More than anything else I collect, I love my books. They are the key to all of my other collecting. I like my classic coin book library which is rather extensive. In the world of coin collecting, the most up-to-date references are often the best, but the history of the hobby itself is of interest. The early books are the most fun, because they connect me to the distant past.

After all, hobbies are about having fun. If they are not fun, then the hobby becomes an investment or maybe even a commercial enterprise. This can be fun too, but then it’s really not a hobby anymore. It becomes a job.

I think that one should know all that can be known about the hobby of coin collecting – including its history. For this aspect of the hobby, one needs books. Some books can be quite expensive, but not all of them. I’ve paid hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a book I may have lusted after. These are the very early and super rare references which are of great value in research of early coins.

There are a lot less expensive tomes to be had. For twenty dollars, I bought Rare Coins published by Numismatic Bank which was located at 89 Court Street in Boston, Mass. It was printed October 11, 1897 and was the firm’s eighth edition of this little reference work. Through this book the firm bought coins, because the Numismatic Bank was not a chartered bank but a coin dealership.

The Romans collected the coins of ancient Greeks. Louis XV collected ancient coins and medals, and the collecting of United States coinage really began in the early 19th century. Books were fairly few in number.

Early coin dealer’s lists, and the handful of auction catalogs were guides of a sort. The Numismatic Bank’s Rare Coins could be used as a price guide. It was most valid, because the little book listed prices which the Numismatic Bank would actually pay for coins.

In those days, if one wanted to sell coins, one packaged them up and sent them off to the dealer. On page seven of Rare Coins, the Numismatic Bank told the public how to send their coins to the company. Those who would sell their coins were cautioned not to send coins through the mail in “…common white envelopes as they are not strong enough to hold the coins.”

Would-be sellers are told to send their coins in wooden or tin boxes or manila envelopes. The Numismatic Bank warned that they were not responsible for lost coins and would not accept shipments sent C.O.D.

The book listed coins in three conditions: good, fine, and uncirculated. The Numismatic Bank said they they would pay $5 to $25 for Willow Tree shillings, and $25 to $100 for Fugio Cent. Today that Willow Tree shilling sells from $4,000 to $80,000, depending on condition and the Fugio Cents sell for $190 to $175,000 depending on type and condition.

An 1804 dollar in good condition sold for $200 while  $300  was offered for the coin in fine condition, and $600 was offered for an uncirculated 1804 dollar. Today I think that $10,000,000 would be the starting point in a bidding war for a prime uncirculated specimen.

A dollar and twenty-five cents was the price offered for an 1873 proof Trade dollar. Today this coin commands $2,500, and $60 was offered for a 1799 large cent. Today an uncirculated specimen would command upwards of $750,000 or more if one could even be found.

The book illustrates past Colonial coins and most contemporary foreign coins in half-illustrations as the law against counterfeiting demands. I had a dream once of going back in time, with $1,000, to buy coins using this book. I woke up before I finished buying an 1836 Gobrecht dollar for $10 in uncirculated condition. Today that coin would cost $30,000 or more.

I was fortunate to pick up George G. Evans’ Illustrated History of the United States Mint. This book was printed in 1888 and furnishes a great history of the mint. It is loaded with illustrations. Many of these same pictures were used in later books on coins and collecting.

The Evans’ book also has a great deal of statistical information about mintages, coin dies produced, and even the gross profits made on coinage which are forever valid information. Information on assaying coins, and electrotypes can be found between the covers of this volume.

A friend gave me a copy of Andrew McFarland Davis’ Tracts Relating to the Currency of the Massachusetts Bay, 1682-1720. The book was printed by Houghton, Mifflin, and Company in 1902. It is the most definitive insight into Colonial coinage and a great addition to any numismatic library.

If you want to build up a nice numismatic library, haunt the second hand bookshops, check out the antiquarian bookshops, and sales. You might be surprised by what you find. You might even find a great 17th- or 18th-century treasure. Keep your eyes open. Books are a great intrinsic part of the hobby.

 

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Here one can see prices quoted in 1897 for rare Colonial coins. Wouldn’t you like to go back 107 years in a time machine?	Tables showing the profits made by the mint and mint expenditures for the year 1886 in Evans’ book.	Note the prices offered for early dollars by the Numismatic Bank and how the laws of the period did not allow full depiction of the coins.	Title page of Tracts Relating to The Currency of the Massachusetts Bay, 1682-1720 by Andrew McFarland Davis A.M. in 1902.