Q. DAVID BOWERS ON NUMISMATIC BOOKS AND NBS

There has been a revival of sorts in the popularity of printed books. There is something special about having a bound book with printed pages that you can hold in your hand, take to the beach, read in an easy chair at home, and otherwise enjoy at leisure. A printed book has random access -- you can flip to any page you want -- requires no batteries or power, has nice graphics and, perhaps more important, has a permanence. Our old auction catalogs are enthusiastically collected -- far more than those of any other contemporary firm. The Ford Collection hard bounds are the latest in an illustrious series. It could be that the same amount of information if posted on the Internet would be just as useful, sort of, but something would be lost. A book in its own way is a little trophy, perhaps like a special watch or car is.

Further speaking of books, the Numismatic Bibliomania Society is one of our favorite organizations. It is devoted to the enjoyment of out-of-print as well as current coin magazines, auction catalogs, reference books, printed broadsides and more. Their quarterly journal, The Asylum, is one of the best “reads” to cross my desk. The current issue included articles about Emmanuel J. Antinelli, father of collecting numismatic auction catalogs by John W. Adams; a related article also by Adams, about Antinelli himself; a feature by Pete Smith and Joel Orosz as to what the first publication was of the second United States Mint (the cornerstone for which was laid on July 4, 1829); “Reminiscences of a Numismatic Bookseller,” by George Kolbe; a quiz by Myron Xenos; and other features by David Fanning, Scott Rubin, Wayne Johnson, Elizabeth Hahn, Steve Tompkins and, again, Joel Orosz. The remarkable thing about the society is that dues are just $20 a year! If you are interested, send a check for that amount to the treasurer, David M. Sundman, PO Box 82, Littleton, NH 03561 and say that I sent you!

To read the complete article, see: From The Desk Of Q. David Bowers: More This And That (stacksbowers.com/Blogs/from-desk-of-q-david-bowers-more-this.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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