Has any board member received QDB's Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins?

EarlyDollars

I see my card was charged and am now anxiously awaiting its arrival. I was reading the reviews by some members of "colonial-coins" yahoo board who have already received their copy and the reviews were less than stellar. I have lifted the this quote as an example:

"This is a sad day for numismatics. The pricing in the NJ section alone is so sad I thought I was seeing misprints, sighting examples would require rewriting the whole section. Ok, ok wait, the Head Lefts, gee these should be easy, all these ones have the funny heads facing the other way and look EXACTLY alike so let’s price em EXACTLY the SAME."

I could list a few more but, will wait until I have my copy in hand to form an opinion.

MidLifeCrisis

I have not yet received a copy.

I will say, however, that any pricing information in the book is at best a general, educated estimate based on recent auction results and other verified sales. At worse, it's purely a guess. The term "guide" is even more appropriate with pricing colonials than with other coins. There are too many variables involved with colonial era coins: strike, planchet quality, rarity, popularity, die variety, etc., etc.

I will add the book to my list of available reference material. I will not base any buying decisions solely on it or any other single colonial reference.

Longacre

I would not view this book as a price guide. Any colonial afficionado would know that. I would take the comments in the OP (from the other boards) with a grain of salt.

ColonialCoinUnion

We ordered a gazillion copies and apparently they are (finally) en route to us now.

As for the pricing, I haven't seen it so I don't know.

Re the comments quoted by the OP, I will say that the pricing of New Jersey Head Left varieties, which used to be much higher for the 49-f and especially the 51-g vs the relatively more common 50-f, has migrated much closer together in the last few years based on demand for any of these varieties from type coin buyers. I perusal of recent auction records bears that out.

RWB

...as an aside, I really don't like what the Chinese printers do with images - it's as if the printer were using a GIF system pallet instead of a full CMYK scale.

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>it's as if the printer were using a GIF system pallet instead of a full CMYK scale. >>



I wish I had a nickel for every time I've heard that.

RWB

What date on the nickel?

ColonialCoinUnion

Any date, type, variety or condition is fine, provided that it has "Full Steps".

novacaesarea

Colonial Coin Union......that was pretty funny!..... LOL!.....

While I have not yet seen the final new QDB book, I have had the opportunity to see parts of it as it was being developed. And while I am sure there will be people who will take issue with one part or another, find pricing or printing errors, I would bet that everyone who collects Colonials (and those that don't) will buy a copy and find the overall effort a pretty significant jump in bringing all the thinking and digital technology since the Breen Encyclopedia together in one place. So...Crosby, Dickeson, Scott's, Breen, Bowers (maybe).

I also think that it will broaden the interest in Colonials. And to my way of thinking, the more the merrier. Some say prices will increase because of the scarcity of extant examples. But, given the economy, it might be a nice offset for those that have collections. I also think that it should stimulate interest in variety collecting which is a great part about collecting colonials. A collection of more than 20 Machin's Mills varieties is pretty cool looking thing. Different planchet colors, quality, different crude "Americana" engravings, different grades (you can't do an UNC set <s&gt.

So my final point before I get off my soap box is that if 14 months ago, someone brought together a few Colonial enthusiasts and said he would put together a new Colonial Encyclopedia with all types and varieties with pictures and pricing for every grade in a year..........you would have thought the idea impossible (or you might have even chosen a harsher word). Which is kind of what everyone did except QDB whose idea it was. And he grinded out his idea into a publication just two months latter than he predicted. So I say we cut him some slack, enjoy this new work, thoughtfully put together a list of corrections, erratas etc. (which the President of C-4 is doing) and anxiously wait for the next edition.

Done,

novacaesarea

DoctorPaper

I got my autographed copy 2 days ago via Federal Express. First impressions-lots of info, and I'm enjoying going through it. It does have pricing and rarity info on some coins I haven't seen elsewhere. I do have to say, it's just a little disappointing in some areas-the photo's of the coins are rather small and not quite as sharp as I would hope, and colors are just a little off. The author uses the URS rarity system rather than the usual Sheldon system, but does give a side-by-side table of the 2 at the front of the book so you can easily convert. Although the book is encyclopedic inat least listing most known varieties, there are many, many varieties for which there are no pictures. Also, weights/diameters are not routinely supplied. The author introduces yet another system for listing all colonial varieties-the "W" (Whitman) system, which I guess is supposed to supplant the Breen system.

This is a good book for the Intermediate Colonial Collector, who wants more than the Redbook and needs a complete overview reference for the various colonial series. If you are an advanced collector and are looking for a lot of detail, you'll need to go with reference books specific for the various series to get all the info you need. There's still no "one stop shopping" for you, but I don't believe that was the purpose of this book, anyway.

Overall, this is a good addition to a library and the price is more than reasonable.