Another Book Question: COB References?
Nick Knight
I drove 2 hours to Columbus on Saturday ... no, not for the Ohio State game.
I wish I would have known traffic was going to be so heavy because of that!
There were a record (for me) count of 10 state troupers active going down
and a whopping 18 coming back. Anyway ...
I didn't have tons of money to spend, but I ended up over-extending myself,
go figure, and buying a nice 16th century taler anyway. This same dealer
showed me a 1600's 8 reale cob of some sort, and I didn't take note of all
of the details. However, it did seem to spark an interest and I'd like to
learn more.
From a quick stint on eBay, it seems that these are of Spanish origin and as
such, minted and used in Central and South America as well as Spain. But
that's all I know and even this is based on eBay observations.
Is there / are there any recommended reference(s) for learning more?
Thanks in advance,
Nick
Mr. Jaggers
Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now in its
4th (2007) edition.
James
The Watcher
news:h81ti...@enews2.newsguy.com...
> Look for The Practical Book of Cobs,
Way back when I was a lad living on the farm, I used corn cobs to wipe my ass in
the "little house".
Now that's a practical use for cobs!
Nice to know they wrote a book about that!
SNiglet
"The Watcher" <t...@watcher.invalid> wrote in message
news:h82t5h$dm$1...@aioe.org...
I heard Oly likes to take those "used" cobs and make tea with them!
The Giant Brain
"SNiglet" <s...@obvious.fake> wrote in message
news:h82v64$627$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
That is incorrect.
Oly prefers to freeze them and then use them as popsicles.
The Watcher
"The Giant Brain" <gi...@brain.invalid> wrote in message
news:h833od$8h6$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Or as he refers to them, "poopsicles".
The Giant Brain
"The Watcher" <t...@watcher.invalid> wrote in message
POOPSICLES - LMAO!
Good one!
Nick Knight
>> Is there / are there any recommended reference(s) for learning more?
>Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now in its
>4th (2007) edition.
Thanks, James. I see copies of this around ... it seems to be readily
available. I'll pick up a copy and start reading.
Thanks again,
Nick
Reid Goldsborough
> Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now in its
> 4th (2007) edition.
This is the best popular book, easy to read, scholarly enough,
frequently updated, written by the best-known dealer in cobs today.
Daniel Sedwick also has a good Web site:
The best scholarly book on cobs and later pieces of eight is Cobs,
Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins: The Early Spanish-American Mints
and Their Coinages, 1536-1773 by Sewall Menzel, 2004.
Read Sedwick first, then Menzel if you want more. Interesting note:
Sedwick talks very disparagingly about Menzel and even quit the ANS
because it published Menzel's book. Maybe just a professional rivalry.
Cobs are amazing pieces, somewhere between coins and bullion. There's
interest in the crudeness of the minting, which symbolizes well I'd
say the wholesale transfer of wealth, mostly in silver, from the new
world back to the old during the age of exploration, and exploitation.
--
Consumer: http://rg.ancients.info/guide
Connoisseur: http://rg.ancients.info/glom
Counterfeit: http://rg.ancients.info/bogos
oly
>
> - Show quoted text -
Of course, a "Giant Brain" would sell a Mexican cob for it's melt
value - maybe ten or fifteen dollars.
May your poopsicles "melt" in your round round mouth.
oly
Nick Knight
09/08/2009
>Cobs are amazing pieces, somewhere between coins and bullion. There's
>interest in the crudeness of the minting, which symbolizes well I'd say the
>wholesale transfer of wealth, mostly in silver, from the new world back to
>the old during the age of exploration, and exploitation.
Thanks. I think that was the appeal to me ... the crudeness. I love the
way some 16th and 17th century Talers look crudely struck, although some can
also be amazingly sharp. By the 1700's, the art of minting dollar sized
coins seems to have been perfected for the most part ... some of the city
view Talers from Germany are detailed and wicked works of art.
Before I jump in, I want to learn as much as possible. Because these pieces
are so crude, they are probably also easy to fake. Then again, I don't
really want to expand my area of interest too much. Still, a couple of
these pieces to round out my representation of The World couldn't hurt,
could it? :)
Nick
Reid Goldsborough
> Before I jump in, I want to learn as much as possible. Because these pieces
> are so crude, they are probably also easy to fake. Then again, I don't
> really want to expand my area of interest too much. Still, a couple of
> these pieces to round out my representation of The World couldn't hurt,
> could it? :)
Cobs show up frequently in replica sets sold in the gift shops of U.S.
historical sites, but they're crudely cast pewter -- small, underweight,
and with pronounced casting pits and edge seams. I've picked up as study
pieces couple of actual forgeries, one of which is good silver, both of
which appear meant to deceive, but they're not deceptive either, also
cast and though closer to the correct weight also underweight.
The Big Tree Coin Factory in China, the infamous forgery workshop
exposed by Susan Headley in Coin World and at About.com, has produced at
least one very convincing later Piece of Eight, a Pillar Dollar, which
I've also had a chance to study in hand and which fooled an expert on
these, but I haven't yet seen any Chinese Cobs. Still, it's good to be
careful, as you're being, since they do seem relatively easy to fake.
As far as I know Isaac Newton didn't involve himself in the exposure of
contemporaneous Cob counterfeiters. <g> But seriously, I'm sure they
existed, and Cobs were produced during Newton's lifetime, though far
away. I could probably confirm the existence of contemporary Cob
counterfeits by checking Sedwick or Menzel, but my office is a mess
right now, in the midst as we are of a late summer cleaning, and I'm
feeling too lazy to excavate.
The Giant Brain
"oly" <oly...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:6f9f1b55-c322-458a...@r39g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
=====================================================
Finally sobered up enough to respond, eh drunky?
Nick Knight
09/08/2009
at 05:50 PM, Reid Goldsborough <reidgold...@yahoo.com> said:
>> Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now in its
>> 4th (2007) edition.
>This is the best popular book, easy to read, scholarly enough, frequently
>updated, written by the best-known dealer in cobs today. Daniel Sedwick
>also has a good Web site:
I went ahead and purchased this book, the one James originally recommended
and you seconded. I found copies on eBay for $24.99 + 4 shipping, which
seemed reasonable. However, fortunately, I decided to check Amazon before
BIN'ing. They have them for $25 and free shipping.
>The best scholarly book on cobs and later pieces of eight is Cobs, Pieces
>of Eight and Treasure Coins: The Early Spanish-American Mints and Their
>Coinages, 1536-1773 by Sewall Menzel, 2004.
Amazon has this one new, too, but yikes! For a 2004 book, $125 is
non-trivial. To me. I'll have to see if the first book catches me on
cob-fire, and then I'll still probably have to see this one in person before
I decide on whether to stretch for it or not.
Nick
Mr. Jaggers
If you ever get near antiquarian numismatic bookseller Orville Grady at a
show, check his stock. I've seen that book among his wares.
James
oly
> Nick Knight wrote:
> > In
> > <4b3d100b-aa78-46bb-b92c-52c6d88c1...@j9g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>,
> > on 09/08/2009 at 05:50 PM, Reid Goldsborough
>
> >>> Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now
> >>> in its 4th (2007) edition.
>
> >> This is the best popular book, easy to read, scholarly enough,
> >> frequently updated, written by the best-known dealer in cobs today.
> >> Daniel Sedwick also has a good Web site:
>
> > I went ahead and purchased this book, the one James originally
> > recommended and you seconded. I found copies on eBay for $24.99 + 4
> > shipping, which seemed reasonable. However, fortunately, I decided
> > to check Amazon before BIN'ing. They have them for $25 and free
> > shipping.
>
> >> The best scholarly book on cobs and later pieces of eight is Cobs,
> >> Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins: The Early Spanish-American Mints
> >> and Their Coinages, 1536-1773 by Sewall Menzel, 2004.
>
> > Amazon has this one new, too, but yikes! For a 2004 book, $125 is
> > non-trivial. To me. I'll have to see if the first book catches me
> > on cob-fire, and then I'll still probably have to see this one in
> > person before I decide on whether to stretch for it or not.
>
> If you ever get near antiquarian numismatic bookseller Orville Grady at a
> show, check his stock. I've seen that book among his wares.
>
>
> - Show quoted text -
Google "David Brown Books", a major distributor of high end
educational books. They will have Menzel - and sometimes they have
new copies that have had covers scraped, bent corner etc., at a
discount.
They don't give the books away for free & considering what we are
talking about, if you can't go the book, the cobs and later eight
reales may be prohibitively priced too.
oly
Bob
> On Sep 12, 1:07 pm, "Mr. Jaggers" <lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Nick Knight wrote:
> > > In
> > > <4b3d100b-aa78-46bb-b92c-52c6d88c1...@j9g2000vbp.googlegroups.com>,
> > > on 09/08/2009 at 05:50 PM, Reid Goldsborough
> > > <reidgoldsboro...@yahoo.com> said:
>
> > >>> Look for The Practical Book of Cobs, by Daniel & Frank Sedwick, now
> > >>> in its 4th (2007) edition.
>
> > >> This is the best popular book, easy to read, scholarly enough,
> > >> frequently updated, written by the best-known dealer in cobs today.
> > >> Daniel Sedwick also has a good Web site:
>
> > > I went ahead and purchased this book, the one James originally
> > > recommended and you seconded. I found copies on eBay for $24.99 + 4
> > > shipping, which seemed reasonable. However, fortunately, I decided
> > > to check Amazon before BIN'ing. They have them for $25 and free
> > > shipping.
>
> > >> The best scholarly book on cobs and later pieces of eight is Cobs,
> > >> Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins: The Early Spanish-American Mints
> > >> and Their Coinages, 1536-1773 by Sewall Menzel, 2004.
>
> > > Amazon has this one new, too, but yikes! For a 2004 book, $125 is
> > > non-trivial. To me. I'll have to see if the first book catches me
> > > on cob-fire, and then I'll still probably have to see this one in
> > > person before I decide on whether to stretch for it or not.
>
> >
ANA, Society capitalized to avoid confusion), and $125 is the retail
price. (This is a huge, lavishly-illustrated book, and Sewell Menzell
took a year's sabbatical to write it.) The ANS member price, however,
is only $92.50, plus $5 shipping, so you would get a large part of
your first-year's dues nearly back with this single purchase. Visit
the Society's website at http://numismatics.org/.
Bob Leonard
Stu Menzel
Hi Nick!
The book you need on Spanish colonial cob-style treasure coins is:
Cobs, Pieces of Eight and Treasure Coins published by The American
Numismatic Society (ANS) 2004 of New York City. It has over 4,000
photos and diagrams covering the ten early Spanish mints in the
Americas 1536-1773: Mexico, Santo Domingo, Lima, Potosi, Panama, Santa
Fe de Bogota (Nuevo Reino), Cartagena, Cuzco, Guatemala and Cuba. It is
used by treasure hunters (Mel Fisher Inc in Key West), coin collectors,
auction houses, museums and nautical archaeologists the world over. You
cannot go wrong. Contact the ANS direct or go through Amazonbooks.com on
the Internet. Cheers, Stu Menzel
--
Stu Menzel