Whitman Publishing’s continued production of high-quality, low-cost numismatic references may be unprecedented. The extent of titles eclipses even the venerable inventory from Krause. Subjects and treatments range the compass from the choppy shallows skiffed by casual collectors to the unfathomable trenches explored by loupe wielding specialists – from traditional Americana to untraditional Americana to alien times and places. Coins: Questions & Answers by Clifford Mishler, 5th Edition, 2008, 345 pages. $9.95. Deceptively packaged as a little “pocketbook” about 4 x 7 inches (10.5 x 17.5 cm), this volume competes directly with Alan Herbert’s Coin Clinic - 1001 Frequently Asked Questions. From general information – “What is meant by the terms numismatic and numismatist?” and “What is a ‘double eagle’?” among a hundred others– the book engages 15 of its 30 chapters on the facts that define the curriculum of American coinage. Other chapters reveal the truths about Continental Currency, Fractional Currency, Medals, Tokens, Canadian, Mexican, and worldwide monetary media. Chapter 3, “Educating the Budding Collector,” lists the books – from Breen to Bowers to Willem to Winters – hundreds of them about the denominations, their errors and varieties and forgeries.
