Coin Collecting For Beginners
At the age of ten
Alan Hartley became a keen stamp collector swapping stamps with his friends at
school. One of these friends also collected coins and he sparked an interest in
Alan to do likewise. Whilst Alan was in his twenties the P.O. started to issue
many more sets of commemorative stamps than it had done, reducing their collectabillity
value. When this happened he turned his attentions further to coin collecting, a
hobby which he has now followed for many years resulting in a collection
containing nearly two thousand coins.
Alan Hartley has written has several other books including two books on Fish Keeping, one on The Game Of darts and his Autobiography. He started writing at the age of about 35 when he ran an aquatic department within a garden centre. The newspaper that he advertised his business in asked him to write some articles on fish keeping, for the pets page, which were accepted and published and this started him on a new career.
Andrew Lucas is best
described as a frustrated young artist forced to follow a career in retailing
which does not inspire him, unlike his passion for drawing. It is this passion
that has led him to produce the ink drawings which illustrate this book.
Andrew is something of a history buff who delights in drawing timber framed buildings and historical town plans. It is his interest in history that led him into the hobby of coin collecting. Whereas Alan Hartley collects what most numismatists would call modern coins Andrew’s interest lies in the earlier Roman, Saxon, Medieval etc. He has collaborated with Alan Hartley to produce this book entitled “Coin Collecting For Beginners.”
It
is hoped that “Coin Collecting For Beginners” will encourage more young
people into a hobby that is often considered to be a pastime for old men and
thought to be to “Dry” and boring for young people.
This book then is
aimed at absolute beginners to the hobby of coin collecting and it is
acknowledged that a lot of these new hobbyists will be teenagers so the book
does not go into tedious encyclopedic detail. It does however remain informative
with an easy to read style and is
illustrated throughout with drawings and relevant
pictures, especially in the coin identifying section near the back, and as such
can be used as a reference book to identify foreign coins.
Coin Collecting For
Beginners concentrates on what dealers would consider “modern coins” that is
the coinage of the milled series, ie; British coins since 1656. Foreign coins
considered are even more recent, ie; those since 1900.
The book starts with
a useful list of the rulers of Britain going back to Roman times and then
follows on with a brief history of coins. A section on Pre-Decimal coinage and
the advent of the Euro continues the historic theme. The Euro has meant big
changes in European currencies which have not always been for the best. In fact
a lot of financial problems have been blamed on it but it is now recognized as a
major currency and as such deserves a mention in this book. One page takes a
light hearted look at its phenomenal rise in value in the Vatican State. Also at
the back of the book is a pictorial list of all the designs of the new Euro
coins issued in its first year.
A
section on the British Royal Mint also discusses the production of coins
including how they are designed. Some interesting information on mints around
the world and brief notes on museums housing coin collections worth seeing
follows.
The
actual collecting of coins is an interesting topic which is covered from all
angles with some tips on which coins may be worth looking out for in your
change. A brief section on collecting coins for an investment is covered with
tips on how to buy coins at the best price.
This
book on coin collecting takes a look at many different aspects of coin
collecting including Maundy Money, housing a collection, grading and handling
coins. An informative and yet light hearted approach to the subject of coin
forgeries makes for interesting reading.
Eventually there
will come a time when a coin collection has to be disposed of for whatever
reason and this too is dealt with sympathetically, with a few words of advice on
how it may be passed down the generations.
The book also gives
another alternative to selling at an auction and suggests that the collection is
used to start a small business in early retirement perhaps.
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