I'm looking for any reference material on spanish colonial reales that is written in english. So far I have found some limited books (they are pricey) and they are written in spanish. My spanish is not so good. If you know of anything out there please let me know. Thanks
Check out the "Practical Book of Cobs" by Sedwick. If you buy it, make sure you get the new 5th edition, not the 4th. Around $25, in English. Amazon might have it.
Jason you need to specify that your interest is in the Bust design coins. That's because there's a ton of books for cobs and Pillar dollars, but only a few pertaining to the Bust design that started in 1773. None of the other books have more than a sentence or two about the Bust design.
Oh thanks for pointing that out. Yes, Bust design 1773-1823 I believe. So far they are in the hundreds of dollars and are in spanish.
http://numismatics.org/Store/Cobs I am not sure if the above book covers the bust design. I found it when looking for past articles about USPI coins. I know there are books out there as I have one and have seen others, I just can't recall the name and I am in Afghanistan so I can't go look either. A good book on the subject will cost you about the same as a common date problem free 8R, and will more than likely be a lot more enjoyable than the one coin.
Btw Jason you do have the KM for 18th and 19th century right? You are lookoing for a more in depth volume than that, correct?
Jason, are you looking for a particular mint bust series, or all mints? Calbeto's "Compendium of the VIII Reales" Two volumes covers all mints (both English and Spanish) - my primary reference for portrait 8 Reales, but rather pricey. "Las Monedas Espanolas" by Clemente Adolfo and Juan Cayon - Covers portrait coins across all mints and denominations, but in Spanish only. For Mexico coins I also liked Pradeau's "Numismatic History of Mexico pre-Columbian epoch to 1823".
Thank You guys. I'm going to ebay/google those books russian. Preciate it. No Actually Chris I don't have that book. I believe that Doug mentioned it to me before but I haven't picked it up yet. What is it called? I kind of stumbled onto these coins the other day.
The KM catalogs are the Standard Catalog of World coins. They have them by century going back to the 17th century. Basically this is where you start with world coins, and if you develop a specialized interest then you get a better book on that particular series. All world coin collectors should have the KM catalogs. Just like the red book, the age of them are not a huge concern, as you want the information, mintages, etc more than price points. As it is, I have them around 8 years old, and still use the prices. If its listed at $1 I know its a common coin, if it says $800 I know its a better coin, and will research value separately.
Yeah you could say that. That's the problem Jason is having. I told him privately the other day that the books are pricey. I think he about swallowed his tongue when the links I sent him to buy that book priced it at $1,000.00 Nonetheless that is the book he needs. I do not have that one but am aware of it. So I can't speak about what info it contains. I've had that book for many years but there is actually very little information in it regarding the coins themselves. It is primarily a history and that's about it. While it is good information and I encourage anyone to buy the book, it's pretty much useless when you want info about the coins.
I know it's not a book (so Doug don't jump down my throat) but a good starting place I found for an online source to at least quantify the mints, assayer initials, etc. was this link: http://www.melfisher.com/Library/AtochaCoin/Assayer.asp It's no replacement for a real book, but it's helpful for organizing your thoughts and collecting goals. -Brandon
In the 1980s, one of my best friends was a former employee of Mel Fisher (I lived in Florida then). He certainly had some stories to tell. Unfortunately, I never got to Mel's Museum in Key West. I have not jumped down anybody's throat lately, it's too hard to get back out. Here's a pic you might enjoy. These boxes are all FULL of Mexican or other Latin American silver. I do not remember if these are from the Atocha, the Central America, or some other ship entirely. Somebody may recognize the man or woman in the picture and identify the source properly.
