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How essential is the Valentine Reference on Half Dimes?
Dennis88
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Although I seriously collect Seated Half Dimes, I have never bought the Valentine reference on the series, and its predecessors. I do have the Al Blythe reference, which I personally think is enough.
However, is it still essential? In that case, I will seriously reconsider buying it
Dennis
However, is it still essential? In that case, I will seriously reconsider buying it
Dennis
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However I got beat on it last night on eBay. My $30 fell to the standing high bidder at snipe time.
I would also like to know how this compares to R. Logan's book and if any members that have the book might want to sell it.
Dennis
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<< <i>Good book, I go t it just to have, but nothing beats the Logan/McCloskey book for certain. >>
I'm more interested in Seated Half Dimes than the earlier babies, so I'm not quite prepared (yet) to pay $135 or more for that book, although I'm sure it is absolutely great.
Dennis
PS I did buy a 140 year old book for $400 once and its just standin' on the shelf
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I just completed a short biography on Daniel W. Valentine which will be published in the next issue of the Gobrecht Journal, official quarterly publication of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club. In that biography I related that I first picked up a copy of the Valentine monograph on half dimes somewhere around 1980, and I have not put it down since. Anyone who knows me or who has seen me at coin shows can tell you that I have a tattered and torn copy of the Durst Valentine reprint surgically attached to me wherever I go. I have chewed the covers off that book; I have wrung it and squeezed it to derive every bit of information that it holds on the series that Valentine and I both love. I have spent a lifetime researching the half dimes of all series, often duplicating the work that Valentine himself had done, in an effort to learn all that I can about this denomination. Over time I have built a large numismatic library, centered on the early Federal coinage of the United States, and probably have everything ever published on the subject of half dimes. But the very core of the library is that pioneering work by one of America's most ardent half dime aficianados, Dr. Daniel W. Valentine. Like many of us, I am acutely aware of the shortcomings of the Valentine reference, and have even been a frequent critic myself, borne mostly out of frustration, but I cannot imagine anyone seriously attempting to collect the half dimes, particularly the Liberty Seated half dimes, without a trusty copy of Valentine book tucked firmly under your arm.
As you may or may not know, the Valentine reference was first published as #48 in the American Numismatic Society's Numismatic Notes and Monographs series. It details all of the half dime die marriages known to Valentine at the time of publication, in 1931, from the 1792 half disme through to the end of the denomination in 1873. Interestingly, just four years previous, in 1927, Will W. Neil published "The United States Half Dimes 1829-1873" in The Numismatist, with an addenda published a few months later. Neil's list of known die marriages was vastly inferior to Valentine's, with many fewer die marriages listed. Yet there are some die marriages listed in the Neil monograph that are missing from the more extensive Valentine reference. Valentine knew Neil - they were contemporaries involved with the very same series - yet it was apparently Valentine's criteria that unless he owned an example of a particular variety and could actually see it, he would not list it.
The photographic plates in the ANS NN&M #48 1931 publication are collotype prints, which, like a photograph, can be magnified or enlarged to see more detail. Therefore, despite the greater expense, anyone seeking to use the Valentine photographic plates for research would be well served to seek out a copy of the original 1931 publication (usually available on the secondary market for around $150). The Valentine monograph was reprinted by Quarterman Publications, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1975, and then again by Sanford Durst Publications of New York, in 1984. The overall quality of the Quarterman reprint is superior to the Durst reprint, although both reprints provide screen prints for the photographic plates. These are like newspaper pictures - a series of dots which cannot be enlarged or magnified for greater detail. I have made photographic enlargements of the original ANS plates, and routinely use these for detailed study of the various die marriages.
The Quarterman reprint contains additional information on the half dimes by David Davis, Kamal Ahwash, Walter Breen and particularly by Doug Winter, which are invaluable supplements to the series. If you were considering purchasing a reprint, I would recommend the Quarterman reprint for this reason.
Over the last seventy-seven years, since the Valentine reference was published, there has been no other comprehensive reference on the entire half dime series ever published. My friend and fellow collector, Al Blythe, who sadly passed away several months ago, published "The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes" in 1992, but even he admitted that his book was not a comprehensive reference on all known die marriages for the series. His book, although invaluable to any collector of the series, is a general overview of the series, and not comprehensive.
It would be unfair to compare the Logan/McCloskey book "Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837" with the Valentine reference. Russell Logan and John McCloskey conducted many years of intensive study of the Bust half dimes, acquired massive and complete collections of the series, consulted with numerous contemporaries and researchers, and sought the input of anyone who had learned input before publishing their masterful book on the series. It is far more comprehensive than the Valentine reference ever was for the early half dimes. Indeed, Valentine himself wrote in his own introduction that his was a meager effort, intended more to stimulate others to carry on the research; he was very aware of the shortcomings of his work. The Logan/McCloskey book has completely replaced the Valentine book for the early half dimes (1792-1837), rendering the Valentine book a collectible, but no longer a valid reference for the early half dimes.
The same cannot be said for the Liberty Seated half dimes, however. In short, until someone else publishes a comprehensive encyclopedia on the Liberty Seated half dimes, any serious collector simply needs a copy of Valentine in order to know what is available. He should also supplement this with a copy of the Blythe book, join the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, and purchase copies of the Collective Volumes, with reprints of all articles published for the series for the past 30 years. Only in this way can you be assured of having all that is available in the current literature on your chosen series.
It has been my labor of love for the past twenty years or so to compile and publish such a comprehensive encyclopedia on the Liberty Seated half dimes, modeled on the Logan/McCloskey reference for the early half dimes. Of course, any such reference on a series where the dies were hubbed, making them all essentially alike, makes attribution, or identification of individual die marriages, difficult to impossible. The sheer numbers of coins minted and the large numbers of dies used make this a very difficult task, but I am continuing my research, and if I live long enough I hope to one day publish my research. Until then, any student of the Liberty Seated half dimes simply must own a copy of the Valentine reference.
I now have ordered the book and hope that it will arrive this saturday or next week. Like I said, I do own the Al Blythe reference (which was a personal gift from a board member when he visited Amsterdam last year), and I'm also a member of the LSCC. I have yet to locate the collective issues of the Gobrecht Journal, but hope to do so during this year. Personally, I'm interested in all the Seated Coinage and have also copies of the reference works in the other series' (except the Half Dollar book) issued in the early 1990's and the E-book by Gerry Fortin, which also is a great reference to that series, although I currently own just 1 seated dime.
Back in August 2006, when I bought my first seated coin, a 1871 PCGS MS64 Half Dime I've fallen in love with beautiful design and historic background of seated Liberty Seated coinage. As you know, I'm 19 years old and thus my budget is relatively low, and by far not enough to meet my demands when it comes to coins, and especially seated coinage. When I made the decision to collect US coinage and completely abandon the collecting of coins of my home country, the Netherlands I quickly made another decision, to only buy coins which were good enough in my views, and as much as possible to be certified. As I have told the forum before, that assures me more or less to the fact that those coins are perfectly fine and will be easy to resale if the need arose in the future.
Because of the obvious problems I have buying coins, with one of the few possibilities I have being these forums and Ebay, I'm always a bit scary to buy raw coins from people I do not know perfectly. Although I always look for a return policy, I don't want to go over all the hassle of returning a coin which does not fit in my quality criteria. This happened early this month with 2 seated quaters (1 common and 1 scarce). This has limited my purchases to be mainly PCGS certified coins, which also is my main set right now (PCGS AU/MS Seated Half Dimes) with the occasional raw coin bought when I'm in the mood for it.
However, the more I like studying the coins I am not able to own at the present coin. This includes extrodinary rare and expensive coins, such as the 1870-S Half Dime or CC Seated Dollars but also the more common coins and cheaper coins. I enjoy this in my own way, and although the researching can be hard again due to my limits of being in Europe, I think I've managed to do quite well over the last 5 years.
Back to the original subject, I believe I bought the 1984 reprint. However, they original seller states that several of the supplements mentioned by you are included. Were some or all of these also included in the 1984 reprint or does this mean I bought the 1975 reprint. Whenever I'm able to locate an original 1931 printing of the Valentine book, as well as the 1927 Neil book. Besides coins I also love (numismatic) books and am always glad to add original printings to my collection.
Thanks again for your excellent reply.
Dennis
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<< <i>I felt compelled to respond to your inquiry about the Dr. Daniel W. Valentine reference on half dimes ("The United States Half Dimes", D. W. Valentine, 1931; American Numismatic Society, New York) because, as you can well imagine, it is a subject of great importance to me, and one for which I can perhaps shed some light for you.
I just completed a short biography on Daniel W. Valentine which will be published in the next issue of the Gobrecht Journal, official quarterly publication of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club. In that biography I related that I first picked up a copy of the Valentine monograph on half dimes somewhere around 1980, and I have not put it down since. Anyone who knows me or who has seen me at coin shows can tell you that I have a tattered and torn copy of the Durst Valentine reprint surgically attached to me wherever I go. I have chewed the covers off that book; I have wrung it and squeezed it to derive every bit of information that it holds on the series that Valentine and I both love. I have spent a lifetime researching the half dimes of all series, often duplicating the work that Valentine himself had done, in an effort to learn all that I can about this denomination. Over time I have built a large numismatic library, centered on the early Federal coinage of the United States, and probably have everything ever published on the subject of half dimes. But the very core of the library is that pioneering work by one of America's most ardent half dime aficianados, Dr. Daniel W. Valentine. Like many of us, I am acutely aware of the shortcomings of the Valentine reference, and have even been a frequent critic myself, borne mostly out of frustration, but I cannot imagine anyone seriously attempting to collect the half dimes, particularly the Liberty Seated half dimes, without a trusty copy of Valentine book tucked firmly under your arm.
As you may or may not know, the Valentine reference was first published as #48 in the American Numismatic Society's Numismatic Notes and Monographs series. It details all of the half dime die marriages known to Valentine at the time of publication, in 1931, from the 1792 half disme through to the end of the denomination in 1873. Interestingly, just four years previous, in 1927, Will W. Neil published "The United States Half Dimes 1829-1873" in The Numismatist, with an addenda published a few months later. Neil's list of known die marriages was vastly inferior to Valentine's, with many fewer die marriages listed. Yet there are some die marriages listed in the Neil monograph that are missing from the more extensive Valentine reference. Valentine knew Neil - they were contemporaries involved with the very same series - yet it was apparently Valentine's criteria that unless he owned an example of a particular variety and could actually see it, he would not list it.
The photographic plates in the ANS NN&M #48 1931 publication are collotype prints, which, like a photograph, can be magnified or enlarged to see more detail. Therefore, despite the greater expense, anyone seeking to use the Valentine photographic plates for research would be well served to seek out a copy of the original 1931 publication (usually available on the secondary market for around $150). The Valentine monograph was reprinted by Quarterman Publications, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1975, and then again by Sanford Durst Publications of New York, in 1984. The overall quality of the Quarterman reprint is superior to the Durst reprint, although both reprints provide screen prints for the photographic plates. These are like newspaper pictures - a series of dots which cannot be enlarged or magnified for greater detail. I have made photographic enlargements of the original ANS plates, and routinely use these for detailed study of the various die marriages.
The Quarterman reprint contains additional information on the half dimes by David Davis, Kamal Ahwash, Walter Breen and particularly by Doug Winter, which are invaluable supplements to the series. If you were considering purchasing a reprint, I would recommend the Quarterman reprint for this reason.
Over the last seventy-seven years, since the Valentine reference was published, there has been no other comprehensive reference on the entire half dime series ever published. My friend and fellow collector, Al Blythe, who sadly passed away several months ago, published "The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dimes" in 1992, but even he admitted that his book was not a comprehensive reference on all known die marriages for the series. His book, although invaluable to any collector of the series, is a general overview of the series, and not comprehensive.
It would be unfair to compare the Logan/McCloskey book "Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837" with the Valentine reference. Russell Logan and John McCloskey conducted many years of intensive study of the Bust half dimes, acquired massive and complete collections of the series, consulted with numerous contemporaries and researchers, and sought the input of anyone who had learned input before publishing their masterful book on the series. It is far more comprehensive than the Valentine reference ever was for the early half dimes. Indeed, Valentine himself wrote in his own introduction that his was a meager effort, intended more to stimulate others to carry on the research; he was very aware of the shortcomings of his work. The Logan/McCloskey book has completely replaced the Valentine book for the early half dimes (1792-1837), rendering the Valentine book a collectible, but no longer a valid reference for the early half dimes.
The same cannot be said for the Liberty Seated half dimes, however. In short, until someone else publishes a comprehensive encyclopedia on the Liberty Seated half dimes, any serious collector simply needs a copy of Valentine in order to know what is available. He should also supplement this with a copy of the Blythe book, join the Liberty Seated Collectors Club, and purchase copies of the Collective Volumes, with reprints of all articles published for the series for the past 30 years. Only in this way can you be assured of having all that is available in the current literature on your chosen series.
It has been my labor of love for the past twenty years or so to compile and publish such a comprehensive encyclopedia on the Liberty Seated half dimes, modeled on the Logan/McCloskey reference for the early half dimes. Of course, any such reference on a series where the dies were hubbed, making them all essentially alike, makes attribution, or identification of individual die marriages, difficult to impossible. The sheer numbers of coins minted and the large numbers of dies used make this a very difficult task, but I am continuing my research, and if I live long enough I hope to one day publish my research. Until then, any student of the Liberty Seated half dimes simply must own a copy of the Valentine reference. >>
Great Post.
There will be a substantially more comprehensive 2nd edition of the Blythe book coming out in the next 10 years.
<< <i>Have you tried ordering the Collective volumes from the LSCC? >>
Thanks for the link. I thought I had read that before but apperantly didn't knew they were still available.
Got to ask John if shipping to Holland is possible, but I'm sure it is as I always the receive the GJ anyway
Dennis
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