How much literature do members have and use?

[Rob]

As a collector who believes you can never have too much knowledge or too many books, I would be interested to know the amount of literature retained by members, and why it is or is not held.

One recurring feature of the posts on this forum is the number of questions posed by collectors of varying experience who do not appear to have their own sources of easily obtained information. Why not? Is it down to:

Excessive cost?

Are people unaware of what is available?

Do people refuse to buy books as this eats into their coin purchases fund?

Do people find it easier to use books or web pages?

All input gratefully received. I've got the ball rolling for the above poll, let's see what members of this forum think.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Rob

[Colin G.]

Rob,

Fascinating question, I keep adding to my collection, and whilst it is getting there I have a few cooments to make.....

Excessive cost? - Some titles are expensive in my opinion for what they are, but others are worth every penny. However I would be willing to spend a fair amount on a book if it covered the right topics

Are people unaware of what is available? - I think this is an issue, and it is only as you start to focus your collecting that you start to become more aware of what is out there.

Do people refuse to buy books as this eats into their coin purchases fund? - If it is a choice between the two and a set amount of funds, I usually end up getting the coin

Do people find it easier to use books or web pages? - For commonly used references it is the book every time. If it is literature that I look at from time to time or for a specific issue, then I am willing to browse.

I also think a major factor is whether you "collect" coins or "study" coins. To research coins properly, you need to have a very thorough library and be able to build upon thoughts of previous numismatists before you. It is essential to have a library for these purposes.

There are several mint reports I would like to have a look at, but I doubt whether I would keep referring to them, so I do hesitate when looking to buy these, it will inevitably be a case of me purchasing one and then seeing what I think!!

Edited January 31, 2011 by Colin G.

[azda]

I want to add to the book collection, sometimes those are expensive which would then mean to perhaps miss out on a coin to purchase a book. If i have enough funds avaliable i will purchase more as i do intend to expand the numi library somewhat. I think the other reason people ask a question is, even though i have Goubys new book, sometimes it still baffles me as to which die pairing i have perhaps just bought.

[argentumandcoins]

I am just under the 250 mark I guess, probably 50+ books, which I continually expand upon as and when I find them.

The more you spend on good reference material the less you should lose on bad purchases in my opinion.

You can never have too much information!

[TomGoodheart]

I admit to not having a great deal. But then I only collect a narrow range of coins. And that, and my lack of literature is largely down to cost. Also that until fairly recently I wasn't as bothered about provenance.

I subscribed to Spink's Numismatic Circular for a couple of years but no longer do. I receive catalogues from a few dealers.

In terms of books I have Brooker of course (SCBI 33) which I refer to frequently. Old copies of Spink (2002 and the updated 2006) in case I forget the numbers which are more widely recognised. Then I have copies of the relevant sections of North and more importantly copies of Michael Sharp' article on Tower shillings. Lockett for June 74, a copy of the relevant bits of the Numismatic Circular for the Shuttlewood sale and recently a copy of the catalogue for the sale of Roy Osborne's collection more or less complete my selection.

I have, but rarely refer to, copies of Besley's Coins and Medals of the English Civil War and Boon's Cardiganshire Silver & the Aberystwyth Mint. And finally a few old Seaby's and two books on coin collecting for fun.

What I also have, which is more useful to me, is information about Charles I shillings that I've seen (or hunted out) for sale with date and price. That is to a large extent my yardstick. It allows me to check whether I've seen something before, compare legends, condition, dies and is updated with past details from auction rooms and the like as well as information from coin collecting contacts whenever possible.

I like the internet. It's searchable. As are pdf files. Books and catalogues, less so. Which is not to say I wouldn't rather a book over a pdf any day when I'm reading for pleasure. And you can't pop a finger between pdf pages to mark your place while you flip back and forward comparing notes. So for some things books are preferred. But for current sale and availability data, the internet is brilliant. I just wish more dealers would use it!

If old auction catalogues were cheap then I would happily buy up any I thought useful. But while not expensive, they aren't dirt cheap either. My last coin cost £18. Last catalogue £8. Would I rather have two catalogues or a coin? (An extreme example I know but ...)

And often catalogues are not easy to obtain. I had a coin I was interested in selling and wanted a catalogue to show provenance and make the item more interesting, but was unable to track it down despite spending quite some time on it. And generally I'd rather be looking for coins than catalogues, simple as.

[Peter]

I keep all the old CC farthing catalogues together with most of the standard references.I also use the internet.

[Gary D]

I've got a Peck and a Freemans, oh Davies and Rayner as well all of which I rarely use. Spink, Allen and the two Groom are my constant companions.

Gary D

[SionGilbey]

Good question Rob - paper price guides keep needing to be renewed as money changes... however the tintynut is not static and can be updated in seconds... and how do you store your over 1000 books?

I have 3 or 4 bookshelves with around 80 books each... you'd need a mansion!

And if I had a mansion I'd sell it and buy a Bentley made of coins...

[Rob]

Good question Rob - paper price guides keep needing to be renewed as money changes... however the tintynut is not static and can be updated in seconds... and how do you store your over 1000 books?

I have 3 or 4 bookshelves with around 80 books each... you'd need a mansion!

And if I had a mansion I'd sell it and buy a Bentley made of coins...

Prices are the least important reason for the library as these fluctuate from day to day and no two coins are identical rendering precise figures irrelevant.

My library occupies a full room - walls and floor, but there is also another which I am in the process of taking over with the spares (not included in the total) much to the wife's annoyance. I don't live in a mansion, rather a very untidy hovel.

Books number a couple hundred or so and are all the standard references such as Snelling, Ruding, Hawkins, Brooke, Montagu, Peck, etc. BNJs, sylloges, price guides and specialist references also feature prominently. The vast majority (well over 3000) are auction catalogues of all ages and origin as long as they contain British coins, Spink Circulars, Seaby's Bulletins and dealer lists from which I extract images and provenances for a shortlist of coins I would buy of any particular variety and also those I would avoid. It helps me to stop buying something just because it looks appealing on that occasion. When coins appear infrequently, the attractiveness increases just through being there, but this is a temptation you need to avoid. When a coin is illustrated in old catalogues, it gives a good indication of the quality of the coin relative to what was/is available because illustrating coins 100 years ago was an expensive and time consuming operation and so only the rarest or best were accorded this treatment. A list of provenances is compiled at the same time, because a good one never harmed a coin's value (-the database is still not working properly at present after the links were corrupted recently). I basically try to discipline myself to only buy things that should be desirable to others unless they are out and out rare and still fit my collecting criteria.

[declanwmagee]

let's see now...

Peck, which doesn't get used much, but I've had it for ages and I like the smell of it. I do plug Peck numbers into the stupid database for some reason, and I use his rarity ratings as one of the many inputs into my Magic Number, which tries to calculate a numerical answer to the eternal "which is the better coin?" question.

ESC, again, for the reference numbers and the rarity ratings

Freeman for the more hardcore variety identification

Dave Groom's silver book, for even more hardcore varieties

Coincraft catalogue from about 2000 - the snippets in there are as close to light reading as my library gets

Derek's Grading book pretty much every day

for valuing, pricing, and bidding:

CCGB (2010)

Spink (2009)

British Coin Market values (2011)

...and Tony Clayton's website

I try and keep those reasonably up to date - it's Spink's turn next as you can see.

and I'm waiting on a copy of Davies to be delivered from the US. I actually get more excited waiting for books than waiting for coins.

[Red Riley]

I have around 30 coin books; Peck, Gouby, Rayner, Spink, Groome and CCGB are pretty much indispensable. I expect to see this increasing exponentially in the coming years despite the attractions of the internet.

[Peckris]

Peck 2nd

Freeman 1st

North (never used)

various Seabys & Spinks

ESC

Gouby 1st

Jerraims

Coincraft

Derek's Grading Guide

CCGBs

Seabys copper coins and tokens (60s)

Gary's silver varieties

1970 Coins & Medals varieties survey

Rayners Milled Coins (rarities in various grades since 1672) 1972

Spinks 1925 English Milled Coins

plus various lists and catalogues and auction lists acquired over the years

There's others too but I rarely open them.

[Gary]

M.Freeman, 2nd Edition (1985)

M.Gouby, The Bronze Penny 1860-1970 (1986)

M.Gouby, The Bronze penny 1860-1901 Specialised (2009)

J.Jerrams Bun Penny Varieties 1860-1865, 2nd Edition (2003)

D.Groom, Identification Of 20th Century Bronze (2010)

P.Rayner, Silver Coinage Since 1649, 5th Edition

P.Davies, British Siolver Coins since 1816, 1st edition (1982)

D.Groom, Identification Of 20th Century Silver (2010)

C.Perkins, CCGB (2009), must update that one!

Coincrafts, Standard Catalogue of Scotland Ireland etc. (1999)

Coincrafts, Standard Catalogue of English and Uk Coins (2000)

Spink auctions, the Norweb collection Part 1 (1985)

Krause, standard Catalogue of German Coins 1601 to present 2nd Edition

Battenberg, World coin Catalogue 20th century (2005)

and I will have to get a new Spinks....

Edited February 1, 2011 by Gary

[davidrj]

M.Freeman, Bronze Penny (1966)

M.Freeman, Bronze Coinage 1st Edition (1970)

M.Gouby, The Bronze Penny 1860-1970 (1986)

M.Gouby, The Bronze penny 1860-1901 Specialised (2009)

D.Groom, Identification Of 20th Century Bronze (2010)

D.Allen, Grading British Coins

Krause, World Coins V edition (?1977)

Krause, 1601-1700 3rd ed

Krause, 1701-1800 3rd ed

Krause, 1801-1900 4th ed

Krause, 1901-2000 36th ed

F daSilva, Moedas e Notas (Portuguese Coins from 1799) 2004

Prieur & Schmitt, Le Franc VI (French Coins 1796-2001) 2006

V Gadoury, Monnaies Royales Francaise 1610-1792 (1986)

J Duplessy, Monnaies Francaise Royales 1515-1793 (1989)

Edifil, Moneda Espanola (Spanish coins , mainland & colonies from 1700) 1981

Higgins, Copper coins of Europe 1892 (Spink reprint) 1970

Hobson, Coin Identifier (1966)

A book on 19th C Chinese copper (all in Chinese but photos of all types) 2003

Cresswell. Chinese Cash (1971) Spink

Seaby, British Copper Coins (1967)

A Russo, Moedas do Brasil (Brazil 1643-1990) 1990

Spink, Coins of England 2007

probably more

David

[RobJ]

I currently have Spink, CCGB, Red's Grading book, Check Your Change and The Coin Yearbook.

As someone who is still new to Coin Collecting I have found them all most useful and interesting.

I do intend in the not too distant future to purchase a couple of books on varieties for Silver and Copper/Bronze.

[Accumulator]

I have many of the main references covered already but I don't believe anyone has mentioned the Marsh books which are essential reading for sovereigns & half sovereigns.

[Peckris]

I currently have Spink, CCGB, Red's Grading book, Check Your Change and The Coin Yearbook.

As someone who is still new to Coin Collecting I have found them all most useful and interesting.

I do intend in the not too distant future to purchase a couple of books on varieties for Silver and Copper/Bronze.

It depends what your main interests are in this area. If you mean silver going right back to early milled, then ESC is your start, if you mean say 20th Century only then Gary's book has all the varieties in, plus there is Davies going back to ?1816 which is the main absence from my own library.

Copper/Bronze, the only single source for these is still Peck, otherwise you're specialising into one (or two) books from the above lists.

[Bronze & Copper Collector]

I started to make a list and it has become a project....

I didn't realize how many reference books I had....

I'll try to post as I get them listed.....

Started as a text list, decided to put it in excel....

[SionGilbey]

Received a CoinCraft yearbook today, never having had one before.

What do you guys think of them?

And B&C, try Access!

I find it is brilliant for books.

(Or if you are tech-savvy you could try library software like VubisSmart).

[RobJ]

It depends what your main interests are in this area. If you mean silver going right back to early milled, then ESC is your start, if you mean say 20th Century only then Gary's book has all the varieties in, plus there is Davies going back to ?1816 which is the main absence from my own library.

Copper/Bronze, the only single source for these is still Peck, otherwise you're specialising into one (or two) books from the above lists.

Thanks for the information Peckris.

[RobJ]

I purchased a rather interesting little 'Booklet' the other. It is entitled 'Pocket Money Guide' and was published in 1968.

It is basically a pocket sized Guide on which coins to look out for in your change. The prices and Mintages came from 'The Coin Monthly Year Book' of the same year.

It covers Farthings to Half Crowns from 1838 to 1967. It also has information on the 'History of Money' 'How money was and is made' Grading, Cleaning Coins and a small section dealing with the 'New' Decimal Coinage that was coming.

It is a fascinating little read. It is so nice to see what coins were valued at then compared to now, and I think that it's great to see them priced in L/S/D.

It is all out of date now of course, but it is still a nice little guide.

It is well worth the £2 that I purchased it for and I will take it with me on my future coin buying expiditions.

Edited February 5, 2011 by RobJ

[Rob]

I started to make a list and it has become a project....

I didn't realize how many reference books I had....

I'll try to post as I get them listed.....

Started as a text list, decided to put it in excel....

Yup.

I had a catalogue.

Then I thought I had a catalogue with names and prices, but I didn't.

So I bought a catalogue with names and prices.

Then I found I had three; two catalogues with names and prices and one without either.

So I made an inventory and found I had quite a lot of duplicates.

[Peckris]

I purchased a rather interesting little 'Booklet' the other. It is entitled 'Pocket Money Guide' and was published in 1968.

It is basically a pocket sized Guide on which coins to look out for in your change. The prices and Mintages came from 'The Coin Monthly Year Book' of the same year.

It covers Farthings to Half Crowns from 1838 to 1967. It also has information on the 'History of Money' 'How money was and is made' Grading, Cleaning Coins and a small section dealing with the 'New' Decimal Coinage that was coming.

It is a fascinating little read. It is so nice to see what coins were valued at then compared to now, and I think that it's great to see them priced in L/S/D.

It is all out of date now of course, but it is still a nice little guide.

It is well worth the £2 that I purchased it for and I will take it with me on my future coin buying expiditions.

Oh I think I picked that one up a few years ago! Does it have nice photographs on a black background? If it's the one I'm thinking of, it makes a few glaring errors, the main one not distinguishing between bronze and copper dated 1860, and mixing up the illustrations for the two types. But as you say, a fascinating read.

[Bronze & Copper Collector]

just as a basic start...

Freeman

Gouby

Peck

Bramah

Batty

Satin (Jerrams)

Bressett

Seaby

Spink

Krause World

Haven't even started to list US books

[Boomstick]

I currently have Spink, CCGB, Red's Grading book, Check Your Change and The Coin Yearbook.

As someone who is still new to Coin Collecting I have found them all most useful and interesting.

I do intend in the not too distant future to purchase a couple of books on varieties for Silver and Copper/Bronze.