2500 Coins Of The World

Coins have occupied a vital role in trade and society since their very first usage in the ancient kingdoms of Turkey, China and India. This unparalleled world reference guide turns this complex history into an accessible chronicle, with coins illustrated from every coin-issuing country in the world. Through the course of these information-packed pages and 2500 color images, the reader can travel more than eight millennia, and gain inspiration on how and where to start a country or themed collection.

The tenth edition of Gold Coins of the World expands on its predecessor, digging more deeply into new areas of collector interest, and expanding many sections. From the coins of Ancient Greece, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire, and from Afghanistan through Zanzibar, it includes the addition of many new discoveries for dozens of countries. From the 384 pages of the 1958 edition, the work has expanded to 852 pages, which have been completely revised and updated. The authors have listed more than 22,000 coin types, which are illustrated with more than 8,500 photos—now, for the first time, each one of them in color. Each country’s section includes tables of weight and fineness. The market valuations are extensively revised to reflect both the higher price of gold as well as the skyrocketing demand for numismatic rarities. Valuations are now provided, for the first time, in up to three states of preservation. Many of the prices, especially for great rarities and coins in higher grades, have at least doubled. In fact, as collectors recognize the scarcity of coins in the highest states of preservation, the premium for such coins relative to lower-graded ones is escalating beyond traditional proportions. The coinage of India and the Islamic world, long dismissed by western collectors as difficult to decipher, unimportant, and lacking in value, is now the subject of intense interest, and has shown some of the most dramatic increases of all. The reader will also find a useful directory of the world’s leading gold-coin dealers and auction houses. For the numismatist, banker, economist, historian, or institution of higher learning, the tenth edition of Gold Coins of the World is a book for every library, public and private.

overs the entire history of world gold coinage form the 5th century B.C. through the modern coin issues of today. Part I, the section on ancient coins covers, in order, Ancient Greece, the Roman Republic and Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Part II lists the coins of the world in alphabetical order by country from approximately AD 600 to date. With current market valuations usually in the two most commonly encountered states of preservation. Tables of weight and precious metal content included with coins of each country.

A unique and indispensable reference work Unsurpassed in content and scope When the first edition of Gold Coins of the World made its debut in 1958, it forever changed the way gold coins were collected, cataloged, traded, and priced. For the first time, one book provided a reliable guide for a subject which previously required an often expensive investment in multiple volumes of literature, some of it rare and antique, and much of it badly out-of-date. With the publication of this pioneering work, Robert Friedberg (1912-1963) established himself as an international icon in the field of numismatic literature. This book, and the 'Friedberg Numbering System' he developed became then, and is still today, the internationally-recognized standard for systematically identifying any gold coin ever made. From just 384 pages in 1958, Gold Coins of the World has expanded to the extent that it now contains more than triple the information of its ancestor. It still stands alone as the first and only book to describe, catalog and price two millennia of gold, platinum, and palladium coin issues from across the globe. From the first coins of the ancient Greeks to the most recently-issued modern commemoratives, they are all here, an astonishing compilation of more than 21,000 individual coin listings accompanied by over 8,000 actual-size photographs. The prices have been completely updated, for the most part raised substantially, to reflect the current market. Entire sections have been expanded, many illustrations have been added or improved, and hundreds of new discoveries and recent issues have been included for the first time. Arthur Friedberg, president of the International Association of Professional Numismatists from 2001 to 2007 and now its Honorary President, and Ira Friedberg, have completely revised and expanded their late father's work. They have had the valuable assistance and cooperation of a who's who of the leading numismatists on every continent in bringing this edition to fruition. For the numismatist, banker, economist, historian, institution of higher learning, or a fancier of the noble metal in all its forms, Gold Coins of the World is a book for every library, public and private.