Some of the headings in Krause got all jumbled up when they split the volumes up by century. Britain, for instance, is headed "Kingdom Resumed" - which might cause some head-scratching, until you realise that this heading really belongs after the Commonwealth coinage from the 1600's, when Britain was temporarily a republic.
But that's not the best explanation in this case, because all Irish Free State / Republic predecimal coinage is in a single (20th century) volume.
Quote:
...It should be under Ireland (Free State), then the subsequent coinage under Ireland (Republic)...
I suspect at least part of the problem here is the continuum of coinage across this transition; the Irish Free State changed it's name to "Ireland" with a new constitution in 1937 and the coins changed to reflect this, but they did not technically became a republic until 1949, and this latter transition was not marked on the coinage at all. Personally, I would keep it as a single header, rather than put an artificial distinction at 1949, but change the header to read "Irish Free State (Dominion) / Republic" or give the dates, "Irish Free State 1921-37, Dominion 1937-1949, Republic 1949-".
Quote:
Am I just being pedantic?
Not at all; disinformation should be combated wherever it occurs. Anyone who derives their information about world history from the Krause catalogues (and there are more than just a few collectors who take what's printed in Krause at face value, without looking deeper into the history of the country) could easily be confused by the entry for Ireland. In my 2006 edition Krause, all 20th century Irish coinage is listed under "Republic"; a casual reader could easily come to believe that Ireland became a Republic in 1928 when the coinage began. I'll admit that's what I actually thought until just a few years ago when I found out otherwise.
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Posted 03/13/2010 11:52 am
Do the Editors of the Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins take historical accuracy seriously? Opinions anyone? I see they have Irish Free State sterling coinage under Republic. It should be under Ireland (Free State), then the subsequent coinage under Ireland (Republic). Having renumbered the section, should they not get the headings sorted? Am I just being pedantic?
