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 Replies: 23 / Views: 4,723 |
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Valued Member
United States
455 Posts |
I've been collecting for years, primarily (well, exclusively really), US coins. I'm thinking of diversifying a bit, maybe branching out. The UK seems like a good place to go next. I'd like to read up on different series, denominations, mintages, etc. Is there a UK equivalent of our Red Book? |
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Moderator
 Australia
16830 Posts |
As far as I know, there aren't any US-made catalogues which focus on British coinage. The commonest UK catalogue seems to be the one put out annually by Spink, titled "Coins of England and the United Kingdom". It covers the whole breadth of British coinage, from ancient Celtic and Roman though mediaeval Anglo-Saxon and English hammered right up to modern issues. I've got a 2004 edition. Note that prices in this book are for prices in Britain, given in pounds, and the British grading standard is used.
If your collecting focus is likely to be limited to a particular century in modern times and/or if you think that other countries might be of interest as well, you might find a Krause catalogue of world coins to be just as good as a UK-specific book.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
 If you get tired of picking up your big heavy krause you can always photocopy the pages you use most. I haven't seen the computer version of it, because I still like books. |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
Sap, that is not entirely true. There is one of them and I think it is probably the only one - which I have been using to value my own GB coins more accurately. It is called Collectors' Coins GB and printed by Rotographic, retails around £4.95 and is available on Amazon and probably ebay. I would advise TS on getting a copy of this if only because the price guides are much more accurate than the "Coins of the United Kingdom and England", at least with regards to the lower value (i.e. less than about £20-30) coins and gives a greater range of values for varieties of dates too. I have not so far spotted any gross inaccuracies. TS: You would not be going wrong collecting the UK coinage ;) - lots of variety and interesting history which stretches all the way back in time to those Celtic coins that sap mentioned. http://www.predecimal.com/books/ccgb2006framed.htm |
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Moderator
Australia
16830 Posts |
Neat. Can't say I've ever seen dealers down here sell or carry the Rotographic books. I found it on their website. Sounds like a better buy, if pre-1797 coins aren't going to be of interest. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
Oh yes, the weakness of the book!
Author has said that he plans on going further back past the 1797 coins, at the moment it's more or less the industrial revolution to present. Still, it is unique and a newish work, takes development...watch this space for a retro-expansion of the coin date range..
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Valued Member
 United States
455 Posts |
I appreciate the feedback guys, thanks. I agree, it's the variety and the history that's drawing me in, I'm looking forward to going back through the centuries I know this is going to be fun. I'll check out the books and pick up one or two of them. Thanks again.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
103 Posts |
I use the 'SPINK' book "Coins Of England & The United Kingdom". Excellent publication. It costs approx $50 US new. If you are interested the ISBN is 1-902040-76-7 for the 2007 edition.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
547 Posts |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
91 Posts |
You should definitely get into British coins. Such a lot of history and great designs!
All the books mentioned above are great.
I don't know if you saw a previous link but I've got a British coin website up and running which although it doesn't have values of the coins it has many of the different coins pictured back until William and Mary 1689 (going back to Cromwellian coins soon though). It also contains a lot of information on each coin. Unfortunately I'm not aloud to post a link here but you will find it under the CoinsGB thread or by searching CoinsGb in google.
PS the forum is also up and running. You will learn a lot about British coins there and if you join you can post pictures and questions on it.
Regards,
Hus
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Pillar of the Community
Germany
1063 Posts |
Personally as a british person I have found english coins to be quite boring, it all depends on what sort of collecting you like to do. I am a one of a kind sort of person, yet if you have one of a kind, you normally get very similar coins over a long period of time. There are lots of difference that can be frustrating (or exciting depending on your view), such as the george V portrait that "changed" when in reality all that happened was they moved the initials of the designer a little bit.
I personally like a little more variety, other countries had a lot more termoil, germany with the nazi coins and also the coins of each kingdom, expensive as they are, within the german empire, and before.
Spain's coinage has changed a lot over time, I think isabel II's coinage appears to be all over the place, with different designs and denominations every few years.
It might be an idea to collect from a few european nations and see which one catches your eye, maybe british coins are your thing!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
It's a matter of interest and value for me. While I love early San Francisco mint quarters, they're pricy and I only turn up one or two a year I can afford. But it's a whole different matter with British, Spanish and French silver. There are lots of interesting coins available, many scarce by American standards, selling at 10-20% of comparable American denominations. Among the English coins:
-Hammered silver is spendy, but considering the price vs contemporary Pine Tree shillings, it's a steal.
-Early 19th century shillings sell for a little over melt - comparable rarity US bust quarters sell for 20x as much.
Among the rest of the European coins, I like the silver crowns (English crown, French 5 franc, Netherlands 2.5 gulden, etc.). They sell as bullion, but to my mind they're all interesting as type coins. I also like the early modern French mintmarks - all the scarcity of cc's and the southern mints, but without the price markup.
And a lot of these coins are very attractive - not so much the monarch obverses (the later Queen Victoria coins are hard to match for sheer ugliness) as the reverses with their shields, pillars and waves, dragons, etc.
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
Edited by thq
10/25/2007 4:54 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
They only sell as bullion in very low grades, of course...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3343 Posts |
The bargain crowns are usually low grade, though I picked up an AU 1939 Dutch 2.5 gulden for $10 a couple weeks ago. And while not at melt level, the 19th century shillings mostly sell under $10 in F-VF, which is a bargain compared to most US seated and bust quarters of the same grade and rarity. The problem for me is finding dealers who carry much stock in the US. Mailing from the UK or Europe is expensive.
"Two minutes ago I would have sold my chances for a tired dime." Fred Astaire
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
91 Posts |
(the later Queen Victoria coins are hard to match for sheer ugliness) as the reverses with their shields, pillars and waves, dragons, etc. This is an earlier Victoria Sovereign:  but I like the shield design as for the George and the dragon and Britannia designs. They are classic designs. The craftsmanship that has gone into the design. The fact that you can see all the muscles on the horse and rider (on the St.George and the dragon design). Anyway I do think that some of the said designs were used a lot and and so tend appear a lot. Thats maybe why some would find them boring. Have you ever checked out George III gilt proof coins and even Thomas Simons 1663 Petition Crown coin? In what other country can you find such well designed and produced coins for that period? In my view British coins were an innovation in design and so was the machinery used to produce the coins with. Edited by hussulo
10/26/2007 2:02 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2217 Posts |
An antique coin can be ugly?
never heard of it...
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Replies: 23 / Views: 4,723 |
Posted 10/22/2007 09:01 am
