The Papers

Years ago, when my life was first taken over by little round pieces of metal and every thing that goes with them, I subscribed to Coin World and then to Numismatic News.
Coin World had the trends section that was a pull-out format with no ads. The classifieds were full and there was no shortage of good articles to read.
Numismatic news at the time had no 'trends' section, some classifieds and a few good articles.
In both were plenty of ads, interesting letters to the editor, editorials, etc..
In the last few years, I have noticed that these publications have done switch in that the CW trends are no longer a pull out and are littered with ads while NN now had a 'market' report in pull-out format (still with a few ads, but not obtrusive). CW classifieds are skimpier while NN have grown.
It also seems that NN has the jump on some news stories over CW.
Personally, I prefer NN over CW. Among all who read / post here, who prefers what? Do many people subscribe to both? If you only subscribe to one or the other, why? Inquiring mind yearns to know.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Numismatic News gets my vote i've subscribed to most coins mags over the years but NN is the only one coming to my door anymore.

 

I personally prefer NN to CW in hard copy, however, I prefer CW to NN electronically as the CW site is easier to navigate. You must be a subscriber to use certain areas of the digital CW. Enjoy

www.coinworld.com

 

I only have the CW subscription at this time,but for information and current news,I think NN has it beat.However,as CW includes world coinage,a fair comparison should include World Coin News.Both Krause publications are outstanding! :!: ~ Jim

 

Which one is cheaper?

 

Not taking special subscription offers into account, Coin World regular 52 week subscription is 36.95 (U.S.) and Numismatic News is 32.00 for 52 weeks with additional special issue in October.

 

I'll be sending my subscription to Numismatic News next week.

 

Good choice!

 

I am prejudiced.

Coin World is a much fatter publication than Numismatic News, about 100 pages per issue. Also, Coin World has departments, such as Banknotes and World Coins for which Krause has separate monthlies. Coin World is the better bargain.

Numismatic News and Krause in general stay "close" to the collecting community by running lots of pictures of people. This means that they do scoop Coin World perhaps more often than CW cares to admit.

Coin World sees itself as being more professional, a group of journalists reporting about numismatics. Some people do not like that. "You people think you are the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or something," they gripe. But the upside for me, when I was a CW staffer, is that there was never any conflict of interests as a writer. It would have been as wrong for us to use the company name badge to get a bargain on a coin and then to tout the dealer as such would be for your local newspaper reporter to get a good deal on a car and then write a feature story about the dealer. On the other hand, Krause's periodicals get much of their position from just such conflicts of interest. It works out because they are paying for leads and scoops that Coin World has to chase for.

Also, as it happens, since numismatics is the beat we cover, everyone has "something" new all the time. However, selling the material, actually participating in the numismatic (or philatelic for Scotts and Linns) markets gets you fired. They do not allow that at Coin World. Of the staff people I actually got to know, NONE was active in numismatics as a collector. Everyone actively collected something else, books, lunchboxes, whatever.

It was my opinion that the folks at Krause were probably better numismatists and certainly better collectors. The problem I had with that admission was that it never showed in Numismatic News or the other periodicals. As the international editor of CW, I looked forward to my copy of Krause World Coins every month, but I was often disappointed. They did get good, solid, basic articles about "My Favorite Coins" from collectors. But the Krause staff never seemed to make good use of the company library. On the other hand, at CW, we each cranked out 1, 2, or 3 features a week on US Numismatics and Other Topics as Assigned, in addition to our usual beats (Paper, The US Mint, World, Errors). The numismatic research in Coin World was always much better because in addition to those baseline articles, we dug for the gems that experts appreciate.

So, on the one hand, with NN you get 65 pages of news about people and introductory articles whereas with Coin World you get 100 pages about all areas of numismatics at all levels of knowledge.

 

Re: I am prejudiced.

I can't agree on this one. 100 pages as opposed to 65 pages. Coin World seems to have way more ads than NN that take up alot of it's 100 pages.
Yes, you get lots of publicity pics and stuff about the people in NN, but you can't beat the articles by people such as Alan Herbert, who is a virtual walking library of numismatics.
Coin World tends to pander to the world numismatic community more than Krause does, but if you collect mainly U.S. issues and like to trade with others who do also, you will find more resources in NN then CW. Lots more classifieds due to their free-bies in NN.

 

Back and Forth, Back and Forth

Ric Burney wrote:
"I can't agree on this one. 100 pages as opposed to 65 pages. Coin World seems to have way more ads than NN that take up alot of it's 100 pages."

US Postal regulations define how much advertising and how much content a publication can have to be called a "newspaper" for 2nd Class Privileges. If you actually measure the column inches, I think you will find that they average over three issues pretty much the same. If CW has more ads, it is because vendors find the CW market more profitable. Also, for me, advertising is content. And you are yourself speaking highly of the classified ads in NN that you do not find in CW.

Myself, when I entered the hobby in 1995, I subscribed to NN because I found it much friendlier than CW which I found intimidating in its depth and range of presentation. I like people more than I like coins, also. So, I definitely understand the attraction that NN has for its 30,000 readers.

Ric Burney wrote: "...but you can't beat the articles by people such as Alan Herbert, who is a virtual walking library of numismatics."

Well, yes, indeed, we all are, are we not? Alan brought serious journalistic weight to NN. He was a newspaper guy and a radio reporter, also, if I recall his words correctly, before joining Krause and learning about collecting. That company library has served him well over the years. Believe me, I know. I used to spend unbroken hours in the Amos Library getting smart about the pattern coins of 1793 and the genesis of the 5-cent nickel and Paquet Patterns and all the rest.

Ric Burney wrote: "Coin World tends to pander to the world numismatic community more than Krause does..." Well CW is an all-in-one publication, whereas Krause has World Coins and Banknote Reporter for focus. CW is in fact mostly about American coins. They pay an outside accounting firm to run a reader survey every few years and most people who read CW collect American coins. It is a fact. That said, they do devote significant space to State Quarters, American Paper, world coins, and once a month to Ancients. Every week, there is the one "International" page and once a month that expands to three or four pages, the "International" section.

Ric Burney wrote: "if you collect mainly U.S. issues and like to trade with others who do also, you will find more resources in NN then CW. Lots more classifieds due to their free-bies in NN."

Again, when I first came into the hobby, I also patronized the NN classifieds and I ran my own for a year. It was a great learning experience for me. As I said in my first post, I feel that the Krause editorial staff has a better "feel" for the hobby because they participate in it: they buy and sell coins; they work closely with dealers and collectors; they never alienate the US Mint with scathing editorials. They are a great bunch of folks and it shows in their folksy newspaper. They have 30,000 loyal subscribers and no one cannot argue with that.

 

I subscribe to the following, and have the following to say about each:

Numismatic News - A nice magazine overall - it tends to accentuate the business end of the coin market, which is fine. Nothing wrong with reading about the market that essentially drives the hobby. I like their low number of advertisements compared to Coin World, and I like the free classified ads for subscribers.

Coin World - Still yet a nice magazine, but not as nice as Numismatic News - I subscribe to this one more out of habit than anything else - I have been a subscriber to this publication since 1987. What I have seen over the years with this periodical bugs me - many fewer stories of any content, and a LOT more ads. Yes, there are over 100 pages in each issue, but only 30-40 pages worth of useful information. The rest is all ads.

CoinAge - A nice generalist magazine that once in a while suprises me with some really good information about copper. Of course the other info is good too, but in general they keep their information on the more basic level for the novice to imtermediate collector - Less geared for the seasoned collector.

Coins - Another nice magazine, and very much like CoinAge in most respects. They have some good stories that suprise me once in a while.

Coin Prices - Just a price guide, and it comes out quarterly - but it seems to be pretty "on the level" with retail pricing. I have found that "real" retail pricing is a lot like reading tea leaves - really hard to figure out exactly where the dealers get their prices for stuff. I find that an average between Coin Prices, Coin World Trends, and Numismatic News' price guide is a pretty good "average" retail value.

ErrorScope - The flagship magazine of CONECA, a good error/variety magazine for those who are into that sort of thing. It has no color and is a bit lacking in information at times, but they try. It comes as a part of membership to the club.

Error World - A nice magazine still in its infancy of publication. still a few rocks to clear on the path to smooth sailing, but overall a higher quality magazine than the competition. One of these days I am sure it will be recognized as the leading magazine in the error/variety industry.

The Hub - Overall a better magazine for die variety collectors than ErrorScope, but still lacking in color and, at times, content.

That's it...should be enough there to chew on for a while.