Customer Reviews

1999 Standard Catalog of World Coins (26th ed)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

No question, this is the best, if not the only reference, for someone, whether collector or dealer, desiring a worldwide comprehensive volume of twentieth and twenty-first century coins. If it has been issued since 1901, you'll probably find it in here (though a few issues get overlooked and later included, but that is not a major flaw).

The problem is that, with the endless stream of non circulating coins being issued by governments (and in some cases, "governments" needs quotation marks. As does coins.), Krause is being forced to fit more and more into a volume which has already reached its limits on size, thickness, smallness of print, and thinness of paper. Something's got to give. Unfortunately, what has given is that the valuable reference material (such as original prices for coin sets) has vanished from its pages.

Maybe it is time to put the junk, like Marshall Islands and similar ilk, into a second volume which, like the pre-1900 issues volumes, gets updated only every two years or so. Or put on a CD-ROM.

Fact remains, though, this is an indispensible reference book for the coin collector and dealer. And mostways, it is pretty good.

The Standard Catalog of World Coins is undoubtedly the best selling coin reference book and a vital reference material for all collectors. The book is certainly not perfect however, and although it is a must-have publication for all those who collect coins from all over the world, there are several mistakes and omissions.

Keeping track of prices is also very difficult and I suspect that in some cases at least, the price quotes come from the application of a general formula (data, mintage, denomination, metals used etc), rather than the international or local market itself. This is not much of a problem if you are only interested in identifying your coins or get a rough estimate of their value, but keep in mind that the prices included are certainly not accurate. The coin market is so volatile that it couldn't have happened any other way.

Should you buy the 2004 version (or 2005 for that matter) if you already own a previous one? Since i live in Europe, the recent currency change had a tremendous effect on coin collecting and the euros were first included in the 2004 edition. Therefore, the answer is yes, as i will probably be buying the 2005 edition too, which will contain many commemorative euros produced in the mean time. If there haven't been any radical changes in the coins you are interested in, maybe you should keep the old one for a couple of years before purchasing a new one.

In general, the Standard Catalog of World Coins is a comprehensive Catalog, which -despite its flaws- is indispensable. Major points of concern are the black & white pictures, and the huge size of this monster that really should move to the digital age and come on a CD. Of course software piracy is a key issue, but this media would realy help collectors access the content.

This book is very well thought out and put together.All the periphial sections,such as HOW TO USE THIS CATALOG,COUNTRY INDEX, FOREIGN EXCHANGE TABLE,MINT INDEX,THE COIN DENOMINATION SECTION, THE INTERNATIONAL NUMERAL SYSTEMS,THE COIN SIZE CHART,HEJIRA DATE CHART,AND THE 18TH CENTURY LEGENDS,all are informative and very helpfull.The small tidbit of information they throw in at the begining of each nation section is just enough history to make it interesting.The photos for the most part are very good and usualy show enough detail so as to make a positive determination. Throughout the book there are numerous charts for indivdual piece dating and mint mark identification.With all of this in one book, this book is surprisingly easy to use and understand.

I think it is the top selling coin book in the United States. It gives great detail about the kind of medals in the coin. It is also at a reasonible price.

I like this book very much,becouse it include almost coin of the world

I found this book not only helpful for pricing my coins but to identify some that had been given to me to start my collection. This is an excellent book, and a must for beginners to find what coins came from where.

I just started collecting Oriental coins. This book is a great teaching and identifiying aid. Tells you how to find the date, denomination, and ruler on Chinese coins (and others). I suspect that some who have been collecting for a long time may find it lacking in some areas, but for me it is just what I needed. I would recommend it to anyone interested in collecting coins from around the world.

I colect coins for 15 years and I have never seen a book like this before. There you can find praticaly every coin in the world of this century. I realy recomend this book if you want to know the price and other features of coins in the aroud the world. Sorry for the english(I speak portuguese); but the book is real good!

I've been collecting coins for over 10 years and I used 23rd Edition of Krause World Coins Catalog (1996). What can I say? There are too many coins for such a respectable edition missing in that edition, which were minted even in 1993! I just hope the present edition would be more "honest". Thank you.

I need a guide so I just do not blindly pay big bucks for cute pictures. There are a lot of good guides and some more specific on particular eras and locations such as Westphalia. But as you do a coin search you are bound to run across something you are not familiar with and need a guide. This guide is a great place to start; it is easy to navigate and gives cursory information on particular locations and times surrounding the coin's production.

Keeping in mind that this is just a guide, there are holes and the coins are not displayed in color. On the other hand the coins shown are in actual size; size is hard to translate form internet pictures.

With all the electronic references today it is nice to have something tactile, static and transportable. This book meet al those needs.