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BOOK REVIEW: CARSON CITY MORGAN DOLLARS BY CRUM, UNGAR & OXMAN
John and Nancy Wilson, NLG, submitted this review of
Carson City Morgan Dollars – Featuring The Coins Of The GSA Hoard by Adam Crum, Selby Ungar & Jeff Oxman.
-Editor
The specialized reference covers the subject of Carson City Dollars completely and in a very easy and simple way to read. The introduction, which covers 33 pages, gives a brief history of the Carson City Mint and the part the General Services Administration played with its sale of its CC dollar hoard. The Redfield hoard is also discussed. We especially liked the information regarding the official audit of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. where they discovered three million U. S. Silver Dollars which were all struck at the Carson City Mint. This hoard with its many rare dated CC Dollars would eventually help collectors build collections; that prior to the sale of these hoards were almost impossible to complete. The three authors also gave an interesting and informative account in regards to the California gold rush. The book starts with a Collector’s Checklist which lists CC dollars along with their VAM numbers. Each coin has collector highlights and notes on that piece. This provides many insights about each date. Close-up pictures of the diagnostics for the varieties are shown. Estimated values are given in Mint State grades with proof-like (PL) and deep-mirror proof-like (DMPL) listed separately. Both GSA holders and non-GSA holders are valued separately. With a "Condition Census" the book provides the most reasonable acquisition grade for the average collector. The authors have carefully analyzed each date and variety for collectors to study. This book is an important addition to the information on Carson City Morgan Dollars and belongs in every Morgan dollar collector’s library. This fine reference will be released by Whitman in December, 2010, and it will retail for $24.95. They can be contacted at: Whitman Publishing, LLC, 3103 Clairmont Road, Suite B, Atlanta, GA 30329, Phone (800) 546 - 2995 or Email: info@whitmanbooks.com
I've got a copy of the book and agree that it fills a nice niche. It's a slim volume at 124 pages, but includes a lot of useful information. Included in the illustrations are images of the General Services Administration (GSA) hoard coins in their original holders. I'm old enough to remember when this hoard was originally dispersed, although I wasn't interested or flush enough to buy any at the time. Too bad! I enjoyed the nine-page discussion of the history of the sale, which contained a lot of information I missed the first time around. As a bibliophile I enjoyed seeing the illustration of the government's brochure publicizing the sale, a great piece of numismatic ephemera.
An interesting numismatic mystery discussed in the book is the lone 1882-CC specimen form the GSA hoard. The authors are unaware of its whereabouts - it would be an interesting numismatic find if it turns up in packaging. -Editor
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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