RWB

All of those are common specialty content covers. They are good at getting attention from someone looking for a book on a specific coin type. The redundant "$20 Double Eagle" is a typical example. Something like this one. below, avoids specific content by substituting a well known design to attract attention from a wider potential audience. The ambiguity is intentional. (I don't like the name block at the bottom, but there were few options. Also, a bleed between image and text would have softened the transition and been better.) This next one was adopted for its complete simplicity and connection between image and subject. (Even the title text is silver-gray color.)

An optimum design would compel action: buy the book and read it. A good design would encourage attention and possible examination.

The independent grading businesses promised consistency. They have failed. They are so inconsistent that learning to grade coins, circulated or uncirculated, is not only difficult but the "rules" change almost monthly. There are no true empirical standards, and the lie of "market grading" simply means that greed has tainted what were supposed to be fact-based professional opinions. A result is that collectors must now settle on their individual opinion of "grade" and how that relates to value. TPG opinions continue to roll downhill. I don't know when bottom will be reached.

FYI "proof-like" is not a grade. It is a subjective description of the clarity of reflection off the fields of a coin.

...or possibly the real Quintus Arrius, who was Praetor in 72 BC.

Ebay is a good venue for the two coins mentioned. Bidders are mostly simpletons who overpay for a "story" or suggestion of something unusual like a "low ball" set candidate.

PS: The Eid Mar coin is not as rare as the design I posted. Why it generated a price of $4.2 million escapes me.

From Artnet News -- "The Dealer Who Sold the World’s Most Expensive Coin Has Been Arrested for Falsifying the $4.2 Million Artifact’s Provenance" "An ultra-rare Roman coin set a world record when it was auctioned off for nearly $4.2 million three years ago. But now, the validity of that record is under question after an investigation revealed that the artifact and others were sold with forged provenance certificates, according to a report from ARTnews. The record-setting coin, called the “Eid Mar” (or “Ides of March”), was minted in 42 B.C.E. to commemorate the assassination of Julius Caesar and is just one of three known examples cast in gold. "Offered at an October 2020 event held by the London-based auction house Roma Numismatics, the coin carried a £500,000 ($650,445) presale estimate. Also featured in the sale was a 2,400-year-old Sicily Naxos coin, which fetched $291,682. But a probe spearheaded by the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency found that both coins were offered with falsified provenance documentation. Richard Beale, Roma Numismatics’s owner and managing director, was arrested in New York earlier this year for his role in orchestrating the fraudulent scheme. "Beale now faces charges of grand larceny in the first and second degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the first and second degree, conspiracy in the fourth degree, and scheme to defraud in the first degree." Article continues on original site. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/roma-numismatics-coin-dealer-richard-beale-arrested-fake-provenance-2269635

The engineering is in making the blanks. In high quality work, the two parts are cut with slightly angled mating edges... kind of like this on the inner edge of the outside (ring) piece: < and this on the edge of the inside (core) piece: > . The two are pressed together to form a planchet and then struck on a normal press. For routine work, the ring and core are cut with normal edges, then pressed together and struck. In both situations, there is sufficient metal flow to lock the two parts together. The second method being less secure, results in the core occasionally falling out. The latter method was used for 19th century composite tokens such as the Eutopia and Bickford pieces, and for the 18th century US silver center Birch cent (although here the copper hole was drilled, not die cut). There is a short discussion on pages 87-88 in my book Fads, Fakes and Foibles under the term "bimetallic."

I had no input on that cover. It was just a copy of the Morse Collection vanity book.

I really should have written "composite coin." Bi-metallic implies an alloy of two metals as in the phony "Goloid" nonsense. Composite means a coin made of two or more distinct parts, each of a different material. Modern manufacturers, however, usually call their products "bi-metallic."

The two Liberty designs for Renaissance were made by artist Jane Waldron after WW-1 era posters. The TR cover was designed my me based on a cover of Puck magazine. The FMTM cover was also my design using a woodcut from one of Evans' books about the US Mint. (The MTM-2 cover uses a similar design but a different woodcut. The large "2" is awkward, but I felt it necessary to clearly separate it from the first book.)

Your carbon frame bike broke? Yikes! Sorry to hear that.

It's not a "doubt." The thing lacks all the characteristics of a normal Athenian "owl." It's a jewelry knock-off, noting more. The "certificate" posted is not of the same item, so unless you can post the identical item in a certified holder from PCGS or NGC you are caught in you "misunderstanding" and that is the end.

Occam didn't have a razor -- he had a full beard.

Here's a link to the post I mentioned.

How about providing some empirical measurements from a surface profilometer -- similar to the images I posted about a year ago.

This is exactly what a book cover design does....or should do. Simple coin hobby book covers are commonly a picture of a coin - usually one featured inside. But cover art can also go beyond the superficial (well a little bit) to help the potential reader consider other aspects of the subject. The Renaissance books do this through two contemporary depictions of Liberty, and one of TR "in charge" steering the ship of state. I feel this is a subliminal message to look further in the book.

[This was copied from another thread because it might be of interest to more collectors. The subject was why I used a stark white background for the Saudi Gold book cover.] To me, roadbike asked a reasonable question to which I gave a reasonable and truthful answer. It's a useful kind of question because it's part of design and color which are important factors in attracting attention and in presenting the author's attitude and approach to the subject. Several years ago, while working on the CD-book, Silver Dollars Struck Under the Pittman Act of 1918, I was trying out different cover designs. The first was of a Colorado silver mine, albeit, abandoned. It was a stark but eye catching image....,much as melted silver dollars were a reminder of a era past. Yet, as I looked more closely, the design was cluttered -- too many parts and shapes. It was also ominous in rust and gray. Colors and triangular image were excellent, but.....it was not "right" for the subject. So I went back to WW 1 designs and looked for stronger symbolism. I found that in a poster showing an American eagle placing a crown of laurel ("victory") on the British lion's brow....wasn't our Pittman Act part of that victory, part of supporting our allies, part of rewarding freedom over totalitarianism? (Will America be able to crown a free Ukrainian tryzub with laurel in the same manner?) The original was black and beige - no other color. I recolored the laurel and mimicked the eagle's head color with a darker shade background. The composition is direct, simple and evocative of respect and shared responsibility. Here, roadbike's suggestion made perfect sense emphasizing a tight vertical column ending with broad eagle wings. Roadbike and Quintus each make valid points, and it's nice for me to have an opportunity to delve into how and why I choose certain cover designs.

It's a base metal knock-off used for jewelry. The bezel is probably worth more than pot metal.

The contentions are, overall, correct. But use of gold coins also varied with different parts of the country, denominations, and time periods. Western territories and states saw greater gold circulation than the North East and Mid-Atlantic. The South had limited gold circulation because it was a critical payment for imported items, further; much of the population was isolated and too poor to ever see a gold coin. The smallest and largest denominations circulated very little: $1, $3, and $20. $5 and $10 were more frequently seen and $2.50 up to about 1900. The Indian designs were not liked by almost everyone who handled coins. Treasury documents and gold movements are absolutely clear that the only time there was much public demand for gold coins was the christmas/New Year holiday period. That result is to be expected by a merchant. They handled more coins than wage earners, and had a tendency to hold back anything unusual, thus further concentrating the impression of more extensive gold coin circulation than was the case. An uncle of mine worked at the central US Post Office in NY City for 15 years -- mostly at a counter position. Over that time he saved every Indian cent, every odd-ball (commemorative) half or other silver coin, and every gold coin received across his counter. When he gave the coins to his son, my cousin, there were thousands of Indian cents, 2 $2.50, 2 commem. halves (Stone Mountain and Columbian Expo), a couple of 3-cent silver and 3-cent nickel, and that was it. Liberty 5-cent were too common to keep.

Wasn't that the evil inventor of the Daleks in Dr. Who?

Print runs for numismatic books are tiny, but so is the market. There might be, say 1 million coin collectors in the US, but the number of people looking for a specific subject or more generalized information is small, and the proportion who actually buy and read a book is smaller, still. Amazon and other sellers also demand a large discount which further limits book availability.

Details ----

Eagle RJO -- Here's a version of your coin photo with the midtones shifted to better show doubling on date and motto. Hope you don't mind.