersnapper! >>




Thanks for the info. I was only 4 at the time, and although I was grading New Orleans quarter eagles with the best of them, I was not yet reading the newspapers.

RWB

This is an interesting thread in that it suggests a cause/effect relationship between the publication of information and the actions of collectors.

For research books and articles:
From comments by dealers and collectors, I’d have to say that the “Renaissance of American Coinage 1916-21, and 1905-08” books have had no impact on the popularity of Peace dollars, Saint-Gaudens double eagles or any other coin described in the books. I think this is to be expected, since it takes quite a while – a couple of years – for information in research books to diffuse through the hobby. Much of this is done by auction companies and dealers who use the research information to help promote the coins they have for sale. Collectors seem to play a minor role, except for those who prepare club presentations and show exhibits.

However, date/mint types of books, such as the Bowers/Winters/Jewel book on $3 gold, can quickly attract the interest of collectors. This is particularly true if they delve into coin types that have not been extensively covered, and are reasonably well researched and written. These are also the types of publications that allow collectors to actively do something new within their hobby. (My little research tomes rarely say: “Here’s a new variety of XYZ coin, go hunt for it – you must have it for your collection.” They weren't intended to, either. The closest I came to that is in the description of the 1922 low relief Peace dollar trial pieces.)

A book that could stimulate interest in Peace dollars would likely be one that combined the date/mint/variety approach (“VAM light?”), with information on the characteristics of each date/mint, and design/creation information from RAC 1916-21. If there’s a Peace dollar expert out there who wants to collaborate, contact me – I need to pay off the bills on the first research book!