What do you consider the best Darkside coin book of all time?

Aethelred

I love books of all kinds, but there is a special place in my heart for coin books. Because of this I thought it would be interesting to see what my fellow Darksiders think is the best world coin book of all time.

You can list a general reference or one that covers a very narrow area and it can be on coins, tokens or medals.

For me there are several books that come to mind as being special:

"Reading and Dating Roman Coins" by Zander H. Klawans was a book that I cut my teeth on many years ago. While it is short and very simple, for me it was the book that started it all.

"Coins of England" by Spink is a book that I have spent countless hours using and have owned more editions of than any other book. It may not go into the detail that I would like, but it covers the whole of English coinage from the ancient Celts to QE2 and still after all these years I enjoy sitting down and just looking at it for fun.

I would have to say that the very best book on world coins is "Guide to Biblical Coins" by David Hendin. Not only does Hendin cover his subject in detail, he gives a lot of historical background and mixes in stories of his many visits to Israel. This is a coin book that almost reads like a novel. I would say buy this book even if you have no interest in ancient Jewish coins, it is the "Tale of Two Cities" of coin books!

CIVITAS

<< <i>it is the "Tale of Two Cities" of coin books! >>



I thought that would be the Krause book. Lots of pages, dull and grossly overrated.

Aethelred

<< <i>

<< <i>it is the "Tale of Two Cities" of coin books! >>



I thought that would be the Krause book. Lots of pages, dull and grossly overrated. >>



Well, to be quite honest I have never read "Tale of Two Cities."

Aethelred

If it had been "Tale of Two Shillings" I would not have been able to resist.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Well, to be quite honest I have never read "Tale of Two Cities." >>



What about A Sale Of Two T ...

Oh, nevermind. Now is not the time to break into the Monty Python bookseller routine.

ajaan

<< <i>dull and grossly overrated >>


Krause or aethelred?

Aethelred

<< <i>

<< <i>dull and grossly overrated >>


Krause or aethelred? >>



That was clearly a reference to me!

GDJMSP

One that impressed me perhaps more than any other that I have read is - Zecca - The Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages by Alan M. Stahl.

satootoko

So far as I know, in his 1957 a catalog of Modern World Coins1750-1850 R.S. Yeoman (of Liteside fame as author of the original Red Book) was the first to assign identification numbers to each coin listed in a comprehensive darkside catalog.

Although the first edition of Gunter Schon's Weltmunzkatalog (World Coin Catalog) apparently pre-dated Yeoman's effort, (my 1986-87 edition of the The Simon & Schuster World Coin Catalogue is identified as a translation of the 17th Edition of the German work), Schon subsequently adopted Yeoman's numbering system.

W.D. Craig's Coins of the World 1750-1850 acknowledges Yeoman's work and explains its own purpose as a 100-year extension of that work into the past.

All three books were pioneering efforts that deserve consideration for the title of this thread.

rhound1977

One that has been quite helpful to me collecting British is the book "British Commonwealth Coins 1641-1971" by Remick, James, Dowle, and Finn. I have the third edition copyright 1971.

SYRACUSIAN

<< <i>One that has been quite helpful to me collecting British is the book "British Commonwealth Coins 1641-1971" by Remick, James, Dowle, and Finn. I have the third edition copyright 1971. >>





Remick's collection of British Commonwealth coins is been auctioned by Spink today : Jerry Remick's collection

FilamCoins

United States Territorial Coinage for the Philippine Islands, Neil Shafer, Whitman Publishing Company, 1961

JZrarities

The Coin Atlas by Chartwell books has some great pictures of coins from each country,
and a narrative from a country's coin origin to modern.

tsoupa3

"Coins of England" by Spink is a book that I have spent countless hours using and have owned more editions of than any other book. It may not go into the detail that I would like, but it covers the whole of English coinage from the ancient Celts to QE2 and still after all these years I enjoy sitting down and just looking at it for fun.

I agree 100% but I use it mainly for reference, the pricing –especially for modern coins- is often far from reality.

AuldFartte

"Guide to Biblical Coins" by David Hendin is a great read, but I have to go with Spink as my favorite. It's the one I spend the most time with I also like perusing "Papal Coins" by Alan Berman, just to look at all the cool stuff I'll never own

WillieBoyd2

I got started collecting in 1964 when I was in high school.

I soon acquired these two books:
A Catalog of Modern World Coins by R. S. Yeoman and
Coins of the World 1750-1850 by William D. Craig.

I have two editions of the Yeoman book, 1965 and 1967.
I would circle the numbers of the coins which I owned.
This allowed me to keep track of my collection and not to buy duplicates.

I still have the books and use them for identification.

lordmarcovan

"The Coin Atlas" is indeed a great book, full of wonderful photographs. Not a price or attribution guide, but a good read for sure.

laurentyvan

The Coin Atlas- one of my favorites...

Another one that mixes history, wonderful images, and Numismatics really well is Money- A History ed. by Jonathan Williams.

What I would vote for is coincraft's 1999 Standard Catalogue. The "collecting hints" and general history of the individual coins are marvelous! Spinks, of course as backup...

"Histoire de la monnaie" by Veronique Lecomte-Collin and Bruno Collin (2003) is also very good.

Conder101

As a catalog I was introduced through Yeoman's works and the Craig book. and then graduated to the Standard Catalog. All of them were excellent. (Yeoman and Craig are no more, the Standard Catalog has declined in desirability over the years, but is still the best overall catalog) For enjoyable reading my latest favorite has been The Soho Mint and the Industrialization of Money by Richard Doty. An excellent history of Matthew Boulton and the Soho mint, how it was created, the problems getting it running and keeping it running, all the different coinages he made for England and other countries, and the stories and problems behind the modern steam mints he sold to Russia, Denmark, India (2), Mexico (5), England, and Brazil. (Lots of problems. You would think that someone who is buying a steam powered mint would select a site for it that had water and fuel available. In India at one mint their answer was "Oh it has water, just use what's in the sewer.")

Justhavingfun

Great questions!

For me, it's hands down "Confessions of a Coin Fanatic." A fascinating, fun book that taught me many important lessons about collecting. Can't remember the author, dang it. I have in my library in the States but it's inaccessible to me here in Asia.

Best wishes from Thailand,


Just Having Fun

JZrarities

<< <i>For me, it's hands down "Confessions of a Coin Fanatic." >>



Yes, a very good book by Frank Robinson

satootoko

At Amazon.com - Confessions of a Coin Fanatic by Robinson

<< <i>5 used & new available from $17.66 >>

Justhavingfun

Thank you, jzrarities and you too, satootoko:

A friend in the states is going to get another copy for me off Amazon.com, and ship it off to me, so I'll be able to renew acquaintance with an old "friend."

Best wishes,


Just Having Fun

bosox

"A New History of the Royal Mint" Cambridge University Press. A broad brush, but sometimes detailed, look at over a millenium of minting coins. Just a really good, but expensive, reference.