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 Replies: 26 / Views: 2,612 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
I have heard from many sources that many of the most avid numismatists have also been collectors of books, especially books on coins. So do you enjoy collecting books relating to your numismatic collection? Do you also enjoy displaying your collection of books on coins or do you like to just tuck them away under the bed or in a drawer? After all, your coin books represent your knowledge and appreciation of your coins and medals. So are not your coin books in a sense also part of your coin collection?
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Rest in Peace
United States
1943 Posts |
My coin books are a part of my collection. When my daughter married her bedroom became my coin room. I have 3 bookcases in the room filled with auction catalogues, a RedBook collection, a bluebook collection, a Wayte Raymond Standard Catalogue collection, and one bookcase just for reference books with each shelf designated for a denomination. I have always considered coin books very important. Most of my buys on ebay are coin books. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3345 Posts |
https://goccf.com/t/85597I posted a poll about this awhile back. I do collect them, but only when I find good deals (which I find often).
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3499 Posts |
pyrbob- Very cool! I am jealous of the size of your coin book collection.
rachums107- Thanks for the input and for the link. I am actually not just referring to Redbooks; rather, I am curious how many people collect old auction catalogs, price guides, scholarly journals (Such as the American Journal of Numismatics), and myriad other sorts of informative books which are not intended to serve as mere price guides.
I actually am a bibliophile in addition to a numismatist, and books on numismatics proves to be a wonderful collision of these two hobbies.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
I bought 25 red books at a garage sale....and could not have been happier about the find.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
acloco- Very nice! Which years? Do you think that you got a good deal through this purchase?
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Moderator
 Australia
16816 Posts |
I don't "collect" them, in the sense that I treat them as collectables in their own right, but I do have a lot of them, many of which I use fairly regularly. But if I buy a new edition of a book I already own an old edition of, I'll usually give away the old one or donate it to the coin club.
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
3499 Posts |
Sap- I definitely can understand the desire to rid oneself of out-of-date price guides. I too have sold off old editions of the various volumes of the Standard Catalog of World Coins, but I have no desire to part with books which provide information about coins. In fact, I love finding old books from the 1970s and 1980s pertaining to collecting, the historical context of coins, and the minting process.
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Valued Member
United States
361 Posts |
I collect reference material. I consider my books a part of my collection. The Mrs. does not let me display them on shelves though! Says they are dust collectors. I have them in a clost and read them as needed. One of my favorites is the encyclopedia of silver dollars. So much info. I have never had a desire to collect redbooks. I probably have 5 or 6 floating around.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
Quote:
I am curious how many people collect old auction catalogs, price guides, scholarly journals (Such as the American Journal of Numismatics), and myriad other sorts of informative books which are not intended to serve as mere price guides. The prize of my numismatic book collection is a stereotype edition of Adam's Latin Grammar by Benjamin A. Gould, stereotyped at the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry in 1832. In it is a vast section on Latin grammar along with rules of pronunciation. It also contains a metrical key to the Odes of Horace, a list of Latin authors, and (the coup de grace) 'tables showing the value of the various coins, weights, and measures used among the Romans'. At least, the value of said coins in 1832   Edited by ancientcoinguy
06/12/2011 01:29 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
numismaniac- Really, she does not want to have any books on shelves? I must say that I personally love the aesthetic of handsome books. But whatever makes the wife happy often is the law of the land. haha
ancientcoinguy- Very interesting reference book. So would these values be the collector's value in 1832?
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Books are the tools of the trade for a numismatic collector.
In 1976, I sold almost all of my collection which hade up 10% of the value of our first house. I did not sell ANY of my books, because of the statement at the start of my post. I still have ALL of those books and many more, and a coin collection which is bigger than the first.
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Rest in Peace
United States
9104 Posts |
Old saying: Buy the book before the coin.
Back in the 60s, Gary Philips, the coin dealer from Athens, had a policy. Once a month, he'd buy a book on numismatics, preferably in some obscure area, and read it.
As a result, he could find interesting bargains that most people didn't know about. Sort of the original cherrypicker.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3540 Posts |
Archraz - nobody would pass up the deal. From early 60's to 2008.
Doubled up on a couple of mine, so I will be selling off the spares soon.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
842 Posts |
Thanks, Archraz! The prices inside are the market value of the coins in 1832. Naturally all of the coins carry a princely sum, even the ones that we consider common today. The main reason is that ancient coins were very hard to come by then, due to the fact that the only way to find them was to dig them up by chance (since no technology existed to detect them).
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I'm actually doing the reverse of everyone. Getting rid of excessive books of all kinds. Due to old age and seeing what happens to excessive STUFF laying around that no one else wants, I've made myself New Years resolutions to start getting rid of STUFF at a minimum of one item a day. I still have my complete Red Book collection though but a real lot of just books are slowing going out. A neighbor of mine and his wife both recently passed away. He was a airplane collector and had a real lot of books on planes. Relatives came in and massively tossed almost everything into the garbage and every book, magazine, article on planes went. Seeing this and being old made me think of where all my stuff will end up so starting to downsize myself. |
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Replies: 26 / Views: 2,612 |
Posted 06/11/2011 7:45 pm
