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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;MikeG, post: 21718, member: 1558&quot;]Hi Jody.. thanks for your reply. I am writing a book that will illustrate and price original commemorative coins holders and some limited memorabilia. For example, a number of 1925 Lexington Commems were distributed in their original pine boxes. The boxes, which I am certain almost everyone has seen, were made of pine, had a Concord Minuteman stamped on the front of the box and had the Lexington belfry stamped on the back. But did you know that there were only about 1,000 boxes made? Did you know that these boxes routinely sell (without coins) for $35 to $75? Did you know that &quot;fake&quot; boxes from the Far East circulated in the US market during the 1980&#039;s (when Lex boxes sold for $150 each!)? Do you know how to tell a &quot;real&quot; Lex box from a &quot;fake?&quot; These are the types of issues I want to discuss in the book. But I want to cover every issue and educate people on which holders are genuine and contemporary to the period, and which ones were &quot;added&quot; by a profit-seeking individuals later.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have been gathering and writing this book for some time. I want to go through each issue (between 1892 and 1954) discuss and depict the memorabila (primarily the original holders, mailing envelopes and paperwork) and state the current prices (based on eBay results, auction results, my direct sales and my 25 years of buying and selling these holders). There are numerous books on commems from Wood&#039;s monograph on commems (1922) to Slabaugh&#039;s books in 1962 and 1975 to Bullowa, Mehl, Taxay, Swiatek, Breen, Bowers, Hodder, Iacovo and Ganz (geez... did I forget anyone?). Many of these books mention and picture comme holders - but none of these books were specifically written to discuss the holders only. Its really a labor of love for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>About a million years ago, I was the President of the Society for U.S. Commem Coins for a couple of years in the 1990&#039;s and was the editor of their journal, The Commem Trail, for, I guess, 5 years. Its amazing how much there still is to learn about these items. From talking to collectors and other dealers, I learn something new every week. </p><p><br /></p><p>So thats why I have asked the readers of this forum for their assistance. I would like to include anything that they happen to know about these holders that would be of interest to people interested in commem from that period. If they have items in their collections and would share a scan or two, I would be very happy to include it there and on my website (where I also offer lots of info about these holders) and will attribute the information to them or annonymously at their discretion. The more that people know about these original items, the more we all benefit.</p><p><br /></p><p>One last opinion, if I may, is that if anyone is offered any original holders, I would suggest that they buy them carefully. Prices for many of the holders are SIGNIFICANTLY lower than they once were. Why? Because of slabbing. Years ago dealers would buy original holders and &quot;mate&quot; them with original coins. Now because of slabbing that happens MUCH less frequently. SO its simple supply and demand. While the supply is still shrinking through attrition, the demand has shrunk faster. So, just be careful!</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks for asking me Jody and for letting me take up all this bandwidth to explain what I am trying to do. I would truly appreciate any of the knowledge that the members here have and are willing to share.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mike @ Liberty[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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