Finding the best foreign coins book suitable for your needs isnt easy. With hundreds of choices can distract you. Knowing whats bad and whats good can be something of a minefield. In this article, weve done the hard work for you.
Reviews
1. My Rows and Piles of Coins
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2. #Fail: Why the US Lost the War in Afghanistan
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Jonathan Owen, in his book "#Fail: Why the US Lost the War in Afghanistan," provides a military insider's look at why the US counterinsurgency strategy was doomed to failure. When Owens research was first released in 2010, it challenged the flawed strategy of senior leadership and was suppressed. However, since then, the accuracy and predictive power of Owens research withstood the test of time and is now being heralded as the first major pioneering work overhauling the US militarys counterinsurgency strategy in the 21st Century. Owen's research and analysis is a detailed indictment of the entire US military's counterinsurgency strategy, or lack thereof. Owen's research pulls no punches and systematically takes down one sacred cow after another respective of the military's strategy in Afghanistan. Owen doesn't stop there and places blame by name on the likes of General Petraeus, David Kilcullen, and many other "snake oil" salesmen of military strategy. In short order, Owen debunks the key tactics of the US military strategy in Afghanistan as a waste of resources and proves our most senior generals were either willfully ignorant or incompetent when it came to being true military strategists. Not satisfied with simply pointing fingers, Owen details a truly viable strategy for Afghanistan, which promises actual decisive effects in short order. The beauty of Owens strategy is in its simplicity and the fact it can be replicated elsewhere. In it, Owen explains how when fighting insurgents, the US military can turn the tables and force the insurgents to fight against the conventional strengths of the US military. This flies in the face of the current failed strategy of playing by the insurgents rules in the vain hope of achieving victory. To his credit, Owen's prescient analysis accurately predicted the US failures in Afghanistan and Iraq almost a decade before they have now come to pass. Owen's research presented in book form has been briefed to members of Congress, the senior military officers, academia, and the intelligence community and is now available for public release. Owens analysis literally rewrites the book on how the US military should conduct counterinsurgency operations. Owen's book is a must read for any serious policy maker, military member, or anyone wanting to know the true reasons for what went wrong with the US's war in Afghanistan. If the US is to avoid repeating the intellectual dereliction that led to the strategic disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq, Owen's research should be mandatory reading.3. Zecca: The Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages (Published in Association With the American Numismatic Society)
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Used Book in Good ConditionDescription
Within a few months of assuming the position of curator of medieval coins at the American Numismatic Society in 1980, Alan M. Stahl was presented with a plastic bag containing a hoard of 5,000 recently discovered coins, most of which turned out to be from medieval Venice. The course of study of that hoard (and a later one containing more than 14,000 coins) led him to the Venetian archives, where he examined thousands of unpublished manuscripts. To provide an even more accurate account of how the Zecca mint operated in Venice in the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries, Stahl commissioned scientific analyses of the coins using a variety of modern techniques, uncovering information about their content and how they had been manufactured. The resulting book, Zecca: The Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages, is the first to examine the workings of a premodern mint using extensive research in original documents as well as detailed study of the coins themselves.
The first of the book's three sections traces the coinage of Venice from its origins in the ninth century as a minor, and unofficial, regional Italian coinage to its position at the dawn of the Renaissance as the dominant currency of Mediterranean trade. The second section, entitled "The Mint in the Life of Medieval Venice," illustrates the mechanisms of the control of bullion and the strategies for mint profit and explores the mint's role in Venetian trade and the emergence of a bureaucratized government. The third section, "Within the Mint," examines the physical operations that transformed raw bullion into coins and identifies the personnel of the mint, situating the holders of each position in the context of their social and professional backgrounds.
Illustrated with photos of Venetian coinage from the world's major collections, Zecca also includes a listing of all holders of offices related to the medieval Venetian mint and summaries of all major finds of medieval Venetian coins.
4. Park Bench
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With his masterful illustration style, bestselling French creator-storyteller Chabout (Alone, Moby-Dick) explores community through a common, often ignored object: the park bench.From its creation, to its witness to the fresh ardor of lovers, the drudgery of businessmen, the various hopes of the many who enter its orbit, the park bench weathers all seasons. Strangers meet at it for the first time. Paramours carve their initials into it. Old friends sit and chat upon it for hours. Others ignore the bench, or (attempt to) sleep on it at night, or simply anchor themselves on it and absorb the ebb and flow of the area and its people.
Christophe Chabouts mastery of the visual medium turns this simple object into a thought-provoking and gorgeously wrought meditation on time, desire, and the life of communities all across the planet. This could be a bench in my hometown or yoursthe people in this little drama are very much those we already recognize.
5. Collecting World Coins, 1901-Present: Standard Catalog of Circulating Coinage
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Krause PublicationsDescription
The world at your fingertips!
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, Collecting World Coins, 1901-Present, offers the most comprehensive country-by-country, fully illustrated catalog on the market for 20th and 21st century coins used in everyday commerce.
Offering complete coin descriptions and nearly 20,000 actual-size illustrations to assist in coin identification, the new edition is a perfect reference for beginner to expert collectors alike, as well as coin traders and dealers interested in circulating coins found around the world.
Each detailed listing includes:
- Dates, mintmarks and mintages
- Descriptions of coin features
- Metal content, with weight and diameter in many cases
- Current market value in relevant grades of preservation
6. Alone
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Available in English for the first timethe internationally bestselling graphic novel and an Official Selection at Frances prestigious Angoulme Internaional Comics Festival by master illustrator-storyteller Chabout (Park Bench, Moby-Dick).On a tiny lighthouse island far from the rest of the world, a lonely hermit lives out his existence. Every week a supply boat leaves provisions, its occupants never meeting him, never asking the obvious questions: Who are you? Why do you hide? Why do you never leave? What is it like to be so alone?
Years spent on a deserted rocka lifetime, reallywith imagination his sole companion has made the lighthouse keeper something more than alone, something else entirely. For him, what lies beyond the horizon might be...nothing. And so, why not stay put? But one day, as a new boatman starts asking the questions all others have avoided, a chain of events unfolds that will irrevocably upend the hermits solitary life....
Filled with stunning and richly executed black-and-white illustrations, Alone is Chabouts masterpiecean unforgettable tale where tenderness, despair, and humor intertwine to flawlessly portray how someone can be an everyman, and every man is someone.
Translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger.
7. Splitting Pennies: Understanding Forex
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Splitting Pennies Understanding ForexDescription
Splitting Pennies - Understanding Forex is a book about our global financial system and its direct impact on every human being on this planet Earth. Every day, our money is worth less and less. Splitting Pennies explores why, through the prism of its mechanism; Forex. Forex is the largest business in the world and the least understood. This is not taught in school - start your journey, and just read.8. Coin Collecting For Dummies
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Cant make heads or tails out of coin collecting? You need Coin Collecting For Dummies, 2nd Edition, the treasure trove on information on numismatics. This hands-on guide escorts you through the worlds oldest hobby, helping you decide which type of coins you want to collect, keep your collection in mint condition, buy and sell coins on the Internet, find interesting coin shows to attend, and assemble and diversify a great collection.The purpose of this fun, easy-to-access guide is to turn you into a world-class coin collector in as little time as possible. Youll learn what coins can teach you about history and geography, develop organizational and observational skills, and learn to use analytical tools, all without event thinking about it. And youll learn the basics about ancient coins, U.S. coins, world coins, and the wild-and-wooly stuff that really gets your numismatic juices flowing. Discover how to:
- Start your collection correctly
- Evaluate coins using age, condition, rarity, and more
- Buy interesting coins without breaking the bank
- Locate rare and expensive coins
- Get savvy about avoiding fakes
- Get the whole family involved in your collection
- Develop a buying strategy
- Clean and handle coins safely
- Keep your collection secure at home and on the road
- Investigate tokens, medals, and miscellaneous coins
- Create complete collections of copper, nickel, silver, or gold U.S. coins
When it comes to numismatics, Coin Collecting For Dummies, 2nd Edition is right on the money!
9. The Book of Old Silver: English, American, Foreign
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The art of silversmithing dates back to centuries ago, and its history is an interesting and intricate one, but even Old Silver connoisseurs arent familiar with all of the customs, laws, regulations, and fashions of the past. First published in 1937, The Book of Old Silver thoroughly chronicles the fascinating history of the art of this precious metal, starting in England, which produced more fine silver than any other country and ignited the crafts greatest flowering.
Did you know the word Sterling originates from a band of immigrant Germans, the Easterlings, who were called on by King John in 1300 to refine the metal to make English coins? Or that the English government regulated the stamping of silver by law, and later punished the marking of inferior pieces with the sterling hallmark by death? Seymour B. Wyler follows the history of various types of silver pieces, including tea services, drinking articles, condiment sets, tableware, lighting appliances, and furniture, and details the history of silver in various parts of the United Kingdom, America, and Europe.
Along with the history and traditions, Wyler provides instructions on how to properly care for and clean Old Silver, details how to identify antique pieces, and provides tables and illustrations of various silversmiths marks. Including photographs of antiques dating back to the sixteenth century, this book is a must-have for every silver collector.
10. 2500 Coins of the World: A comprehensive global history of coins from 180 countries, from antiquity to present day, featuring up to 2500 colour images
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Used Book in Good ConditionDescription
Coins have occupied a vital role in trade and society since their very first usage in the ancient kingdoms of Turkey, China and India. This unparalleled world reference guide turns this complex history into an accessible chronicle, with coins illustrated from every coin-issuing country in the world. Through the course of these information-packed pages and 2500 color images, the reader can travel more than eight millennia, and gain inspiration on how and where to start a country or themed collection.11. $25, 000 Collection: The Foreign Section, Including Old Crowns, English and Canadian Coins, Foreign Coins, Silver and Copper Coins, Numismatic Books, Etc (Classic Reprint)
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Excerpt from $25, 000 Collection: The Foreign Section, Including Old Crowns, English and Canadian Coins, Foreign Coins, Silver and Copper Coins, Numismatic Books, EtcEdward III. (1327 Rose Noble. King in Ship. Scarcely circulated and exceptionally perfect and unclipped.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
