What book doesn't exist?

[Coin]

How about something on 'So-Called Dollars" ....with some history , lots of pics , and ideas on how to group them?

[Oldtrader3]

Roger Burdett's book on St. Gauden's gold coins will reach out and touch me. When is it due to be published?

[jom]

Does it include a starter kit?

 

No but it gives you a coupon for 20 bucks off "Grandma Dynamite's Chemistry and Bomb Making Set" by Renco.

 

jom

[Hoot]

I’ve rambled on too long…..sorry!

 

Superb post RWB! I hope you'll ramble a lot more on these boards than you have!

 

Hoot

[RWB]

Oldtrader3,

The book covering the Saint-Gaudens & Pratt gold coin designs should go to the printer at the end of January. It has been delayed because of the absence of 2 photos that are critical to an accurate explanation of the 1907 patterns. The original plan was to have it out in November, but the photos were not available so it was decided to defer to accuracy and completeness, rather than an arbitrary date.

 

The same kind of thing will probably occur with the last of the 3 books - this one covering 1909-1915. I am aiming for late 2006, but it will probably be mid-2007 before it’s ready. Rushing the research to meet a deadline, results in omissions and mistakes that reduce the value of the work (at least it seems that way for me).

[jom]

D. Historical research into numismatic topics. Taxay's "US Mint & Coinage" and David Lange's update of this, or Burdette's "Renaissance of American Coinage."

 

I didn't know Lange updated this. I'm curious: Was Lange able to find the original author Don Taxay? Apparently he had disappeared from the coin scene many years ago and hasn't been heard from since. I've discussed this with many old timers and no one knows anything (whether he passed away or what). I just found it strange for someone who would write a book like that and be involved in the hobby (he was supposedly) just disappear...

 

jom

[RWB]

David Lange's excellent update of the history of the US Mint is in some of the larger retail book stores and available by mail from many coin dealers. Taxay had a lot of things right, but newer research has made some of his material obsolete. (After all, the Taxay book is nearly 50 years old.)

 

The subject of Don Taxay's location has popped up a couple of times on the e-sylum web newsletter. If you do a google search on "e-sylum" you can get to the weekly issues and find out more (speculation) on this author.

[DWLange]

Just for a clarification, my book is not really an update of Don Taxay's book, though they do have somewhat similar titles. This was unavoidable if the nature of the subject matter were to be transmitted to potential buyers. The exact title of my book is "History of the United States Mint and Its Coinage." It was published by Whitman last summer.

 

I'm an admirer of Taxay's several books, and I did of course use quotes and references from his Mint history in preparing my own book. As Roger pointed out, the Taxay book dates from the mid 1960s and does not address anything later than the adoption of the Kennedy Half Dollar. My book covers the colonial era through the current commemorative nickels and state quarters.

[IGWT]

In keeping with the original title of this thread, I'd like to see a book written on numismatic research itself, e.g., how to find original source materials. What is the process for finding and studying documents on certain subjects in the National Archives? Are there important papers in private hands; and, if so, is there any way to determine who holds them? What are the limitations of numismatic research?

 

I have questions on the minting process of the mid-nineteenth century that the standard texts don't attempt to answer. It's impossible to arrive at definitive answers by examining the coins themselves; reverse engineering takes you only so far, and contemporaneous records are necessary to confirm or to refute theories.

 

So, David, maybe your next book can be a "how-to" on conducting numismatic research.

[DWLange]

The means of obtaining information from government sources is constantly evolving. Very little is to be found online, so researchers presently have to go in person to the various National Archive facilities around the country and spend days reading through huge volumes of bound correspondence. I did this in November of 2004 while researching the second edition of my Mercury Dime book. The history chapter now includes thorough documentation that refutes a lot of what Breen and others wrote based on mere speculation. Roger Burdette's book came out about the same time as mine and includes much of the same material, though it is expanded to include the other 1916 issues and the Peace Dollar.

 

At last summer's ANA convention, the U. S. Mint had a historian's table where some of the original die ledgers from 1917-35 were on display. This is a huge advance in cooperation on their part and should permit reseachers the means to answer some very specific questions. For the time being, this material is not the easy to access, but Mint Historian Maria Goodwin is trying to change that.

 

To get some idea of how much work it is to find and examine original Mint documents, read Kevin Flynn's article about his research into the 1894-S dimes. This appeared online in last week's Coin World, which hardcopy subscribers should be getting in a few days.

[RWB]

The press run on most numismatic books is tiny compared to most of the things seen in book stores. This is part of the reason bookstores and libraries often fail to carry many numismatic books. Libraries also balance their purchases based on their perception of library patron demand. My local county library refuses to buy anything other than the Guide Book and Krause’s World Coins. Their reasoning is that very few people ask about other numismatic subjects. Of course, it is a self-fulfilling prophesy – if you don’t have the books to respond to interests, people cannot borrow them. I offered to donate $1,000 in numismatic books on US, world, ancient, etc., and the Chief Purchasing agent said they didn’t want them – too much trouble to file and track was her lame excuse.

 

It would be helpful to many collectors is there were a categorized list of books on US coins published within the past 15 or 20 years. Although many will be out of print, numismatic book sellers often have copies. That should give many collectors a better idea of the books available on clad coinage, seated liberty dimes, US Mint history or whatever their specialty.