Gold Coins of the World

The tenth edition of Gold Coins of the World, the world's standard reference on gold coins from ancient times to the present, expands on its predecessor, digging more deeply into new areas of collector interest, expanding many sections, and adding new discoveries for dozens of countries. Completely revised and updated. Market valuations are extensively revised to reflect both the higher price of gold as well as the skyrocketing demand for numismatic rarities.Inside you'll find: More than 22,000 coin types, hundreds of new listings Valuations in up to three states of preservation 8,500+ color photos in actual size Universally-used Friedberg Numbering System, the world's standard method of cataloging, describing, buying and selling gold coins Each country's section includes tables of weight and fineness Useful directory of the world's leading gold-coin dealers and auction houses 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. This edition and each one before are derived from the original, groundbreaking 1958 work by Robert Friedberg, whose cataloging and numbering system revolutionized the way gold coins are collected. It changed the face of world-gold collecting at that time, and it remains unparalleled in its scope and universal usage today, six decades later. Three years in the making, the newest edition calls on the expertise of a numismatic who's-who of more than one hundred expert contributors and consultants from across the globe. The popularity of gold coins, however, is due to a whole host of factors. It is not an overstatement to say that the history of gold coinage parallels, and has helped define, the trajectory of civilization. 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.