A fun look back to a simpler time in coin collecting...I recently helped go through some of the inventory/collection of a fellow coin club member who had died. Among the books he had in his library was a copy of the Fourth Edition (1958) of
Fell's United States Coin Book by Jacques Del Monte (the book's title is derived from its publisher Frederick Fell, Inc.).
The book was first published in 1949, with later editions published in 1952 and 1955 in addition to the 1958 edition in my friend's collection. Per the book's jacket, it was "especially prepared for those who want complete information about collecting coins, selling coins and evaluating coins." It was further described as "a standard work which gives the latest information on
all coins of the United States." (Emphasis on "all" is original, not added by me.)
Considering that its first edition was published three years after the first edition of
A Guide Book of United States Coins (aka the "
Red Book") and 15 years after the first edition of Wayte Raymond's
Standard Catalogue of United States Coins, each of which far exceeds the depth and quality of the information provided by the Fell's title, a declaration suggesting it is a "standard work" seems like quite the boast.
In fairness, however, I believe the Fell's book had a different target audience in mind. The
Red Book and Raymond catalogues were intended for dedicated collectors while the Fell's title appears to have been aimed more at the general public and/or those with only a passing or casual interest in coins. For example, it generally does not include mintage figures for the coins listed and only provides a single market value for each (the selling price for a lower-end circulated piece vs. a mint state example).
Unlike its "competitors," the book did not include photographs of the coins it described, going with line drawings instead. Many of the drawings are reasonably good, others not so much. In all cases, however, the reader does get a good idea of the overall appearance of each coin.
Before I present a few pages from the commemorative coin section, I wanted to mention one of the book's other chapters, one titled "Worthless Coins." The introductory paragraph of the chapter states: "There are some coins which have no value to collectors, but which turn up so frequently that it seemed advisable to mention them specifically." Among the five pieces listed is the Columbian half dollar of 1892 or 1893. The author comments "These were issued at the time of the Chicago World's Fair and everybody's grandfather saved them. They are therefore very common." Well, how can I argue against the author's belief in the grandfather effect! As such, please send me your worthless Columbians, either date, at your next opportunity, I will properly dispose of them as a public service to all.
Following are selected pages from "Chapter 9 - Commemorative Silver and Gold Coins" of
Fell's United States Coin Book.
Enjoy!
Posted 10/20/2018 08:10 am
