BOOK REVIEW: THE NATIONAL COIN ALBUM AND RELATED PRODUCTS

I can't resist writing a few lines in response to David Lange's new book, Coin Collecting Albums. A Complete History and Catalog: Volume One. This first volume, which I received only a few days ago, focuses on the National Coin Album and related products made by the Beistle Company, Wayte Raymond, and M. Meghrig & Sons. Coin albums, especially in the pre-slab era, were the unsung heroes in the growth of coin collecting in America. Not only did they provide a convenient way to store one's collection, they urged the collector on--it became almost an obsession to fill the empty holes in the albums.

David Lange's new volume is four books in one. First, it is a thorough catalog of the different types and varieties of coin albums, buttressed, when possible, by extensive research in the surviving archives. Second, it creates a new numismatic collecting specialty (finding some of the rarer albums is every bit as difficult--although still much less expensive--than finding the coins they were manufactured to hold). Third, it is a book about numismatic literature, for it is impossible to talk about Beistle and Raymond coin albums without discussing the literature these men also produced. Fourth, it provides a snapshot of American numismatics from the roaring 20s through the Cold War, all lavishly illustrated with photos and ads from that eventful period.

Those who know David personally will not be surprised by his trademark combination of careful scholarship and sprightly writing. If you haven't read any of his books before, I strongly urge you to give this one a try. Fair warning, though--you will no doubt discover, before you get too far into it, that you simply cannot live without a few National Albums around the house!

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: NEW BOOK: THE NATIONAL COIN ALBUM AND RELATED PRODUCTS (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n41a04.html)

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