The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 34, August 26, 2007, Article 3

LANGE'S U.S. MINT AND ITS COINAGE CHOSEN AS ESSENTIAL COLLEGE READING

I learned recently that David Lange's book "History of the
United States Mint and Its Coinage" was included as one of
the books considered essential reading for college-bound
students by Amazon booksellers.

Their "Outstanding Books for the College Bound" list, published
earlier this year, consists of 195 titles.   Lange's book comes
in at #182, just after "An Empire of Wealth" by John Steele Gordon,
which I've recently read and would also highly recommend.
Topping the list are

1) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
2) Silas Marner by George Eliot
3) Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
4) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
5) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Notable titles that Lange's Mint book edged out include

185) How to Solve It by George Polya
186) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
191) Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
193) The Year of the Great Crash, 1929 by William K. Klingman

To read the complete the complete list, see:
Complete List

[This is an outstanding achievement for a numismatic book, and
I applaud the booksellers for spotting it and considering it in
the voting.  Like any popularity contest, it does seem to skew
toward including a number of fairly recently published titles in
addition to the great classics.  It remains to be seen if a recent
title such as Freakonomics (which I've also read and recommend)
will appear on such lists 50 years hence.  But a classic treatment
of a classic topic of American history such as David's book on
the early Mint could well endure.  Congratulations!

I understand Lange's book was commissioned by the American Numismatic
Association's Education department around 1995 and was written as
a volunteer effort to create classroom materials for the ANA's
Summer Seminar.  But after cancelling those plans, the ANA struck
a deal with Whitman to publish Dave's material commercially.   From
what I understand, the book's royalties have all gone to the ANA
and nothing to David.  It's an unfortunate situation; although the
new ANA board has a lot to deal with right now, it would good to
review the situation and at least acknowledge the financial
contribution of Dave's efforts to the ANA coffers.  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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