I am cataloging my collection and was wondering what is the standard cataloging system currently. I have Krause World Coin Catalogs that have numberings. I use Coins Magazine often and they use KM cataloging (Which I believe is what Krause uses). and I also use WW2 Remembered and it uses something else and Im not certain which system it is. I have also read many people mention a "PICK" system on the forums. What is this? One standard system for me to abide by would make life so much easier. It would have to incorporate WORLD WIDE 20th century coins and paper money. Thanks guys.
Pick refers to the numbering system found in Krause's Standard Catalog or World Paper Money. Albert Pick was the original author. The name stuck even though Pick has not been involved for many years. It is used for world notes.If you specialize in notes from other countries you will find those catalogs have their own numbering systems. German notes can be catalogued by the Standard Catalog numbers or Rosenberg numbers, Keller numbers, Mehl, Muller, Tieste, etc. WW2R has its own numbering system.
How do I state which catalog is being used in what case? Some examples would be helpful. Some items are missing in my Krause catalogs so I would have to use another system for the missing items.
The shorthand for the Standard Catalog is P-### for regular issues, PM-#### for military issues, PR-#### for regional notes that appear in Volume II and III and PS-#### for notes in Volume I, the Specialized Catalog. WW2R is SB-####
So far, for my own collection, the Pick catalog has satisfied most all my attribution questions. When however, i venture into the regional catalog for a country for more in-depth information (for example, for my Egyptian collection, i needed such in-depth infomation... so i bought the 2 volume set of 'The Egyptian Banknote - Encyclopedia & Catalog of Egyptian Money') i will also include the attribution numbers in that book. The Pick number (P-##) will answer most world PM collectors questions, but like US notes, the pick doesnt go into deep detail on any country - just a quick overview. i guess, its all up to YOU and how much information you want to include lol there is no guide that i know of that combines both paper money and coins. KM-## for coins is pretty standard and P-## for paper money is also standard.
But bear in mind that Krause uses Y#s (Yeoman) and C#s (Craig) for many coins that already are cataloged under those headings, and there are literally dozens - if not hundreds - of other systems in relatively common use, especially for specific countries or country groups. Quite literally there is no such thing as a universally accepted cataloging system for coins, currency, or exonumia, the three basic branches of numismatics.
I stand corrected i dont refference the coin catalogs very often these days, so that might explain my error lol for currency catalogs, its true there are dozens and more of different catalog systems, but what i was getting at was this.... in the US most folks would prefer to use the Friedberg book for US notes, but alot of the same notes are listed in Krauss. So for folks in countries outside the US, they might use the Pick numbers to attribute their US notes. As being from the US, we might want a more in depth numbering system for our US note collections - so we use Friedberg (which i believe is the largest numbering system in use for US notes (not counting specialty collections like MPC's and the like), but i could be wrong). But both numbering systems, weather the Pick or the Friedberg, although two different numbers, refference the same notes (almost, since krauss doesnt get too deep). The same will hold true for other countries. Yes, the Pick catalogs usually only skim the surface of every country - but they hit every country and list notes from each (no other catalog does this, yet). Spain has their own catlog for Spanish notes similar to friedberg, Icland has one, Italy, France, Egypt, Syria, Canada, ect... So while i agree there is no 'universal' numbering system in use, i would say the Pick numbering system is the most widely used for world notes. Anytime i see world notes - 99.9% are listed with the Pick number. There are times they are also listed with another catlog numbering system, but i never see a note listed without the Pick number and with and different catalog number. This to me makes it seem that yes the Pick numbering system is the most widely used.
So I guess a legend of what catalogs you are using to number your items in VERY IMPORTANT since no one or even THREE catalogs can cover everything
