Product Description

Covers various coins of the world from 1901 to 2000, including collector coins, sets, trial strikes, patterns, tokens, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #393985 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-27
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 2232 pages

About the Author
Colin Bruce II & Thomas Michael are experienced and accomplished numismatists and researchers. Colin and Tom are both avid collectors with a passion for this hobby. Colin is one of the original creators of the "Standard Catalog of" series and has worked with Krause for nearly 40 years while Tom has performed in-depth price analysis for the Krause numismatic book line for nearly 20 years.

Customer Reviews

Good Old Krause
This is a book a coin collector simply cannot live without. Over 2000 pages packed with information on coins. Obviously, there are better catalogues for specific periods or territories but none so comprehensive. At some point your collection will reach the level when other catalogues are necessary but when you decide to go beyond your local coinage there is no better start. If you really concentrate on some period or country, you will soon outgrow it. If you begin to broaden your numismatic horizons, this is your guide and you may need no other. And yet it seems that with every year the editorial board is less and less in control over that magnificent undertaking.
The editors removed all "medallic issues" while they kept "patterns and trial strikes" even though, at least from my point of view, medallic issues such as the lovely Monaco 10 francs from 1966 with the late princess Grace and prince Rainier III can be sought after collectables while vast majority of trial pieces is interesting only to top specialists if only because of mintages of a few copies. Usually there are no pictures of patterns which makes these parts of the catalogue completely useless to 95% of its readers.
Some information provided is unnecessary (Does anyone need the information on ruler added to the description of every coin - e.g. the name of John Paul II repeated 210 times?) some is plain wrong. Tamara was the Queen not the King of Georgia and she ruled from 1184 to 1213 not 1136 to 1224. At least according to my Britannica.
In short there is some mistake every few pages. Hundrends in the impressive volume. And yet it is good old Krause. A book like an old friend. You know his shortcomings, you know he is not really up-to-date (whatever he may claim), you know that he gets more and more forgetful every year, you know he can be terribly obstinate and stick to his mistakes for years. But you reach for him in need because, well, you haven't got a better friend.

Reference suitable for serious collectors only
The `Standard Catalog...' series of books are comprehensive in their listing and presentation of world coins/paper money; I can see how these volumes are invaluable to collectors. I am not a collector however and purchased the volumes on paper money simply to admire the artistry put into their creation. I was greatly disappointed (given my purpose) as the paper is of telephone book quality and all coin/note images inside are small, black & white and grany (the only colour printing is on the cover). Even as a reference for collectors, the presentation quality could be much better. For a beautifully illustrated guide to world coinage, I would instead recommend `The World Encyclopedia of Coins and Coin Collecting' by James Mackay.