A Magazine-length Post About Coin Books
Mr. Jaggers
in two different online discussion groups that he would be conducting a poll
of the membership. One of the groups is inhabited only by members of C4,
while membership in the other is open to any interested party. There is
considerable overlap between the two groups, with the same people showing up
regularly in both. A collegial mentality prevails in both groups, and they
are populated by many of the big names in the collecting field of
"colonials", those coins that are catalogued in the first chapter of the
Redbook, before the Federal half cents.
The question posed was, "What are the five most important books, and what
are the five most important auction catalogues, having to do with colonial
numismatics?" It was essentially an essay question: no multiple-choice, no
matching, no true/false, no fill-in-the-blank. Participants had to search
their minds and their libraries and come up with their own lists of the top
five most important books and catalogues from scratch.
The results were published in the Winter 2009 number of the C4 Newsletter.
Here are the top ten vote-getters in the book category:
1. Crosby. The Early Coins of America
2. Bowers. The Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins
3. Breen. Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins
4. Mossman. Money of the Anerican Colonies and Confederation
5. Miller. The State Coinage of Connecticut
6. Carlotto. The Copper Coins of Vermont
7. Nipper. In Yankee Doodle's Pocket
8. Betts. American Colonial History Illustrated by Contemporary Medals
9. Newman. The Early Paper Money of America
10. Yeoman. A Guide Book of United States Coins
As I have very limited interest in auction catalogues, I will not copy that
part of the survey results at this time.
I find three things noteworthy about these results. First, in spite of all
the real and alleged shortcomings of its author and its content, the Breen
Encyclopedia finished "show" in this horse race.
Second, two of these books - the Bowers and the Nipper - were published in
2009 and have quickly become favorites in the field, in spite of the
user-discovered shortcomngs of the content of the first and the
author-acknowledged shortcomings of the content of the second (the
reputations of the two authors remain pure as the driven snow, in spite of
frenetic efforts on the part of their detractors to dig up dirt on them, one
could speculate). Whitman has issued a corrigenda list for the Bowers title
that occupies an entire 8 1/2" X 11" sheet of small print, and has indicated
that these corrections will be one day be incorporated into a second
edition.
Finally, two of the titles - the Miller and the Carlotta - are very narrow
in specialty, yet find themselves in the company of the more generalized
books in the list of the top ten.
James "I Report, You Decide" the Early American
oly
Random thoughts over the first cuppa this A.M.,
(1) Books - there is a "test of time" and a "memory-deterioration"
test that all new reference books probably have to go through. See
how the copper community feels in ten years about those books
published in 2009...
(2) Yes, one of the two authors of a 2009 book has an impressive
published oeuvre, but mon vieux, you insist on some kind of
"purity"??? Purity??? The gentleman is a commercant, first and
foremost. IMHO, publishing and advertising may overlap here.
(3) The Red Book should get an award for being the most improved
numismatic book of the last decade. It is really much much better
than it used to be and it is a great value for the money ('though I
can't judge the quality of the Colonials section as well as some other
areas).
(4) Opinion. High-end Coppers are a pricey speciality pursuit and,
based on some of the players I have encountered, it is something of an
ego game.
Now for the second cuppa.
oly
Mr. Jaggers
[magazine-length post about coin books snipped]
> Random thoughts over the first cuppa this A.M.,
>
> (1) Books - there is a "test of time" and a "memory-deterioration"
> test that all new reference books probably have to go through. See
> how the copper community feels in ten years about those books
> published in 2009...
Judging by how that community already feels about the first mentioned title,
I don't see things changing with that one, especially with its Whitman
imprint. The second author mentioned, self-published, takes very much a
"big-tent" approach to the topic, of which many of the "puckered" crowd take
a dim view.
> (2) Yes, one of the two authors of a 2009 book has an impressive
> published oeuvre, but mon vieux, you insist on some kind of
> "purity"??? Purity??? The gentleman is a commercant, first and
> foremost. IMHO, publishing and advertising may overlap here.
OMG, you're right, I had never noticed that. You are most perspicacious!
> (3) The Red Book should get an award for being the most improved
> numismatic book of the last decade. It is really much much better
> than it used to be and it is a great value for the money ('though I
> can't judge the quality of the Colonials section as well as some other
> areas).
Advance pub for the 2011 edition promises big changes in the Colonial
section. I can't wait. Mebbe, just mebbe, the glaring inconsistencies of
the first 63 editions might just be corrected and/or clarified (New Jersey
1787 small planchet, plain shield, for example, which does not exist in
reality, yet the TPGs dutifully slab coins that way).
> (4) Opinion. High-end Coppers are a pricey speciality pursuit and,
> based on some of the players I have encountered, it is something of an
> ego game.
That's very true. I've seen it!
> Now for the second cuppa.
A ta sant�!
James the Collector of Really Low-Down Coppers
'but nevertheless owns a couple of VFs'