BOOK REVIEW: STANDARD GUIDE TO COIN POSTCARDS

This is a book that I was looking forward to receiving, because nothing like it has previously been published on this area of exonumia, to my knowledge. Unfortunately it does not deliver what its title promises.

The author, Dilip Rajgor, organizes his catalog by country whose coins (and sometimes whose flag) are displayed on its postcard varieties. That method makes sense in that it enables a collector to look up a country and see what varieties of cards might exist for that country. However, Rajgor lists only one variety per country (with a few exceptions). The known varieties are in fact far more numerous. For example, 40 different varieties of coin postcards of Denmark alone are known, according to a friend who specializes in collecting cards of that country.

The number of countries listed by Rajgor includes only the 43 originally published by the printer Hugo Semmler of Magdeburg circa 1910 and sold in sets of 45 (including two different cards for Japan and two for Turkey), plus two varieties of cards of the Palestine mandate, a territory administered by Great Britain in the late 1920s when that card was issued. By then, coin postcards had been issued for a number of additional countries, including for example, Albania, Canada, Poland, Syria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Belgian Congo and Yugoslavia. The card for Russia was succeeded by one for the U.S.S.R. Why Rajgor chose to list Palestine but not the other additional countries is not explained.

Rajgor’s pricing, which is given in Indian rupees (currently ~66 per U. S. dollar), seems somewhat above market, but my main disagreement here is that he values clean, unused cards more highly than those that have been postally used. To me, a card actually mailed from one country to another tells more of a story than an unused card, and I have paid extra to get them. (Plus, it’s fun to read other people’s mail.)

This book seems intended mainly for the Indian market; in that sense, it’s good to know that coin postcards are popular there. But we still need a real “standard guide.”

Published in English in 2011 by Reesha Books International, Mumbai, at Rs100 or $5 U.S. Currently available from the distributor, Rajesh Jain, Delhi, for Rs500 (which would be ~$7.60 U.S.) It’s soft cover, illustrations in black and white at 83% of actual size. No rarity ratings.

Per advertisement in the book, they have two offices in Mumbai. The head office is Reesha Group, 7-8-9 Gupta Niwas, V. P. Road, Mulund (West), Mumbai 400080, India, and its fax # is 022-2561 4360. The distributor's address is 1936, 1st Floor, Fountain, Chandni Chowk - 110006, Delhi - 6, India, MOB: 9971510637. This was sent by a friend who saw the book advertised on line, I didn't deal directly with them.

Their web site is http://reeshabooks.com/ , but it is currently under construction. You can email them at info@reeshabooks.com .

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