For sale/trade: Akers' 'A Handbook of 20th-century US Gold Coins'

[pendragon1998]

Up for Trade:

One hardback copy of David W. Akers' book, A Handbook of 20th-Century United States Gold Coins: 1907-1933. Published by Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc. in 1988. ISBN: 0-943161-19-3. This book is in brand-new condition, and is still in the printer's shrink-wrap.

 

This book is apparently getting hard to find. In a search on the major online book sellers*:

half.com (2 copies) ($60.00 - $70.00)

Amazon (1 copy) ($65.45)

Barnes&Noble (0 copies)

Alibris Used Books (3 copies) ($45.95; $65.40; $194.95)

AbeBooks (3 copies) ($65.45; $85.00; $150.00)

eBay (0 copies)

 

I've got two copies, so I'm keeping one and trading the second (my personal copy was opened and is in almost-new condition).

 

Review:

In my previous trade thread, jtryka reviewed this book, saying:

Unfortunately for pendragon1998, I already have a copy of this book otherwise I'd do this trade in a heartbeat! For anyone interested in collecting any of the 20th century gold series (Saints, Indian eagles, half eagles and quarter eagles), this book is simply indispensible. Akers goes into great detail for each individual date and mintmark, with great information on strike characteristics, color and luster characteristics, polulations and rarity and a listing of the finest coins he personally had seen. I have the new Bowers Redbook on Double eagles and the Saint section of his newer book (2005 I think) pales in comparison to Akers' detail. So if you are interested in any of these series, I cannot recommend this book enough! It's been out of print for a while, and it took me several months to locate my copy when I bought it several years ago, so you'd be smart to take advantage of this one!

 

Terms of Trade:

My first preference would be to trade for US coins. My primary collecting interests are in SBA dollars and liberty head nickels, but I am open to any offers you wish to make. I would prefer the total value of the offer to be around $50-$70, which is the low end of the book's market value.

 

Unless we agree to different terms (based on how well I think I know you from your posts here), I would prefer to see the coin(s) in hand before mailing out the book. A previous trader (Jazzy) I dealt with never sent the coin he promised, so if I had mailed out the book, I'd have been stiffed. I consider seeing the coin in hand to be equivalent to letting a check clear before sending the book. This is particularly true for raw coins, but if you're well-established here and the coin's slabbed, I'd consider simultaneous mailing. If I need to review the coin, I will ship the book or return the coin within a day of receipt.

 

I intend to mail the book in a padded mailer via USPS first class mail. S&H is free.

 

Alternatively, if you would like to simply buy the book, I own the only two copies listed for sale on half.com.

The almost-new copy is $60 and the brand-new copy is $70.

 

 

The book up for trade:

(FYI: The white "noise" in the photo is reflection from the plastic shrinkwrap.)

[pendragon1998]

ba-dum-BUMP!

[pendragon1998]

Looks like we have several new members here as of late who are interested in gold. It would probably be a good idea for them to buy a good book on gold coins first. Hey! What do we have here?

[HaydenTubbs]

Mike,you ought to just put the book on eBay and get rid of it.

[pendragon1998]

Mm...I'm not in a rush to sell. I think the problem is so many collectors are more willing to drop $60 on a coin rather than a book, even though they claim that education and research is key to the hobby.