Did Anyone Get Their Massachusetts Silver Book From the ANS?

Coinosaurus

A handsome volume it is. Quite imposing with a big black cover.

MidLifeCrisis

Link

NewEnglandRarities

I know that many C4 members have received their book, but I have heard that some have not. My understanding (I am one who does not have one yet) is that the book is fantastic with a great amount of new information!

Quarternut

Got mine a week ago...Impressive book on several fronts, although there are a few things about it that could have been done differently IMHO.

Since I have my some modest experiance with the production of a book, I am working on writing a review for the next E-sylum.

QN

Coinosaurus

I started reading this. It is really cool. Some neat things about Mass. silver:

* The colonists were, in effect, giving HRH (the one in England, not the one in Newport Beach) the middle finger by making their own coins. In that sense these are the first "real" American (in the USA sense of the word) coins.

* Mass. silver covers the entire gamut of technology - it started off as hand hammered, moved to the rocker press, and finally the screw press. The dies progress from simple letter punches to more complex figures. The author does a great job of showing how the different technologies manifest themselves on the various series of Mass silver. In particular the edge views of the rocker press coins are something I've not seen in a numismatic book before - great analysis here w/the supporting evidence in full view.

The photos rock. A lot of them are from the Ford catalogs, but there are lots of others too from the ANS collection and elsewhere. The book is on superthick paper and wasn't cheap to produce.

It's well worth the $60 price for ANS members. (More for non-members, so join the ANS instead.)

Now if we can get the CRO guys to lower their prices on these coins, we can all collect them by die variety

mrearlygold

ColonialCoinUnion

It's an amazing accomplishment, and a great new reference. Plus it is so big and impressive that even my wife (who normally doesn't give numismatic literature a second look) thought it was spectacular.

Unfortunately it is too big for me to haul out to Sacramento to read, so I will have to finish it up when I get home.