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 Replies: 10 / Views: 3,555 |
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Rest in Peace
1988 Posts |
Hi..To all my American friends..I have found a coin book called "The Rare Coin Encyclopedia" that was in my basement..It might be of some interest for people trying to identify older coins..Below is just one picture from the book and a very short list of what is in it.  LIST: - Massachusetts Pine, Oak and willow tree coins from 1652. - Colonial Continental. - Copper coins from America from 1612. - New Jersey coins from 1786. - Connecticut deer and hammer coins from 1737. - Connecticut State coins from 1785. - Virginia coins from 1774. - United States bar cent. - Vermont coins from 1785. - Kentucky halfpenny coins from 1785. - New York brasher doubloon gold coins from 1787. - Franklin cent coins from 1787. - Etc.Etc |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
WOW! Very cool...Author, Full Title, publisher?
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Rest in Peace
 1988 Posts |
Hi amida17..here is your request as best as I can find the information.
TITLE: Rare Coin Encyclopedia
AUTHOR:Wm. Von Bergen
PUBLISHER:Universal Coin Dealers Directory
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Love It! Nice library addition.
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Rest in Peace
1988 Posts |
Thought if anyone needs help with a coin and if I can give information...that is what it will be used for.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1554 Posts |
The author is William Von Bergen. The Von Bergen story is interesting. He is somehow connected up to B. Max Mehl..... Mehl produced books very similar to Von Bergens, and, looked somewhat like he copied Bergens format.. He ran a coin business in Boston.
Edited by 1893S
12/17/2013 9:43 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4416 Posts |
I've owned a few of these, dated late 1880-90's. I'll wager that Von Bergen inspired Mehl. Interesting and relatively scarce as these little price guides are, they don't seem to fetch much money. One copy that I bought, had a red cover, entitled "Rare Coins" and was imprinted with gold leaf. A book seller charged me $25, and it was in excellent condition. Granted, the cost was five times what many of Mehl's later catalogs can cost.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2133 Posts |
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Rest in Peace
1988 Posts |
And another thing guys..the way he writes in this book has words that you and me would use while talking..not swearing, but HIS personal opinion as to what he feels about coin collecting..interesting reading..Makes me laugh that the price of coins in that book are soooooo low..One price said if I can remember that !000.00 gold piece was worth $100.00...WHAT?..Some of it does not make sense.
He even put in his personal address to send coins to him..He lived at 89 Court Street, Boston, Mass.
There is another signature on the inside cover..D.W.McFarland,,Dobt know who he is or even if he is a coin person.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
I believe Von Bergen produced the book and he sold them in bulk to dealers who resold them under their own name and title. Mehl was one of these but the same book can be found under a couple other titles from other dealers in the early 20th century. Mehl was the one who really ran with it.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
OH so that's where I left it. I was looking for that book and only remembered I left it in a houst back about 1915. May have been longger than that but you know how memories get.   Nice find. |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 3,555 |
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Posted 12/17/2013 7:08 pm
