ISBN: 0-7548-1614-1
Price: $25
Overall Rating 4 out of 5
Coin Photos – 3.5 out of 5
Coin History/Summary – 5 out of 5
Contextual History – 4 out of 5
Contextual Photos – 4.5 out of 5
Paragraph/Chapter Flow: 4.5 out of 5
Summary:
This book is not for kids. It reads like a High School or College level history text book, minus the end of chapter summary questions. It's the type of book I'd expect to see for a class labeled "An Introduction to Coinage and Numismatic History" and would recommend this for new collectors starting around the age of 15 or older.
Being like a school textbook is not a bad thing. Each chapter flows based on a time period perspective and makes for a simple and easy read.
Though the first section is labeled "A Guide to Collecting Coins" it really consists of two parts; a history of coinage and a how to collect part. This first section is really the strength of the book. The first part begins with the concept of money and its origination from barter systems and progresses through early currencies to trade currencies and discusses their needs & impacts on societies and cultures. It the follows up with production methods and again is approached from a time perspective beginning with ancient hammered coinage methods & materials and ending with modern minting methods.
The second part of the first section is the "how to collect" piece. Though it speaks in general terms, the author does a fine job of covering a wide amount of topics without making it seem random or chaotic. In summary there are pages dedicated to
- grade & condition
- caring for coins
- housing coins
- using guides & catalogs
- 11 general methods & approaches to collecting collecting coins
- buying and selling coins
- on-line numismatics
The second section is labeled "World Directory of Coins" but in reality it is a quick coinage synopsis for 200 different countries. Though each summary is interesting it will nit be a definitive resource for making coin purchases but it may spark an interest to collect coins from a specific country. Additionally, there is a warning with this section of the book. I have found errors in some of the descriptions so if you plan on using the information I recommend you validate the information before use. For example, in his write up on Panama he claims that the coin labeled the "Panama Pill" is a 2 centismo coin when in fact it is a 2 1/2 centismo coin.
Another example I found is with his summary of Sri Lanka, the 1/3 Farthing did not circulate in Sri Lank as he states.
Overall the book is a fantastic read for a new collector. It strength lies in its basic layout and generous use of color photos and sketches. One thing I did like was that many of the coin photos were of circulated issues and not some unobtainium grade of ultra rare coins that many other books use. The coin photos portray the reality of what beginning coin collectors are more than likely to obtain. Though, I do wish that the smaller diameter coins had larger photos as they were a little difficult to view.