Book on Peace Dollars
Mike Marotta
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2008 23:47:38 -0600
Subject: Book on Peace Dollars
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book that deals
specifically with Peace Dollars?
(I posted this review to CoinPeople.com) --
A Guide Book of Peace Dollars by Roger W. Burdette with Barry Lovvorn
(Valuations editor, :Lawrence R. Stack), 2008, 277 pages, $19.95.
This is another in Whitman’s “The Official Red Book” series. The
first half (176 pages) tells the full story, replete with
illustrations recovered from Mint archives and other sources. The
second half is the year-by-year price guide, with linear matrices of
prices and certified populations, both by grade. High-magnification
pictures illustrate the details of varieties. The Bibliography of 71
sources cites the usual suspects – Taxay, Breen, DeLorey, Julian, et
al. – but also the collected papers of Eva Bertrand Adams, Hermon
Atkins MacNeil and Henry Morgenthau, Jr., among others, including the
National Archives and Records Administration holdings for three U.S.
Presidents.
This is from my review that appeared on the E-Sylum maillist of the
Numismatic Bibliomania Society: "I must confess and apologize to being
happy to find my own article for The Numismatist cited in the
bibliography of this book (“The Beautiful, Yet Affordable Peace
Dollar,” Volume 111, Number 6, June 1995). My piece cited 18 works,
many of them articles from The Numismatist from 1921 and 1922.
Burdette chose different details for his history. In his, George
Morgan masterfully recut the reverse hub. I followed Breen who
accused Morgan of whacking the galvano with a board to lower the
relief. My research found that both Zerbe and di Francisci were
disappointed with the final product. That said, I enjoyed reading
Burdette’s book more than re-reading my own feature."
In the E-Sylum, Volume 12, Number 05, February 1, 2009, the author,
Roger Burdette wrote -
"As noted in the book's introduction, background information was
derived largely from my book Renaissance of American Coinage
1916-1921, and it is there that readers will find extensive source
citations and a more expansive bibliography.
"In researching the Peace dollar, I was fortunate to locate the mint's
original project file and de Francisci's personal papers which
included material not previously available. This permitted me to avoid
second hand and speculative sources, while allowing the people and
events surrounding the coin's creation to tell their own story."
To summarize, in addition to a historically validated and citated
history of the Peace Dollar, this book also includes a Year and Mint
pricing by grade, accompanied with descriptions of varieties,
significant examples and collecting advice for each. This high-
quality book, 278 pages, color, perfect bound, costs $19.95 -- a
bargain in itself.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Many books; not so many coins."