Hey, I was looking at getting the Philip Morse Coinage book on Amazon but saw that HA had what appears to be an updated book also with the Duckor coins that is many more pages. Does anybody have the Morse/Duckor book ? Maybe someone has both and can tell me if they are both worth getting or if just the HA one is necessary ? https://coins.ha.com/itm/books/othe...281.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515 Here's the Amazon one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1...&pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8
Got the book today......it's SPECTACULAR !! Tons of detail...great photos and close-ups...actual documents like telegrams, letters, etc....history of the Saint-Gaudens coins plus special years like 1907, 1908, 1929, 1933, High Relief, etc......really nifty and unexpected was an estimated annual price guide for each coin and mint mark from 1976 through 2015 (with space to write recent years, too). Only negative is the book isn't in hardcover. Definitely the most expensive soft-cover book I will ever buy.
Can never go wrong with a good book if you're a serious collector. Hard covers are the only way to go! I've been begging Whitman to publish the Mega Red Book in a hard cover as it's on my list.
Reading it right now. It's tough to hold with all the pages on one side....hopefully make a nice dent over the holiday weekend !
Can't say enough about the Roger Burdette book on Saint-Gaudens......freakin' spectacular. If you collect Saints...if you're considering them....or if you just want a great coffee table book (you hear that, Cosmo Kramer ? ) that you can pick up and look at some pics or read a random chapter or two....you won't be disappointed.
I finished the Saint-Gaudens Burdette/Heritage book. If you are a buyer or collector of Saints, this book is a must. Great pics, great analysis, great numereical analyses, great commentaries from different sources, personalities, etc.
The problem is if you have too many pages in a hardcover book you can break the spine when you open unless they really go high end on the binding techniques and materials, in which case your Hardbound Mega Red is going to be around $200 or more. Would you still be interested at that price?
The binding on the softcover Saints book is holding up pretty sell so far...it's actually the front-cover laminate which has started to peel justslightly. Only my fingertips touched it to open the book, it must be very sensitive at the edges.
GUIDE BOOKS: Hey I see that David Bowers has updated the EAGLE GUIDE BOOK in 2021 (previous edition was 2018), so maybe the Double Eagle book is going to get a revision, too. Morgan Silver Dollar book is now 6th Edition of 2019. So he's still updating, I would hope the DE book can be done since alot has happened since 2004 (the only edition so far).
Bowers' U.S. LIBERTY HEAD $20 DOUBLE EAGLES: The Gilded Age of Coinage. This is a very good book which is more of a yearly review of economic, monetary, and gold/silver related items plus interesting historical events and trivial facts. Rather than create a separate thread for another Double Eagle book, I am piggy-backing on my own Saints book thread. Each chapter focuses on a particular year from 1849-1907, the years of the Liberty Double Eagle. I think this book had a very limited press run and was mostly given to clients of David Bower's firm a few years ago, but you occasionally see it for sale on Ebay or antique book sellers. If you are into Liberty Head DEs, given the paucity of books on these coins, I'd buy this if you see it. It's well-made, well-bound, and worth a good read though it is NOT a year-by-year detailed look at each year's coinage for LH Double Eagles like the Whitman Red Book or Roger Burdette's Saint-Gaudens book.
One of my favorite books is the John M. Mercanti, Chief Engraver, United States Mint, ret.), 4th Edition, which has been out about a year. I'm a collector of the American Silver Eagles. I've only been collecting the ASE about 10 years, so I'm having to catch up. I'm trying to collect sets that include ASE's. Some are a bit expensive and are hard to find. I'm not sure how other collectors are, but from time to time, I change my focus to other coins. Almost all of my collection is American coins, preferably American coins. Since I started late in life to collect the ASEs, the ASE's from 1986 to 2010 are difficult to find in the condition I seek.
Jim, my style is similar to yours in terms of changing coin investing from time-to-time....and I agree with you on Mercanti's excellent book.
I've been going to ebay for some ASE sets, especially the Limited Edition sets. Each year I buy the Silver Proof Set. I've been watching Rick on the TV. He is selling complete ASE sets from 1986 to 2022 (I think). They are MS-70 ASE Uncirculated or Burnished. I'm trying to get Proof, Reverse Proof, and any other ASE that is Special. I can't remember what Rick was selling his ASE - Uncirculated Coins for. He usually sells it for retail. Let me know how your ASE collection is going. Thanks. Jim
I found this recently online. I love in NH and have been to Cornish to see the covered bridge there. I didn't realize that the Saint Gaudens historical site was here. I'm going to go see it sometime. https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm
The St. Gaudens summer house in Cornish NH is a wonderful place to visit. Take your dog with you and your dog can become a "Bark Ranger."
