Welcome to the latest edition of my Notes. The summer continues, the weather has been fine (as these words are being written-who knows, by the time you read them?)-and all is going well.

I have been immersed in reviewing our stock of books for sale, and soon will be posting on the Internet a revised listing. Watch for it! In the meantime, this week we have a special pre-publication offer for the Guide Book of United States Gold Dollars soon to be released by Whitman. This lists for $19.95, but a copy will be yours for just $13.95 plus shipping. You will be among the first to receive one when our shipment arrives from Whitman. If you'd like me to autograph your copy, let us know when you order. I guarantee you'll enjoy reading it and will learn a lot-or your money back!

Coming up in the next week or two or three will be a special pre-publication offer for another "must have" book, especially if you like treasure, adventure, history, and what I think you'll find to be a "good read" overall: The Treasure Ship S.S. New York. We expect this will be published in a trade edition at an affordable low price, and then perhaps a deluxe edition at $99, that edition to include a special bookplate signed by the author (me), the four members of the treasure finding team, styling themselves as the Gentlemen of Fortune. If you think you might like to be notified when such a limited edition is available, please send me an e-mail and let me know. I am simply testing the waters. We are thinking perhaps of having a very limited edition, say 200 copies or less, to be available on a first come, first served basis. This present comment is not a solicitation of orders but just to see how much interest there might be out there.

Also coming down the pike, but not ready for any sale announcements yet, is The Whitman Encyclopedia of Colonial and Early American Coins. This will run into many hundreds of pages in length, will have over 1,600 color illustrations, and will treat the title subject from the earliest issues down through state coinages and Washington pieces. This has been in the works for well over a year, with just about everyone important in the field as a contributor-a wonderful situation that has been very gratifying.

Meanwhile, at Stack's the main office in New York City as well as our office in New Hampshire nearly everyone has been busy with auction catalogues and other items for our autumn program. We have been blessed with many important properties, not more than we can handle of course, but enough to keep just about all of our experts busy! It seems that when serious and old-time collectors have coins for sale, they think of Stack's first.

One thing I like to believe is different about Stack's is that marketing and publicity for auctions is very important, as it is for other firms as well, but behind the scenes we offer serious numismatic expertise in both the presentation of coins and in working with potential bidders. If you have a question about an obscure variety of pattern coin, or the finest certified example of a Proof gold eagle, or an obscure Connecticut copper die variety of 1787, or a bank note from Wyoming Territory, a staffer can discuss your inquiry intelligently and provide useful information. Grade and price are important as are population reports, but in numismatics there is so much more to be investigated, evaluated, and enjoyed!

I look forward to seeing you in this space next week!

Welcome to the latest edition of my Notes. I appreciate the comments I receive from readers, and certainly encourage you to share your opinions on anything you see here. Just drop me an e-mail note.

This week for our website the word diversity is quite appropriate. Articles range from two-cent pieces in an unlikely location in the Midwest, to coin-operated pianos, to a discussion as to the merits of coins that are quite worn, as opposed to Mint State. Indeed, diversity is what numismatics is all about. I feel sorry for anyone whose only interest is in the grade and price of a coin, but who knows little about its history, art, romance, and other aspects.

Often a little coin can be the passport to a big story. An inexpensive 1909 V.D.B. Lincoln cent, common and affordable, could be the subject of an interesting talk at a convention or coin club meeting, without ever mentioning condition or price. Ditto for the 1883 Without CENTS Liberty Head nickel-a coin that helped fuel the greatest boom the coin market had ever seen up to that point.

The best way to absorb knowledge is, of course, to build a library. This need not be expensive. The cost will repay itself in terms of knowledge gained, which you can employ when buying or selling. I keep encouraging you to buy books, as, really, there is no other way to learn so much so easily.

The Internet is also a good source for information and background, not for the basics, but to answer questions, inform you of news, and to read many comments. Every week the E-Sylum, conducted by Wayne Homren as an electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society, is sent free to those interested. If you'd like to learn more, just go to The E-Sylum. Each issue provides fascinating reading, and is apt to range in content from travel experiences good and bad, to discoveries of ancient coins in England, to gossip heard on the convention floor, to curious situations in the auction room and marketplace. Check it out, and say that Stack's sent you!

Wayne is one of the most all-round people I've met. He enjoys books about coins, collects in many different series (not so long ago he consigned his marvelous collection of encased postage stamps to us), and in his travels is always meeting new collectors and reporting about them.

The summer is slipping away-and now we are heading toward the end of August. I hope you've had the chance to take a week or two or three of vacation time. Here in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, and also on the busy streets near our New York City main office, there are lots of smiles on the faces of happy travelers. Perhaps with all of the security arrangements, lack of amenities on most airlines, etc., getting there is no longer half the fun (as an airline advertising campaign once suggested). However, upon arrival at Lake Winnipesaukee or the White Mountains in New Hampshire, or Fifth Avenue or the Statue of Liberty in New York City, you're bound to have a good time.

Until next week, happy collecting!

Welcome to the latest edition of my Notes. I spent last week, and a bit more, in Baltimore, a great experience. Events began with Stack's sale of the Samuel Berngard Collection and other properties, including treasure coins from the S.S. New York, and in a separate catalogue, the wonderful Hard Times tokens and other pieces in the James E. Dice and M. Lamar Hicks Collection. Action was intense, and now about $20 million worth of coins, tokens, medals, and paper money are in new hands. Then came Professional Numismatists Day, active as always, then the American Numismatic Association Convention itself. Our "This and That" feature in this week's website "issue" tells more.

The ANA show is the yearly event to meet and greet old friends, make new ones, and check on how things are going. There are many other events, of course, but this one is the key. Having the show in Baltimore was the icing on the cake, a favorite gathering place.

My new Whitman book, The Official Guide Book of Gold Dollars, is now being printed for publication scheduled this autumn. Stay tuned for more information, including a pre-publication offer in this space next week. Watch for it! In fact, stay tuned for a general revamping of our offering of books for sale. Books are the absolute best investment in the world of numismatics, and the more you have, the more you will know, and the more profit you will make. "Profit" comes in many forms, including downright enjoyment and happiness, as well as financial profit from having been a smart buyer. There is absolutely no substitute for reading and learning. Or, none of which I am aware.

The Treasure Ship S.S. New York manuscript has been finished and is now in the hands of proofreaders and copy editors. It is expected that this volume will be deluxe hardbound, in full color, and somewhere between 100 and 125 or so pages, to be published this autumn. As soon as we have the numbers on hand we will present a pre-publication offer for this, too, possibly including a special deluxe binding edition for numismatic bibliophiles.

The coin market is humming along nicely, and buyers and sellers seem to be happy campers, a nice situation. The American Numismatic Association is back on track, with a new board of governors, new executive director, and new president. The accomplishments of the new team were quite evident at the recent show and have been applauded by everyone. Meanwhile, at New York City the American Numismatic Society is completing its move to new headquarters at One Hudson Square. We haven't seen the accommodations yet, but plan to on our next trip to the city. We hear tell that the layout is very impressive. At the ANA show, Society curator Bob Hoge stopped by for a chat. I understand that executive director Ute Wartenberg was there also, but our paths didn't cross. In fact, there were so many people at the show, probably the long side of 10,000 that missing connections happened a lot, but good intentions were always there.

Coming up on the calendar soon is the Whitman Coins and Collectibles Show in Atlanta, anchored by the Decatur Sale by Stack's, the catalogue for which is now going into distribution. The Atlanta facilities are very comfortable, indeed elegant, and are certainly among the finest of any show I have ever attended.

I hope you are enjoying your summer.

Welcome to the latest edition of my Notes. What shall I mention? It is late July, heading into August, and I am looking at page proofs for Whitman's forthcoming A Guide Book of Gold Dollars. Then off to the printer it will go, probably for distribution nationwide in the autumn. This book, which I wrote last year and early this year, was a very enjoyable project. As usual, I had some very fine helpers, including John Dannreuther (one of the most highly regarded experts on aspects of coinage technology), David W. Akers (who has appreciated gold dollars for a long time and who contributed the foreword), Larry Stack (who worked with others to coordinate market prices), and more.

Gold dollars are a compact series, taking up very little space in standard numismatic references. Briefly, they were first minted in 1849, last struck in 1889, and were produced continuously in the interim. The book gives the standard information on rarity in various grades, prices, and the like. However, if you buy or borrow a copy I think you'll find the historical and numismatic notes to be of the greatest interest. Often, low mintage gold dollars are plentiful in Mint State, even at the gem level, in numismatic circles, while certain high-production varieties can be very rare. Then there are the very curious varieties of 1849, a tangled web of misinformation earlier in print, now sorted out with much help from John Dannreuther.

Books are often a subject of this column. To me, they are the very best way to get information you can use. Without taking away from the marvels of the Internet, I dare say that if you want to learn all about any gold dollar, let's say the common date of 1853, two or three minutes of reading this new book will be more useful than spending an hour looking at Internet listings. That said, when the book comes out I hope you'll add a copy to your library-or at least borrow one from a friend.

Elsewhere, as you read these words the American Numismatic Association convention will be in progress in Baltimore. Recently, the ANA took a survey to determine the most popular of all American convention cities, and Baltimore was the winner. This is, or was, the secret that really isn't very secret. A 500-mile circle drawn around the city would probably encompass over 60% of the numismatists in our country. On the other hand, a 500-mile circle around Seattle (a very nice city, by the way) would get only a tiny percentage. Apart from practicality and common sense, Baltimore offers many tourist attractions, restaurants, and more. And, what with the Garrett, Eliasberg, and other collections having been formed there, not to overlook Robert Gilmor, Jr. (recognize his name?), the numismatic traditions of the city are unsurpassed.

See you next week.