Basok's Book on Bulgarian Four Ducats

[mmarotta]

I got this at the the MSNS convention last November, but only now got around to it. For little book, it is pretty dense. Basically, we know the 4-ducat coins of Austria, especially the restrikes. Those are the fabric here. These were made with holes as 12 o'clock, as if for jewelry, but according to Basok, few of these ever found that use. He theorizes that the holes allowed them to be strung in groups for weighing.

 

In addition to Franz Josef II, Alexander II, Ferdinand I and Boris III of Bulgaria also appear on the obverses. Some are crude; others are stunning; most fall in the middle.

 

Complete Catalog of Four Ducat Coins wiht Bulgarian Counterstamp, by Alexander Basok (Chicago, 2002); 138 pages, hardcover, color; $45 (+$5 s&h).

[one-kuna]

I got this at the the MSNS convention last November, but only now got around to it. For little book, it is pretty dense. Basically, we know the 4-ducat coins of Austria, especially the restrikes. Those are the fabric here. These were made with holes as 12 o'clock, as if for jewelry, but according to Basok, few of these ever found that use. He theorizes that the holes allowed them to be strung in groups for weighing.

 

In addition to Franz Josef II, Alexander II, Ferdinand I and Boris III of Bulgaria also appear on the obverses. Some are crude; others are stunning; most fall in the middle.

 

Complete Catalog of Four Ducat Coins wiht Bulgarian Counterstamp, by Alexander Basok (Chicago, 2002); 138 pages, hardcover, color; $45 (+$5 s&h).

 

I like this book. Also it signed to me by the author

[mmarotta]

I put a longer review on the MSNS Website here. It is something of a paradox that a short book is harder to review than a long one. This is a nice summary of a dusty corner of numismatics. It will only appeal to a handful of specialists who crave arcane knowledge. Still, as all such problems always reflect on the wider study of numismatics, I got a lot out of this.

 

I do not collect the coins. I have not owned any four ducat in 20 years, just as it happens, nothing special. But I was entranced by the depth of research and the fascinating details about these coins which are at once common and mysterious.

 

Оно что-то из парадокса что короткая книга более трудна для того чтобы рассмотреть чем длиннее одно. Это славная сводка пылевоздушного угла нумизматика. Оно только апеллирует к пригорошне специалистов которые жаждают тайное знание. Все еще, по мере того как все справедливые проблемы всегда отражают на более широком изучении нумизматика, я получил много из этого. Я не собираю монетки. Бедный человек i имел любой ducat 4 в 20 летах, как раз по мере того как он случается, ничего специальное. Но я был очарован глубиной исследования и завораживающих деталей о этих монетках которые сразу общие и загадочные.

[one-kuna]

I put a longer review on the MSNS Website here. It is something of a paradox that a short book is harder to review than a long one. This is a nice summary of a dusty corner of numismatics. It will only appeal to a handful of specialists who crave arcane knowledge. Still, as all such problems always reflect on the wider study of numismatics, I got a lot out of this.

 

I do not collect the coins. I have not owned any four ducat in 20 years, just as it happens, nothing special. But I was entranced by the depth of research and the fascinating details about these coins which are at once common and mysterious.

 

Оно что-то из парадокса что короткая книга более трудна для того чтобы рассмотреть чем длиннее одно. Это славная сводка пылевоздушного угла нумизматика. Оно только апеллирует к пригорошне специалистов которые жаждают тайное знание. Все еще, по мере того как все справедливые проблемы всегда отражают на более широком изучении нумизматика, я получил много из этого. Я не собираю монетки. Бедный человек i имел любой ducat 4 в 20 летах, как раз по мере того как он случается, ничего специальное. Но я был очарован глубиной исследования и завораживающих деталей о этих монетках которые сразу общие и загадочные.

 

russian translation is very funny, have you used google for that?

[mmarotta]

russian translation is very funny, have you used google for that?

 

I used Babelfish. (Here - http://babelfish.yahoo.com/) Originally, AltaVista, Babelfish was sold to Yahoo. The "Babelfish" comes from the comedic science fiction novel series, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Of course. the Tower of Babel is the Biblical story of the curse of languages. The "Babel fish" was a creature you place in your ear and it allows you to understand all languages. Would that such a thing existed.

 

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. To call my friends from school on the telephone, I would have to talk first to their parents. My Russian is just a few words and phrases and some general understanding of grammar, without any actual use. I can read cognate words such as "numismatics" or "astronomy" but I would not recognize "Dead Souls" or "Swan Lake."

 

For all of that, I knew immediately that the Babelfish translation was flawed. I fixed a couple of things, and probably fixed them wrong.

 

Anyway, I wrote another review for a different publication and I am impressed with the wealth of detail in this book. Alexander Basok studied to be a doctor and this book shows that passion for science and for details.

[aleksandr]

I used Babelfish. (Here - http://babelfish.yahoo.com/) Originally, AltaVista, Babelfish was sold to Yahoo. The "Babelfish" comes from the comedic science fiction novel series, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Of course. the Tower of Babel is the Biblical story of the curse of languages. The "Babel fish" was a creature you place in your ear and it allows you to understand all languages. Would that such a thing existed.

 

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. To call my friends from school on the telephone, I would have to talk first to their parents. My Russian is just a few words and phrases and some general understanding of grammar, without any actual use. I can read cognate words such as "numismatics" or "astronomy" but I would not recognize "Dead Souls" or "Swan Lake."

 

For all of that, I knew immediately that the Babelfish translation was flawed. I fixed a couple of things, and probably fixed them wrong.

 

Anyway, I wrote another review for a different publication and I am impressed with the wealth of detail in this book. Alexander Basok studied to be a doctor and this book shows that passion for science and for details.

 

This translation is comprehensible to me. A fluent Russian speaker will find that the choice of some words is perhaps odd. The grammar, and sentence structure is quite good.