Book Review of the book U.S. Proof Sets and Mint Sets
Mark
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I just purchased the book United States Proof Sets and Mint Sets by Ron Guth and BILL GALE (I copied the capitalization of the names from the book cover) and I thought it might be useful to some if I wrote a report on it. First the book cost me $35.80, tax and shipping included. Do I feel I got my money's worth? Probably not. The book contains some interesting snippets of information but on the whole it was rather pedestrian and mechanical.
The book reviews proof sets since 1936 and mint sets since 1947. However the book explicitly excludes discussion of Prestige proof sets and silver proof sets. I am not sure why this decision was made but it is typical of the book—it’s simply not as thorough as it could be.
For proof sets, for each year the book has a small black and white illustration of the coins in the proof set, the mintage, the original issue price, a brief discussion of the set, and a description of the original packing material. There also is a page of full color pictures of proof set packaging. For mint sets the presentation is similar: a black and white picture of a mint set (which shows the original holder), the mintage, the original issue price, and brief discussion of the set, and a description of the original packing material. There also are two pages of full color pictures of mint set packaging. There also are four full color pages of desirable and attractively toned coins.
The discussion of the original packing material is probably the most interesting because I don’t know where else that information is readily obtained. There also are some very general comments about varieties in any year--for example, the book says "Some Proof 1964 Half Dollars are found with what is known as 'Accented Hair' where the hair on Kennedy's head is more heavily defined. The "Accented Hair" variety appears to be thirty times as rare as the normal hair proofs." But there is no illustration of an AH Kennedy nor is there any sort of docummentation about the asserted relative rarity. Regardless, I think that beyond the packaging information, most of the additional information in the book is already available in the Red Book.
The writing style in U.S. Proof Sets and U.S. Mint Sets is straightforward but suffers seriously from a case of too much block copying. For instance, the description of the packaging of mint sets for each of the years from 1947 to 1958 is identical; in the discussion of proof sets for each of the years from 1937 to 1942 a warning about fake frosting on proof coins is identical; and so forth. (In 1988, the book notes that the envelopes the proof sets came in were labeled “United States Mint Proof Set” and the book amusingly says “the new collector might ask ‘Is this a Mint Set of a Proof Set?’”. But the amusement had worn off when this exact same comment was made for every set up through 1999!) I understand that for many years the comments will be similar, but there is no need for them to be identical.
My bottom line about the book is that I have read it and will place it on my book shelf. But it is unlikely I will be removing it from my book shelf with any great frequency. Of course, I hasten to add that others might find the book highly useful and highly entertaining.
Mark
The book reviews proof sets since 1936 and mint sets since 1947. However the book explicitly excludes discussion of Prestige proof sets and silver proof sets. I am not sure why this decision was made but it is typical of the book—it’s simply not as thorough as it could be.
For proof sets, for each year the book has a small black and white illustration of the coins in the proof set, the mintage, the original issue price, a brief discussion of the set, and a description of the original packing material. There also is a page of full color pictures of proof set packaging. For mint sets the presentation is similar: a black and white picture of a mint set (which shows the original holder), the mintage, the original issue price, and brief discussion of the set, and a description of the original packing material. There also are two pages of full color pictures of mint set packaging. There also are four full color pages of desirable and attractively toned coins.
The discussion of the original packing material is probably the most interesting because I don’t know where else that information is readily obtained. There also are some very general comments about varieties in any year--for example, the book says "Some Proof 1964 Half Dollars are found with what is known as 'Accented Hair' where the hair on Kennedy's head is more heavily defined. The "Accented Hair" variety appears to be thirty times as rare as the normal hair proofs." But there is no illustration of an AH Kennedy nor is there any sort of docummentation about the asserted relative rarity. Regardless, I think that beyond the packaging information, most of the additional information in the book is already available in the Red Book.
The writing style in U.S. Proof Sets and U.S. Mint Sets is straightforward but suffers seriously from a case of too much block copying. For instance, the description of the packaging of mint sets for each of the years from 1947 to 1958 is identical; in the discussion of proof sets for each of the years from 1937 to 1942 a warning about fake frosting on proof coins is identical; and so forth. (In 1988, the book notes that the envelopes the proof sets came in were labeled “United States Mint Proof Set” and the book amusingly says “the new collector might ask ‘Is this a Mint Set of a Proof Set?’”. But the amusement had worn off when this exact same comment was made for every set up through 1999!) I understand that for many years the comments will be similar, but there is no need for them to be identical.
My bottom line about the book is that I have read it and will place it on my book shelf. But it is unlikely I will be removing it from my book shelf with any great frequency. Of course, I hasten to add that others might find the book highly useful and highly entertaining.
Mark
Mark
0
Comments
I ll save that 36.00 bucks, especially since I dont do much with proof sets.
Book review threads are a great idea. Don't think I've seen one before.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
I tried to buy this when it first appeared a few months ago. There were several
hoops to jump through and I quickly gave up. Not that I won't buy it but it will be
much more easily obtained and likely cheaper if I wait. Another reviewer had al-
ready told me that the claim is made (falsely) in the book that mint set coins are i-
dentical to regular business strikes so my interest was already marginal. This claim
repeatedly arises because the mint fails to differentiate between methods of man-
ufacture and actual techniques when describing these sets. When the mint says
they are regular business strikes they merely mean they aren't proofs. But when
the statement is repeated it usually sounds like mint set coins and business strike
coins have no differences which is simply not true.
It would be helpful if the mint would stay with the same description all the time.
Thanks for an excellent review. I purchased the book about as soon as it was released, several months ago. I also was disappointed. However, now I do think there are some positive points. On the book jacket's comments on the "first" author, Ron Guth, it states "Ron Considers United States Proof Sets and Mint Sets to be THE most important means of introducing non-collectors to the enjoyable world of numismatics." While an introduction to only a very limited part of numismtatics, the book does have some interesting touches for the novice. I particularly liked the "America in 19xx" and "The World in 19xx" descriptions of current events of the time. This helps give a history even to "modern" coins. Although the color photos are way too few, some are very impressive. The toned 1936 Walker on the jacket is tremendous.
While not a reference book for the experienced collector, it might be a nice "coffee table" book. That's what I've decided to do with mine
Richard
MS Buffalo
MS 1951