Which Half Cent book...

Prethen

...is a good one that talks about contemporary issues about the coin, not just it's technical aspects, varieties, etc. I'd like to see a reference that actually has a few paragraphs or more talking about why it was useful, prices of the time, contemporary comments, why it was so disdained around 1811, etc. My friend, who has the Breen Half Cent book, says that it really doesn't go into any contemporary discussion. As for my current resources, I have the usual suspects: Red Book, Breen Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins, Coin World Almanac, Comprehensive Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins, PCGS Guide, and Coin World articles. There's a lack of much information on these little guys beyond the technical aspects. I did find a few articles in newspaper archives talking about the certain people wanting to revive the denomination 50 years after it died, though. Any other recommendations?

LeeG

Heres a link that may help:

Half Cents

mspur1

Ron Manley's book "The Half Cent Die State Book" is the best available.

joecopper

ditto

Writersblock

Prethen, do you get the feeling they are not really readng your original post?

marmac

I am not aware of any books specific to Half Cent's that delve into what you are looking for. Breen's book has the most "meat" beyond just technical info. I lean to the occasional articles in the EAC magazine for my Half cent bedtime reading.

joecopper

If you are not a member of EAC, I suggest that you join. In the near future the entire publication of Penny Wise will be avaialable to members on disc. There will be many articles on Half Cents.

Prethen

<< <i>Prethen, do you get the feeling they are not really readng your original post? >>


Yeah...when a request goes out for books like this, this is the typical response...technical books. Marmac probably hit the nail on the head. You have to find the odd article here and there that relates personal and business accounts. I friend of mine forwarded an old 1960 Numismatist book (compilation of articles) that is of some help. Other than that, I just have to read through all the standard reference information for the occasional morsel.