Shown below is a photo of 2 coin books I inherited from my grandparents. The first is dated 1888 and the second 1905. I was wondering how common or otherwise they might be? Neither is in great condition but they provide an insight to coin prices at the time. Also, the first book contains embossed images of the gold and silver coins in relief such that the coin details feel like real coins when touched. The adverts for quack medicinal and beauty products at the back of the books make amusing reading too.
I'm on the wrong side of the pond to give you any useful information, but I will say that they look awesome, especially that 1888 volume!
T Thanks for your kind comments. Do you know if there is a "holy grail" of coin books that everyone is searching for?
I am sure that each category of coin collecting has a book considered as a Holy Grail. For example, a book about Grecian coins, or Roman coins, or British medieval coins etc. Chances are the books will be antique and very expensive.
For the naturally curious, here is the 1888 volume - courtesy of the Internet archive.. Spink with an ad on page 240-1 no less. A guide to the coins of Great Britain & Ireland, in gold, silver, and copper, from the earliest period to the present time, with their value : Thorburn, W. Stewart (William Stewart), 1838-1886 Welcome to CT David.
Mike, many thanks for the link above. It helped me to rearrange a couple of loose pages in my copy back into the correct order. My copy came with a little extra in the form of a newspaper clipping from around 1936 which discusses Coins of the Victorian Era.
I don't know if you could actually call it the "holy grail" of coin books, but it's a safe bet it would be in the running for the title. In 1511, Margarethe Peutinger, yes a woman, wrote and had published one of the first books printed on an actual printing press. It was a treatise of the coins of the Roman Emperors, complete with images. Granted, there were numerous books about coins written long before that, but they were all hand written. This one was the very first one ever actually printed. A copy of which was sold at auction in the early 2000's. I first posted, here on the forum, about this book over 20 years ago. And I posted about it several other times as well over the years. Those thread make for some interesting reading. You can find those threads here - https://www.cointalk.com/threads/trivia-not-so-easy.1776/#post-12162 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/its-been-a-while.19913/ https://www.cointalk.com/threads/does-anyone-know.219141/ https://www.cointalk.com/threads/coin-shows.301654/ https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-coins-were-considered-collectable-200-years-ago.340826/ https://www.cointalk.com/threads/the-history-of-modern-american-numismatics.371185/
An most excellent primary source. You are lucky to possess it along with the essence of family provenance......
