Buy A Book Or Buy A Coin?

Which one would be easier to find in the near future?
Jon1

It's not at a library that I have access to.

Since I am doing a paper in the subject of history for the International Baccalaureate program, they have guidelines for analyzing the historiography of the chosen topic. Since this book was published in 1912, just months after the sinking of the Titanic, it offers the advantage of primary source material and a rare insight as to the causes of the disaster right after it happened. Two other primary sources that I will be using are the final reports of the US Senate Inquiry and the British Inquiry, which outline the causes of the sinking and recommends legislative changes that should be made in order to improve safety at sea. I am arguing that the shortcomings in the previously-enacted laws were the main culprit in the Titanic disaster. If you haven't gotten the gist of this post, I feel that I am leaning towards the book. I can always sell it when I am done with it.

Also, I do not attend a university; I am still in high school. I have also acknowledged the scientific studies done from evidence gathered from the sea floor, which pointed a finger at the rivets in the bow of the ship to be the cause of the sinking. However, I argue that the rivets didn't navigate the Titanic into an iceberg; a lack of strict regulations regarding the safe passage through an ice field (which was larger than normal in April 1912) and heeding all ice warnings did.

Interesting.

By all means go for the book. Although the coin you linked to is a nice example, 1839 Capped Bust halves are common and I'm confident you will be able to find a comparable example at a later time fairly easily.

Well, Here is online text, minus photos, but maybe that will help? http://web.archive.org/web/20080919011312/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/m...MarSink.html

Also, it looks like it got republished a year or two ago so you can get it as an ebook: http://books.google.com/books?id=Br...her_versions

But, if you want to have your hands on an actual copy of the book, pictures and all, go with buying the book.

That is one of the counterarguments in my essay. The engineering failures were not necesarilly the result of legislation failures, but, as I said earlier, the engineering failures did not navigate the Titanic into the iceberg. But, as with all disasters, the sinking of the Titanic was a result of a nasty chain of events, and I'm arguing that the faulty legislation allowed this chain to happen. However, if the accident had been unaboidable, then yes, I would harp on the engineering failures. But, in this case, the accident was avoidable, so I have to find an underlying cause, which I am arguing is the faulty legislation. And yes, when everything fell into place, the engineering failures did compound the disaster and cause the Titanic to sink more quickly - before help could arrive.

Like I said, buy both. If you can afford $87 for the coin you want, can't you stretch just a little more for the $4 book too?

Heck if you can't I'll pay the $4, but I get the book when you're done with your research.

Hey Amazon has a Kindle version for 99 cents.

Gotta love cheap, good quality books. Just finish a good one. Last Call, the rise and fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent. Published in 2010 Interesting era, and I thought I knew a fair amount about it. The book was fascinating and taught me a lot I didn't know. 400 plus pages, hardbound, cost me $3.50 including shipping.

I'm waiting for the seller to relist the coin at the moment. It ended before I had the chance to buy it or make my decision. I'm going to buy the $4 book and try to buy the coin from the seller.

Thanks for the offer Conder, but I think I can manage.