http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...d_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&sr=&qid= I mentioned the availability of this once before but just now finished reading my recently purchased copy. There are still three available used for one cent + $3.99 postage (joke or no joke) and a few more for 4 cents (splurge and buy a new one if you wish). Obviously they are a glut on the used market. The old saying is, "There but for the Grace of God, go I." Bruce McNall's autobiography hits me way too close to home in this respect. I am a very few years older than he but started collecting ancients about the same time and relied to some extent on the same dealer for many early purchases. Young Mr. McNall lived in California and became a fixture in the shop of Joel Malter. I lived in Indiana and bought from him by mail order. We both loved ancient coins. I bought them with my money; whenever possible, he used other people's money - he became a dealer almost before he became a collector. I never did. He became a multi-multi millionaire... In the period in my life when I was earning my highest income (not much, I'll point out), I loved the wonderful sale catalogs of Numismatic Fine Arts. I rarely bid since most of the coins he offered were over my price bracket but the few that I won, I liked. The catalogs were worth more to me than the coins. In the Spring of 1994, NFA issued their last catalog (XXXIII - I won 2 lots and got the prices realized). I found other dealers to supply my habit. Bruce McNall went to jail. Fun While It Lasted is the story of how a boy who loved ancient coins ended up in Federal Prison. Without giving away the whole plot, I'll point out that questionable business practices can be equally questionable whether buying million dollar groups of coins or hundred million dollar race horse/motion picture/pro sports team investments. In every case, Bruce McNall showed a greater interest for how much coins/anything else were worth than what they were. Too often (but, perhaps, not in every case) the same standard was applied to people. I was disappointed that more of the book did not describe specific coin purchase/sales but coins were treated as a commodity no different than a group of anonymous young horses. Quite a bit of attention is devoted to specific movie deals serving to point out that Mr. McNall and I had rather different tastes in the cinema but he was producing them and I was watching them when they came on TV. I enjoyed the book but would not consider buying a new one for $29. At one cent, I guess I can risk enriching (n)either the author or the bankers he still has to compensate by order of the court. I would recommend, however, any reader buy a couple old NFA auction catalogs just to see what was done by someone who considered that business small change compared to Michelle Johnson's body parts or Wayne Gresky's skating. (Yes, that line was put here to attract interest by some of our Canadian friends.) One or two of those things seem to have contributed to the unraveling of this life story. While I feel this post is sufficiently coin related to warrant posting alone, I will add photos of six of my junker coins that I bought from Bruce McNall/NFA while the "fun" was going strong. All these were from one sale in 1990. Taras, stater Kroton, stater - bought as a fourree but it is solid and a victim of horn silver which was removed with no skill leaving unfortunate surface problems. This was not the only solid coin I bought as fourree from NFA. You have seen my archaic obol and 3/4 obol before. NFA customers shunned little coins so I won both. I thought the Seleucos 4dr was attractive but other bidders found it too low grade. Most coins offered were nicer than this ... much nicer. This is an as. High end bidders seem to want sestertii. This is the place to post any coins you have with NFA provenance.
In the 1980s I had relatives who lived near LA and one time when visiting them I went to NFA at their ritzy store. I came away with this DIVO SEVERO of the Trajan Decius DIVI series.
I too will heartily recommend this book. But do take some of it with a grain of salt - he has a tendancy to exaggerate a bit. I had a particularly hard time believing that bit with the cheerleaders!
hey DS, i grew up in indiana as well, in brazil. i remember you saying you used to go to dealers in indianapolis. cheerleaders AND ancient coins? ..............interested.
Thanks for the review, Doug. Definitely something I'd pick up... Now if only there was a Kindle version.
Thanks Doug! I remember hearing about Bruce Mcnall on the news when he got in trouble, but I never really new much about him or who he was until recent post here. At a cent, it will be hard to find an excuse not to read this.
The cent is an important part to me. I can not accept my buying a book or movie ticket that puts cash in the pockets of criminals telling their story even if the profits will go to their victims who, in this case, were often no less criminal. eBooks will end our access to cheap used books of no commercial value so the next generation of reader will have to pay fairly for such things until the copyright runs out. Maybe I should feel bad not paying the author for his efforts when I buy a used book but, in this case, I don't. I guess that makes me just as bad.
=> this statement makes my sweet wife very sad (she loves books ... "real books" ... the feel of books, the smell of books, the look of books) ... for the past few Christmas' I've bought her a couple of classic first editions (she seems to love them) ... Doug, I don't judge you for ripping-off the author ... I merely think it is a bit sad when people stop purchasing "real books" (I guess it's in the same ballpark as people using plastic rather than cold hard cash ... oh, and I am definitely a guilty party, for I never use cash anymore ... very sad and I apologize) Oh, but i also agree with green-dawg => you're one of the good guys .... Cheers
I would love to know what percentage of books printed survive 100 years and how many non-dealer owners, on average, they have. Similarly, I wonder how many coins actually are collected in more than one collection. I don't mean a coin that is traded dealer to dealer or even investor to investor (the Hunt Brothers never actually handled their coins so that was not a 'collection' as much as a portfolio). Most coins we see sold by many dealers have the look of recent finds or are some dealers reprocessing old collections so they look shiny for modern tastes? I wonder how many owners (not counting dealers who bought for immediate resale) the coins in the earliest CNG catalogs have had and how long the average collector of ancients keeps a coin he buys not with the idea of immediate resale. Every so often we see sales flagged as the property of some deceased collector but it strikes me that years ago we saw more recycled coins so marked in sales ("Property of a Gentleman" sometimes when there was no name). Do dealers actively court you to sell them your coins? I suspect it is easier for them to buy them wholesale. This is not the case with the super high end of the market but I'm talking about the coins we here (save Ides, AJ and a couple others) have. Similarly, I wonder where have those books your wife cherishes spent the last century and if she is the first non-dealer to whom the fact that the book was a first edition was a factor. Collectibles of whatever form can be cherished possessions or inventory on hand depending on who has them at any particular moment.
=> I agree ... it is far more appealing to think that my wife and the sweet lil' girl in the book's front-page are the only two owners of that cool ol' classic (but who knows, eh?) ... => I must admit that I have contacted Ardy (CNG) and asked him "if" (heaven forbid) I have to liquify my collection, what is involved? ... but no, dealers don't court me (I'm guessing that I'm not quite in AJ's or your prestige-circle?) ... go figure? anyway ... have a great day Oh, what are the grand-kid presents this year? (Sep-Sevs, again?) ... those lucky pups!!
I definitely look for cheap books. I got one for free at a used bookstore because a good friend of mine got some books with a buy one get one free. It was $2.50 for two books more or less. So, after looking around for a hour or two I found this book. A Guide to the Ancient World by Michael Grant. It's more about places and history but he does mention coins every so often. I paid full price for AORTA by Rasiel Suarez. I got the 3rd book printed and it's also signed.
Gil-galad mentioned "A Guide to the Ancient World" by Michael Grant. It is about ancient cities. I recommend it for anyone interested in Roman provincial coins. It will tell you when he city was founded, made a colony by whom, geographic features, how much is still there to be seen, etc. Back in the day it would have been a more expensive book because it is 720 interesting pages, but it was reprinted (well) by Barnes and Noble and there is more supply than demand.
The only physical books I've bought for myself in the last few years have been numismatic references. I wasn't a willing convert to the e-reader, and am still hanging on to some treasured books from my childhood, but convenience and being able to physically declutter my living space have won out. Even pricewise, it's not all bad... a couple of months ago I picked up the Kindle version of Andrew Goldsworthy's "Caesar: Life of a Colossus" discounted to $2.99. The cheapest used price + shipping to US (without even figuring in international shipping charges) would have been $9. Let those savings add up and eventually it'll even pay for a Julius Caesar denarius .
To me, a highlight of the eReader is Project Guttenburg which has free copies of 47000 out of copyright (pre 1923) books.
