The Encyclopedia of United States Silver & Gold Commemorative Coins 1892 to 1954 by Anthony Swiatek & Walter Breen
ISBN: 0-668-04765-8
Price: Currently out of print
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Coin Photos: 4 out of 5 (Black & White only)
Coin History/Summary: 5 out of 5
Contextual History: 5 out of 5
Contextual Photos: 4 out of 5
Paragraph/Chapter Flow: 5 out of 5
Summary:
Copy written and published in 1981 this volume won the Numismatic Literary Guild “Book of the Year” Award in the year it was released. Written by Walter Breen one of the foremost coin scholars of the 20th century and Anthony Swiatek know as “Mr. Commemorative”, this is THE definitive book on the “Classic” Commemorative series.
Commemoratives of this era are an extremely complex subject; witness the page and half discussion that covers the authors choice of presentation order provided in the introductory section. (They finally decided on Alphabetical based on the Official Name of the coin as contained in the Congressional Act that authorized the issue). After 12 pages of introduction that includes a discussion on the Commemorative concept and the previously mentioned discussion of choice of presentation order, they provide a complete list of authorization dates, followed by a comprehensive list of release dates cross referenced by Mint.
Chapter by chapter the book covers each coin in detail. The discussion, in a light and friendly style hits all of the important points on each issue including the background of the issue; What political forces were brought to bear to get the coin authorized; How designs were chosen; designers; engravers and how the coins were distributed. In addition, there are pictures of the various presentation material (holder, folders, boxes etc) that were used to distribute the coins as well as copies or pictures of correspondence relevant to the authorization process or issue. They go on to add many other tidbits and items of interest. The book is a rich source of history and information, from the subterfuge that allowed Col. James Ellsworth to keep the first Columbia Exposition Half, even though it had been sold to the Remington Typewriter Company for the astronomical price of $10,000 (he slipped a flawed Planchet into the press and declared the first strike unsuitable for presentation, then kept it) to the Politics of issuing the Washington-Carver commemorative in an attempt to make up for the financial losses experienced by the Booker T. Washington issue. Each chapter tells the unique story of each coin.
After they discuss each coin in detail they dedicate a few pages to the discussion of the “Excessively Rare Proof Commemorative Coinage” including Mintages and surface finish types. Then the book devotes almost 50 pages to a chapter on “Investment Forecast”. The first 10 pages are written by guest writer Mr. Stanley Apfelbaum and the balance by Mr. Swiatek, presumably based on his active participation in the Commemorative market. This section includes an issue by issue analysis of price, Value and a projection of price in 1985 & 1990 (5 & 10 years after publication). It would be interesting to compare their projections to actual prices realized 18 years ago!
The final 29 pages of the book are an issue by issue explanation of the grading keys for each series including a photo that shows exactly were one would expect to see the first signs of wear.
In all this large volume (over 300 pages in an 8 ½” x 11” format) is a must have for any serious collector of “Classic Commemoratives”