I was at the bookstore and notice these general collectible guides and a WW2 one totally overlooked coins during this period. Not only were coins a huge part of the history, culture, and economies of countries back then, but they are in many cases very affordable and collectible. I don't know if history buffs overlook coinage, but these supposed authoritative books do. What do you think?
Joe, here are a couple of issues that just come to mind. Weren't GIs discouraged from participating (too much) in the local economies? I'm thinking of "scrapper" character roles in various movies. Also, I suspect most GIs returned all of their military scrip for cash, when the got out. I was born 15 years post-war, but most GIs I talked to as a kid typically told me that they came home with just a pocketful or two of occupied or "pre-occupied" coins. Other than the curiosity/oddity value, I don't know how many GIs would have been stationed in a single coinage area long enough to get attached to any one set of the coins. U.S. Hawaiian bills, and U.S. Phillipines coins seem to be the notable exceptions, for more historically obvious reasons. I also suppose English half-pennies and French centimes kept showing up. They were also popular in that way, with the pre-depression merchant mariners, a generation before the vets. Just thinking out loud ... and hoping it helps. Are anyone here vets, or can talk to some vets, who can give us the real truth on any of this? Interesting idea, Joe.
Most general collectibles guides ignore coins, paper currency, and stamps since these are well covered in specialty books. "General collectibles" books try to cover ancillary collectible items. I have never seen any "general collectibles" or general antiques books cover coins. Coins are simply a specialty area, and any coverage in such a book would not be very worthwhile.
I think it would be really neat to put together a collection of WW2 stamps and coins. What other collectibles did the book focus on instead?
@joecoincollect I couldn't agree more. I read a great article in the June issue of The Numismatist about D Day Francs. Although they weren't coins, the US actually printed Francs for circulation. IIRC, it was, in part, due to the sheer numbers of men we were sending over. They were concerned it would deplete the currency stock pile to some degree. The idea was to give (and pay) each soldier a certain amount so they'd have "cash on hand" while over there on the ground. Of course we'd be procuring goods and services as well and this helped speed that up. The printing of these D Day Francs was actually a crucial step in Operation Overlord, of course devised and over seen by Ike himself. Again, IRRC, France and it's citizens weren't too keen on the idea and didn't like them.
The ww2 book had helmets, weapons, some medals, and clothing. No coins though, which I think was a major oversight on the author's part. As for the general guides I saw, I still think a short overview of coins was needed. These books were given a generic name like Antique Values or something. They actually had lengthy sections on glassware and other trivial (sorry, it's just my opinion ) collectibles.
Good point, but maybe a short page or two with resources for numismatics would be helpful to the laymen I'd think.
My dad was a navigator on a B-17 bomber during WW2 and was based in the UK for about 7 months. The airmen routinely visited cities surrounding their base and my dad brought back samples of at least one of almost every type of coin and bill that was circulating in the UK during the 1943-44 period.
Thanks, green18. He was in good company -- they don't call his the 'greatest generation' for nothing!
The more wide spread the coverage a book claims the less I expect of it. For WWII coins and paper money there are the Standard Catalogs or the (spelling?) Schwan-Boling book. Generally I prefer specialized books.
Those are great though, because you can pass those on knowing where they originated from. I have only a few of my gramps' coins left
