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Rating  - Simply put, it is the new standard and it's indispensible
Early dated coin collectors such as myself finally have reason to cheer. For decades the only similar work has been Frey's "Dated European Coinage Prior to 1501". Levinson's new book on the subject blows Frey completely out of the water and makes it obsolete. Correcting the errors and removing the duplicates in that work, Bob Levinson's 15 year effort in gathering information and writing expands the number of coins catalogued and described to over 1,000 distinct types and numerous more subtypes and variants. The difference in organization and the increase in scope are startling to anyone familiar with Frey's work or its occasionally revised editions. Levinson adds legend transcriptions, weight info, catalogue references, and an estimate of rarity to each type listed. Additional sections and appendices after the main catalogue are as follows: An overview describing the location and brief history of early dated issuing cities and realms, with maps of the areas drafted by myself specifically for the book, a listing of all early dated issuing states and mints, legend translations, the patron saints appearing on the coins, a photo glossary, a list of a listing of the errors in Frey, early anno domini coins from the Crusader States, plus an extensive bibliography. Included in the back is a small pamphlet giving a rough price guide for the coins, rough because some of these coins are off the market for years at a time and gauging their values is difficult at best. Perhaps most wonderful of all are the literally hundreds and hundreds of photos and line drawings of nearly all these fascinating coins, many probably never seen before, so that if nothing else you can admire some of the rarest coins in the world. Many are unique or are known from only a handful of examples that exist only in museums.
If early dated coinage is an interest, there is no other way to put it than to say you MUST own this book. There will be no reason to keep Frey except as a curio.
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Customer Reviews for Coin & Currency Institute, Inc.,0871846004,9780871846006,0871846004,737 |
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Books : The Early Dated Coins of Europe 1234-1500 Customer Reviews
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