Hello everyone!

Which reference book on russian coins in english would you recommend?
I have Uzdenikov, but there are not that many varieties in it and Konros but its in russian. In many
auctions Bitkin is used. Should I get it?

Janne

As a general reference, Bitkin is certainly an important work. It covers most of the varieties from Peter I up to 1917. If you don't mind paying the $250 or so for both books, by all means I would purchase it.

However, I find more information in works which specialize in some specific area of Russian coinage. For example, if you collect mostly copper coins, you will want to have Brekke's "The Copper Coinage of Imperial Russia". For silver, R.W. Julian's book "Russian Silver Coinage 1796-1917" is excellent, but as the title suggests, won't help much if you are mainly interested in Peter I roubles. For those, you would need the Severin book which is offered often on eBay, but in a Russian translation (original is in English and is rather hard to find these days). There is a new book by Kazakov which is only about coins of Nicholas II -- since that is what I mainly collect, I find this book to be very useful.

Good luck!

Also do not forget Mr Diakov's series of nice books on Russian coins. Each volume goes for app. $100-120.

Thank You for information. I collect mainly silver coins (1809-1917), so there are many options.

Have a nice day!

Janne

Janne. like what Bobh has mentioned, Julian's catalogue is pretty excellent. I got myself a copy off my local library (extremely lucky!) else I would have been forced to buy a copy. Perhaps Basok would have some copies left. prices don't seem too bad unlike Bitkin. http://www.rustypennies.com/catalog/numism...references.html

I just ordered my copy from Basok