gxseries Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 I am in a market of buying some decent reading materials now that I got a bit more money to cough out. Should be getting a Bitkin or Brekke but they just don't appeal to me yet. This book caught my attention: http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?type=4&campid=5335826004&toolid=10001&customid=&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D250726858212 Has anyone read it and what are your thoughts on it? Reckon it's quite neat to see what kind of information it can possibly hold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKB Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 gx, I have this book. The good thing about it, is publication of a large number of dies, including 1917. This was never done before. Another good thing, it is already pretty hard to find... Interesting read for a beginner. There was a book published some time ago. It was called "Under the SPB mark" by Smirnov. That was a better book for advance collector. There is another new book that just came out -- Ekaterinburg Mint. Now, that is a book to have! Huge amount of new information including the most accurate mintage figures. I am happy I spent the money to buy it. Cannot compare it to Brekke or Bitkin. Those are catalogs. I would, and did, buy Brekke and Bitkin first. After all, a catalog is very important for collector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted November 18, 2010 Report Share Posted November 18, 2010 Sometimes it is worth taking a look at amazon.com to see if they have what you want. I just recently purchased vol. 2 of Yaakov Meshorer's "Ancient Jewish Coinage" on Amazon -- used, of course, since it is long out of print. It was the last one offered, but I got it for a reasonable price. Same thing with Walter Breen's "Encyclopedia of United States Coins" about three years ago. I've seen Brekke offered for less than $100 on eBay lots of times. Our forum user Antikvarius in Ukraine was offering the two volumes of Bitkin for about $150 not too long ago ... pays to shop around, but I don't think you will find Bitkin any cheaper than this. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gxseries Posted November 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 BKB - thank you for writing up such detailed information. I actually decided to get that book as well as the Ekateringburg mint. Will let you know what it's like. Bobh, thanks for letting me know where to look for the books. Somewhere along the lines, I think that having catalog to show varieties are interesting but I personally would like to know how things were going back then. Probably another way to look at numismatics - not just collecting coins but the environment and conditions mints were striking coins. Sadly, I have trouble reading even basic Russian Maybe it's time to look for another area to collect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKB Posted November 20, 2010 Report Share Posted November 20, 2010 BKB - thank you for writing up such detailed information. I actually decided to get that book as well as the Ekateringburg mint. Will let you know what it's like. ... but I personally would like to know how things were going back then. Probably another way to look at numismatics - not just collecting coins but the environment and conditions mints were striking coins. Well, I have both books, and I know what they are like... :-) Ekaterinburg mint book is great, but you need serious command of Russian language to get through it. No pictures, you know... SPB book is very beautiful with pictures :-) and has illustrations of dies, which makes it somewhat interesting. Other than that, my vote is with the EM book. To have a better "picture" of what it was like, you need a 3rd book: Copper Coin of Ekatirinburg" While the book itself is very weak, it offers drawings of the mint and the equipment. Problem is, it has become insanely rare. Thanks to one-kuna, I have a copy. Good news, I think they are working on an improved reprint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gxseries Posted December 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2010 News: I got both books as well as Uzdenikov's book of mintage of coins from 1700-1917. I like all three books and I personally like St. Petersburg book especially for beginneers like me. It is really well colored and this came as a suprise for me. You can even give this book to collectors as a present - it's really that good. Ekaterinburg book is full of text and sadly my lack of understanding Russian is really pulling me down. Well I can always buy a dictionary... There isn't that many books printed either: Uzdenikov mintage figure book: 10,000 History of St. Petersburg mint: 2,000 History of Ekaterinburg mint: 500 (!) No wonder these books are getting hard to find! BKB, if there are any books that you recommand me to get as well, please feel free to add your comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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