Bowers book - The History of United States Coinage
Thomas A.
share a numismatic opinion about it? I can't find anything substantive on
the web. Thanks.
Mr. Jaggers
It is a massive, bellwether of a coin book, lavishly illustrated, inspired
by the sale of the fabulous Garrett collection.
Here's a short blurb from a college student assembling her dream numismatic
library-away-from home:
http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v06n51a18.html
In case you are an incurable bibliomaniac, you can get the weekly online
newsletter of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, the "E-Sylum", for free,
by finding the appropriate sign-up page on their website:
I highly recommend it. There are lots of articles about all aspects of
numismatics, all there because they relate somehow to books.
James the Recruiter
Thomas A.
Thanks much, James.
Mike Marotta
On other message boards, I recommended Bowers/Garrett as one of three
books that any collector of US coinage needs, along with Taxay and
Breen.
Bowers/Garrett includes more than a catalog of interesting and
important coins -- though there is that. The book chronicles three
generations of collectors from the 1870s to our time. Correspondence
with the ANS and the Chapman Brothers, Cogan, Frossard, Haseltine and
others provide a window into our hobby that is ultimately familiar in
its forms while remaining enchanting in its particulars.
Lavish illustrations including enlargements of famous coins provide
the framework for Dave Bowers' historical narratives. Without that
context, even the prettiest coin is nothing but a curio, not much more
than a quartz rock or a peacock feather.
The Garrett Collection cut across the range and width of America's
circulating coinage. It is not a complete assemblage like Eliasberg,
but it is truly representative and in that with some time invested in
this book, the attentive reader comes to know not just the material
but the people who found it compelling.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Bibliomaniac"