Standard Reference for British Imperial & Colonial Coinage

[JTerry3]

Does a comprehensive modern one exist? 

I've come across James Atkins' 'The Coins and Tokens of the Possessions and Colonies of the British Empire'. This is a good starting point for early colonial coinage but was published in 1889 so naturally doesn't cover anything past that! I'm looking for something that would include all the 20th century including Commonwealth coinage.

Then there is also the 'Spink's Catalogue of British Colonial and Commonwealth Coins' which sounds ideal at 700+ pages but it's quite pricy - and it's still 40 years old - so is there another more modern & affordable option that anyone knows of? Many thanks!

Kind regards,

Joe

Edited October 3, 2022 by JTerry3

[Rob]

Another popular reference is British Commonwealth Coins by Remick, James, Dowle & Finn if you can find one. 3rd edition was published in 1971. 

I don't think you will find anything to cover the modern stuff apart from Krause due to the diarrhoeic output of modern commemoratives.

You are unlikely to find cheap useful reference books as the specialist volumes are usually out of print and were never produced in great numbers anyway. A few pounds if really fortunate, but frequently tens of pounds or even hundreds.

[JTerry3]

13 hours ago, Rob said:

Another popular reference is British Commonwealth Coins by Remick, James, Dowle & Finn if you can find one. 3rd edition was published in 1971. 

I don't think you will find anything to cover the modern stuff apart from Krause due to the diarrhoeic output of modern commemoratives.

You are unlikely to find cheap useful reference books as the specialist volumes are usually out of print and were never produced in great numbers anyway. A few pounds if really fortunate, but frequently tens of pounds or even hundreds.

Thanks a lot for bringing that to my attention Rob, looks ideal! At 500+ pages & with smaller dimensions, it still should be comprehensive enough whilst being more shelf-size friendly than the Spink one.

By modern I was really just meaning a recent printing as that would likely be available both in excellent condition & at a cheaper price. I was not referring to the content of the coins covered because, as to your point, the modern commemoratives from these nation's mints is oversaturating. I would probably only be interested in collecting the initial post-independence issues.

I've now found this book from a coin dealer for £20 so very affordable & even come across a full, complete e-book which is even better value at £0!

Edited October 4, 2022 by JTerry3

[Mr T]

I've got Remick's book and it's decent. It doesn't go into a lot of details with varieties but that's to be expected.

I hadn't heard of the Spink book - can anyone recommend?

[SilverAge3]

On 10/8/2022 at 3:41 AM, Mr T said:

I've got Remick's book and it's decent. It doesn't go into a lot of details with varieties but that's to be expected.

I hadn't heard of the Spink book - can anyone recommend?

A shop in the States has a copy I'm contemplating buying. It's $50 with shipping and tax, so hoping it's a decent buy.

[Mr T]

Looks like it - the prices at https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/spinks-catalogue-british-colonial/ are higher.

[VickySilver]

I concur, this is a basic and gives a general heading or steerage. Unfortunately, as Mr. T I am nearly certain would agree, most knowledge of colonial comes from experience and following the market, auctions, etc.

[Mr T]

Yeah, as much as I'd like a one-stop book that covers it all, specialist books win out every time. Unfortunately, there are few (let alone in print) specialist books on many British Commonwealth countries.