A Brief Book Review
Andrew Crellin. The Coinage of Colonial Australia: Governor King's Proclamation of 1800. Sydney: Monetarium, 2004
There's no question that this book is immediately pleasing to the eye and to the hand: Generously illustrated with images representing the times, places, people and coins discussed within its hard-cover binding. The introduction of ten pages serves to provide some context, including a socio-economic overview of the penal colony. A chapter is then dedicated to each of the eleven coins, which are described, their usage discussed and some tips provided for the novice collector.
This is not a work of great depth or scholarship, nor was it intended to be as the primary audience is obviously not the serious numismatist. Rather, it is a welcome diversion that can be comfortably read in a couple of evenings.
What qualifies me to make these comments? Well, frankly nothing. This is the first book I've read with a numismatic focus. That said, over the course of the past couple of weeks I've read a number of articles from the British Numismatic Journal on related topics which serve as a point of reference. These have been far more interesting and useful. Perhaps I'll summarise their contents in upcoming posts.
The Coinage of Colonial Australia can be purchased here for $50 AUD. I bought my new copy recently from an eBay seller for $10, but they have no more copies left. This is unsurprising given that only 750 were printed.