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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheRed, post: 2810502, member: 87080&quot;]<font size="5">Buck, Ivan. Medieval English Groats. </font></p><p><font size="5">Greenlight Publishing: 2000 Pages: 66</font></p><p>ISBN-10: 1897738420</p><p>Price: approx $25</p><p>[ATTACH=full]657383[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Grade:&nbsp; B/B+</p><p><br /></p><p>Ivan Buck is <font size="4">probably</font> the greatest expert on the subject of English groats, so it is no surprise that he would author a book on the coins. And this is a subject that deserves such a renowned author as Mr. Buck.&nbsp; Groats were first minted under Edward I, and would continue being minted from Edward III until the 19th century. This book covers those groats minted from the reign of Edward I up to the Tudor monarchs, a span of over 300 years. </p><p><br /></p><p>The book has a short introduction by Mr. Buck, before diving right into the coins.&nbsp; The first two chapters are devoted to Edward I &amp; III, and Richard II - Henry V.&nbsp; The next two chapters cover Henry IV and errors.&nbsp; Then comes four chapters on Edward IV: his first reign, provincial mints, light coinage, and second reign.&nbsp; Finally, the last few chapters cover Edward V, Richard III, and the Tudors. Each chapter contains text describing the various issues of the monarch, as well as accompanying photos.&nbsp; Initial and privy marks are illustrated, and&nbsp; there is even a flow chart for the Yorkists groats.&nbsp; The most unexpected section is a discussion of the operation of royal mints and the positions and offices there within.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>This book is highly informative and useful, yet can be somewhat frustrating at the same time. Ivan Buck knows his subject like no other, and it comes through in this book.&nbsp; It is a great source of information on the English groats, maybe the best out there. The chapters covering Henry VI and Edward IV are the high points, with nice photos and an excellent breakdown of issues and mints. The level of detail and the description of the coins is exhaustive.&nbsp; This makes the flaws of the book maddening. As Mr. Buck notes in the introduction, the book originated as a series of articles in a magazine, and that is evident in the layout and text of the first two chapters.&nbsp; The chapter on Richard II- Henry V especially suffers from very poor photos and layout. It is hard to distinguish the coins based on the text and the photos are small and grainy. </p><p><br /></p><p>With all that said, I would grade the book a B/B+. There is a lot of great information contained in the pages, as well as some really nice photographs. The book particularly shines on the topic of Henry VI and Edward IV.&nbsp; What holds this book back from being top notch is the poor photos in the first two chapters. Also, there are lots of variations of the different classes of groats mentioned in the text of those chapters with no corresponding photos.&nbsp; Despite the flaws, I would still highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in English hammered coins, especially given the relatively low price.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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