"Fully illustrated catalog and retail valuation list--1556 to date."

In the late nineteenth century, as much of the world adopted some variant of the gold standard, China remained the most populous country still using silver. Yet China had no unified national currency; there was not one monetary standard but many. Silver coins circulated alongside chunks of silver and every transaction became an "encounter of wits." China and the End of Global Silver, 1873–1937 focuses on how officials, policy makers, bankers, merchants, academics, and journalists in China and around the world answered a simple question: how should China change its monetary system? Far from a narrow, technical issue, Chinese monetary reform is a dramatic story full of political revolutions, economic depressions, chance, and contingency. As different governments in China attempted to create a unified monetary standard in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the United States, England, and Japan tried to shape the direction of Chinese monetary reform for their own benefit. Austin Dean argues convincingly that the Silver Era in world history ended owing to the interaction of imperial competition in East Asia and the state-building projects of different governments in China. When the Nationalist government of China went off the silver standard in 1935, it marked a key moment not just in Chinese history but in world history.

A History of Money looks at how money as we know it developed through time. Starting with the barter system, the basic function of exchanging goods evolved into a monetary system based on coins made up of precious metals and, from the 1500s onwards, financial systems were established through which money became intertwined with commerce and trade, to settle by the mid-1800s into a stable system based upon Gold. This book presents its closing argument that, since the collapse of the Gold Standard, the global monetary system has undergone constant crisis and evolution continuing into the present day.

The U.S. Mint is the source of the little copper, silver, and gold objects of material culture and value that numismatists collect, study, and catalog. It is the sole manufacturer of the nation's legal-tender coinage, and its products are used every day by millions of Americans nationwide. As a repository its facilities safeguard more than $300 billion in national assets. It employs nearly 2,000 people, including its own police force. This unique book unearths a treasure trove of numismatic knowledge, including the history of the Philadelphia Mint and every Mint branch, plus private and territorial mints; information on historical and modern minting procedures; a study and price guide of historic medals and other collectibles commemorating the Mint; data on every director of the Mint and superintendents for every branch; and illustrated behind-the-scenes looks at the modern Mint and its facilities.

Whitman Publishing debuted the Handbook of United States Coins in 1942. It was the first unbiased, authoritative resource showing how much coin dealers were paying on average to buy U.S. coins by type, date, and mintmark. The groundbreaking new book was an immediate hit, popular with dealers and collectors alike. For more than 79 years coin dealers have used the OFFICIAL BLUE BOOK(R) (as it came to be known) to make buying offers. As a collector, you can use it to find out how much your coins are worth! The Blue Book's price listings offer a real-world look at the rare-coin market, gathered from dealers around the country. The new 79th edition includes updated prices, special features, and many new photographs. Coverage includes colonial and early American coins, federal coins (half cents through gold double eagles), commemoratives, Proof sets, die varieties, private and territorial gold, tokens, the newest Presidential and American Innovation dollars, National Park quarters, bullion coins, and other United States Mint products. More than 25,000 prices in multiple grades. Easy-to-follow coin-grading instructions. Coins and tokens from the 1600s to today. Historical information. Hundreds of detailed, actual-size photos. How to start a coin collection. Detailed mintage records, and much more

Describes and prices each coin, and covers buying, cleaning, and selling.