I have a 2007 Krause 20th century world coin catalog which I use as my basic reference point for foreign coins. Does anyone know how accurate the mintage's in this book are? Specifically for German coins of the mid twentieth century?
I know for a FACT that the mintages for Icealndic coins are slightly incorrect, also the values are off as well. Chances are pretty good that they are off with Germany as well
Mintage numbers in Krause are close enough that it doesn't matter. As for values they are typcially too high, too low or just right. But you never know which is which without additional research. The same is true of any price guide.
Whitman has a new World coin book I just picked up dates 1750-1967 & number are up to date some what.as you can't know how many got melted buy silver hounds. :thumblus it was $19.95
While I don't know specifically about the coins you listed, you have to be extremely careful with mintages, so much so I just use them for a VERY rough guide. So much stuff has happened with mintages over the years, some being completely melted, some being found in BU in large numbers years later, that a given mintage figure has little bearing to todays survival rates. This is why good specialty books are invaluable, as they frequently have more information like this. Krause is so high level anyone wishing to specialize in a series only using Krause as a guide is hopelessly lost in my opinion. Specialists can make a lot of money still, that is because so many collectors still only rely on one book. Hopefully you will get an answer to a better book for you here. If not, try asking a good book dealer what the standards are for your series.
I completely agree with you about the value of mintages. I don't need them for assessing value. I guess I should have explained myself better. I'm in the process of trying to put together a method of storage for these coins that I like. What I want to do is create an album of some kind. I want to list below the coin the date/MM as well as the original mintage. I think that's the key basic info that should be included with each coin in an album. Before I do that, I want to make sure the mintage is as accurate as possible.
This is very true - Krause gives an indication of a country's coins, but to specialise, I'd get a book for that country. I do this with the UK, which provides me with better mintage figures (with the caveats mentioned by posters above) and more accurate costs. Also, looking at auctions (eBay and auction houses) gives a better indication of "prevailing" costs rather than those printed in guides ... also Krause doesn't list rarer types, etc.
I give the Krause Catalog an A+ for effort. At times I'm just amazed at the quantity of material in their books. How on earth they are even close to accurate is beyond me. It's like reading an unabridged dictionary. I wouldn't know if some obscure or unheard of word was missing, or some secondary definition is off somewhat. Krause gets it close enough. When you sell your coin, you probably won't get the EXACT value for it anyway, a range is good enough. Kudos to Krause.
I think everyone appreciates the work going into a Krause catalog. Its imply the fact ot os so large that makes any specialty completely impossible. Anyone familiar with US coinage can take a look at Krause and see how high level it is, and missing a ton of detail. Same with any series, KM guides are great if I get a german 1933 coin to see what it is, but if I want to specialize in those coins I really need to get further, specialize information. To me, most peopel in world coinage has KM, it is the baseline. If I want to make money, or get a good deal, I need to know MORE than what is in KM or else I will just be going around paying KM prices, just like everyone else. This is where a good specialist book comes in, pointing out rare varieties, mintages that were located years later, etc etc. This is the info that pays for itself in a good book. I was just saying everyone should have KM, but you should ALSO have a specialized book for what you are interested in.
