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Bust Half Fever, 2nd Edition!
DaveG
Posts: 3,535 ✭
For those (perhaps few) of you "Busties" who didn't know this, the second edition of Bust Half Fever by Edgar Souders was recently published by Money Tree Press.
Its publication was announced in the E-Sylum about six or seven weeks ago and I thought that I could wait a bit to get one, until there was a follow-up announcement that only 150 copies had been printed (and half of them were spoken for), so I immediately added it to my Christmas list so that I could make sure of getting a copy!
(As a side note, I didn't get interested in Bust halves until four or so years ago and I didn't think I'd be interested enough in the series to pony up enough for a copy of Overton, but a friend told me that Bust Half Fever was more of a "survey" book and had more historical information about how the coins were used (which is more my cup of tea, anyway). Unfortunately, by the time I started looking for it, the first edition had completely disappeared from the inventories of the numismatic booksellers.)
So, anyway, I've never seen a copy of the first edition, but here's a description of the second:
Hardcover, 534 pages. Chapters: History of the Bust Half Dollar, Importance of Proper Bust Half Grading, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - A Journey to the Dark Side, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - The Lesser Evils, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - the Yeardates (a date-by-date discussion of the coins), Collecting Capped Bust Halves - the Overdates (a date-by-date discussion of the coins), Various Appendices (Mintage figures, Variety chart, etc).
The book looks like a lot of fun to read - I'm looking forward to starting it as soon as I finish a couple of other projects.
Any guesses as to why only 150 copies were printed? Surely there are more than 150 people interested in Bust Halves.
For those of you familiar with the Ten Stages of Bust Half Fever, I seem to be almost at Step Four (The decision to start a date set of Bust Halves). I started with the idea of a one-per-decade set, but have started filling in dates as I find them. So far, I've resisted the idea of getting a copy of Overton.
Speaking of which, I hear that there'll be a Fourth Edition fairly soon.
By the way, Money Tree Press is also advertising Davignon's Contemporary Counterfeit Bust Half Dollar book for $24.95 (ppd); Peterson's Attribution Guide for $89.95 (ppd) as well as Bust Half Fever and Peterson on CD-ROM for $34.99 each (ppd) and Souders' Pocket Guide to R-4 and R-5 Bust Half Varieties for $16.95 (ppd).
Its publication was announced in the E-Sylum about six or seven weeks ago and I thought that I could wait a bit to get one, until there was a follow-up announcement that only 150 copies had been printed (and half of them were spoken for), so I immediately added it to my Christmas list so that I could make sure of getting a copy!
(As a side note, I didn't get interested in Bust halves until four or so years ago and I didn't think I'd be interested enough in the series to pony up enough for a copy of Overton, but a friend told me that Bust Half Fever was more of a "survey" book and had more historical information about how the coins were used (which is more my cup of tea, anyway). Unfortunately, by the time I started looking for it, the first edition had completely disappeared from the inventories of the numismatic booksellers.)
So, anyway, I've never seen a copy of the first edition, but here's a description of the second:
Hardcover, 534 pages. Chapters: History of the Bust Half Dollar, Importance of Proper Bust Half Grading, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - A Journey to the Dark Side, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - The Lesser Evils, Collecting Capped Bust Halves - the Yeardates (a date-by-date discussion of the coins), Collecting Capped Bust Halves - the Overdates (a date-by-date discussion of the coins), Various Appendices (Mintage figures, Variety chart, etc).
The book looks like a lot of fun to read - I'm looking forward to starting it as soon as I finish a couple of other projects.
Any guesses as to why only 150 copies were printed? Surely there are more than 150 people interested in Bust Halves.
For those of you familiar with the Ten Stages of Bust Half Fever, I seem to be almost at Step Four (The decision to start a date set of Bust Halves). I started with the idea of a one-per-decade set, but have started filling in dates as I find them. So far, I've resisted the idea of getting a copy of Overton.
Speaking of which, I hear that there'll be a Fourth Edition fairly soon.
By the way, Money Tree Press is also advertising Davignon's Contemporary Counterfeit Bust Half Dollar book for $24.95 (ppd); Peterson's Attribution Guide for $89.95 (ppd) as well as Bust Half Fever and Peterson on CD-ROM for $34.99 each (ppd) and Souders' Pocket Guide to R-4 and R-5 Bust Half Varieties for $16.95 (ppd).
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I can't let this post disappear into the mists with no response because the first edition of this book was a fun read. And I am not even into collecting Bust Halves! But the book had a lot wider view than just narrow Bust Half perspective.
So, I am left to wonder if it's worth it to spring for the second edition of the book....
Mark
Thanks for not letting the post disappear so quickly!
Never having seen the first edition, I can't really offer any advice, except to observe that the second edition is supposed to be "greatly expanded" over the first.
One the one hand, if you're not really into Bust Halves, you may not need it, but on the other hand, with a print run of 150, if you buy it and then save it for a couple of years, you may be able to resell it for a nice profit.
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Nice write-up.
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BUST HALF FEVER SECOND EDITION PUBLISHED
Myron Xenos writes: "I recently published the 2d
edition of Bust Half Fever, 530 pages, everything
you ever wondered about bust halves. It is selling
for $79.95 plus $5 postage from the Money Tree,
1260 Smith Ct. Rocky River, Oh. 44116. We just
printed 150 copies and it is already 1/2 spoken for."
On the other hand, maybe I'm interpreting "just" wrong, maybe it means "the most recent print run was 150 copies", not "we're only printing 150 copies".
I do recall John McCloskey (of the LSCC) talking about the new compilation of the Gobrecht Journal and how modern book printing technology would allow him to order 50 copies every couple of months instead of one press run of 500, so who knows, maybe there's no need to rush.
All I know is that I'm glad to get my copy.
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Sounders book appears to be an excellent complement to the specialist books of Overton and Peterson books (which I also have).
I find it hard to believe that only 150 were printed. And Sounders is selling the book on eBay as a BIN.
Even if you have just a casual interest in CBH's, I would buy this book.
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<< <i>Do you think I might be able to purchase a copy at FUN ? Sounds like a book I need.... >>
Good chance of finding the book at FUN. Check Sheridan Downey's table, and attend the Bust Half Dollar open meeting. Meeting time is 11AM Friday January 6. The information dispersed at the meeting will likely be only available at the meeting, brand new studies.
The FUN show and the Summer ANA are the two big show attended by a large group of Nut club members. Sheridan will know if Edgar Souders is at FUN, and if he would be available for book signing.
I always try to buy books like this directly from the author, thereby insuring the author a few extra bucks.
(aka Modern Crap)
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<< <i>Does it only cover capped bust halves?
(aka Modern Crap)
Yes, it starts with the 1807 CBH.
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