20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
2005 edition is misleading-not updated since 2000!!!, January 15, 2005
Although this is the 2005 edition, the info for many countries has not been updated since 2000. In fact, there is no information at all included on any coin issued after 2000 for many countries. The information that is included is incomplete, especially for smaller countries. But there are huge omissions(many items missing) for the even the most populated countries in the world, especially China (PRC). I felt cheated as I expected this to be a professional, complete reference work. Instead it was sloppy, disorganized and incomplete.
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Grave errors of Krause Publication!!!, October 31, 2006
I used to buy Krause's Standard Catalog of World Coins religiously every year. Then they became greedy (or creative?) and divided one catalog into several catalogs. To my chagrin, I found that now I had to buy two or more catalogs just for coins of the few countries I collect. Worse yet, there are really not that much different between catalogs of different years. I think they will be almost better off just to custome make their catalogs for each collector. You request the coin info for each country and they charge you by the country. Better yet, they should have a world coin catalog on the internet and then charge you a subscription fee to look at it and print out the stuff you need. This way all the info can be updated instantly and you can access it wherever you are.
Another problem with them is that they are totally out of touch. The so called numismatic experts give too much values for some junk coins and not enough for some really rare coins or coins of difficult countries. For instance, any silver coins of British Commanwealth especially Hong Kong in the 1860's or 1870's are difficult to find. I do not know where they obtain their prices. I think they should hook up with ebay and other auction houses and develop an on-line database where you can look up the prices realized of any coins. They should really have developed their own coin auction sites or e-market because their World Coin magazine is simply a joke. It was published monthly and the prices of the coins advertised on the ads are simply out of touch.
I belive Krause Publication has done a lot for the numismatic community, both U.S. and international, however, they lack the innovations and visions which are necessary for their continued survival in the next century. That is really sad. However, for beginner, I think their catalogs are still good references.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
No price changes...., July 2, 2006
Here we go again...You might think that with the rise in the price of metals this year we would expect to see overall price re-evaluations in this latest edition of World Coins (The answer is NO, Krause Publishing figures that a re-designed cover qualifies as a 'new' addition). Save yourself some coin and purchase a used 32nd edition, which is basically identical except that with the 2006 ed. you also get coin listings of 2001 and up! You will now have to purchase another catalog for 'updated' 2001 and up coin pricing...Lazy and a rip.
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