The book, Greek Imperial Coins and Their Values, The Local Coinages of the Roman Empire by: David R. Sear, was another great book, as Sear does not disappoint. At 636 pages, I was not able to read all of it, but what I was able to read I loved. It really helped me to grow not only my knowledge of Ancient GrecoRoman coinage, but also the cultures and history that are behind the coinage and behind the empires and states. There were a lot of pictures to help with understanding the topics, and it helped to make the book exciting, and give the reader something to connect to. After reading three other of Sear’s books, I really wanted more, and they do get a little repetitive, but each book gives me something new and different to learn about, and makes me want to collect a whole lot more. I would definitely recommend this book to any numismatic, as well as anyone who loves history, especially GrecoRoman history.�

The book Greek Coins and Their Values, Volume 1, Europe by: David R. Sear was a 316 page look, not only into the coinage of Ancient Greece, but into the various civilizations surrounding them, and influenced by them. I read this book because I loved his book on Ancient Roman coins, but it wasn’t as good, for this felt more like a history book, and it was a little hard to keep track of what was going on, looking at numerous ancient civilizations and their coinage. However, I have always loved Ancient Greece, and I loved all the little bits and pieces of history that came with each coin. It also did not have as many pictures as the book on Roman Coins, but all in all I was glad I read it, and it gave me an abundance of knowledge on not only Ancient Greek coins, but ancient coinage from the Gauls, other parts of Italy, and about what happened to coinage during the Punic wars.

1931 saw normal mintage for the Winged Liberty Dimes, with a little lower numbers from the Denver mint, making it a little more valuable. The Great Depression was a 10 year period that lasted from 1929-1939. During these dates, there were years that saw no mintage for certain coins. For dimes, this was from 1932-1933 for the Philadelphia and Denver mints. San Francisco did not mint any dimes from 1932-1934. After that period, mintage resumed normally for the rest of the depression. In 1941, the largest mintage of dimes to that date was coined at the Philadelphia mint, with 175,090,000 dimes minted. Philadelphia’s mintage the year before was only 65,350,000. The following year was another mintage record. 205,410,000 dimes were struck at the Philadelphia mint. However, there were some mistakes, like the 1942, 42 over 41 die variety. This happened at both the Philadelphia mint and the Denver mint. An estimated 3,500 of these 1942 over 41 dimes were struck at the Philadelphia mint, and still survive today. An estimated 3,000 of these dimes were struck at the Denver mint, and still survive today. The Denver 1942/41 error Winged Liberty Dime is the third rarest dime of the series. Late in the series, the Philadelphia mint again passed its own record for largest mintage of dimes, this time minting 231,410,000 dimes in 1944. In 1945, the San Francisco mint created a die variety with a micro S, which is worth a little more in lower grades, reaching over $100 in higher grades. In 1945, all three mints, Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco, all struck their last Winged Head Liberty, or Mercury, dime. Together, over 225,00,000 of these dimes were struck for the last year of the series, considered the most beautiful series, not only for the dime, but for all American coinage. Later in 1945, on April 12, Franklin D. Roosevelt died. Roosevelt is the founder of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, also known as The March of Dimes. The decision for a new series of dime was brought to legislation by Ralph Daughton, and as it was agreed upon, everyone rushed to get everything ready for the premier year, the next year. In fact, due to the shortness of time that was allowed to finish the dime and its following preparations, it is the first US regular issue coin that was designed by a mint employee in more than 40 years. John R. Sinnock was the designer of the Roosevelt presidential medal, and therefore was chosen to design the new dime series. His designs were accepted on January 6, 1946. The dimes were released on January 30th of the same year, on what would have been Roosevelt’s 64th birthday.��

The Liberty Head, or Barber, dime was first struck for circulation in 1892 by the Philadelphia, New Orleans and the San Francisco mint. San Francisco minted less than a million, however, creating a key date, with one at G-4 worth $65, and reaching almost a thousand at the highest grades. In 1894, the San Francisco mint only minted 24 dimes, of which five were reserved for assay, and only nine are known today, creating the biggest key date in the Liberty Head series, where dimes are worth millions of dollars. In fact, one of these dimes at a grade of PF-66 went for $1,997,500 at a Heritage auction in January of 2016. There was a lot of fluctuation in the consistency of mintage at the New Orleans and San Francisco mints, creating a lot of key dates in the Liberty Head series, where various dimes in only G-4 are worth upwards of 50, some of hundreds of dollars. This leveled out after the turn of the century into the 1900s, where the most common G-4 value is $4, however there were still plenty of years where the San Francisco mint fell behind, creating key dates in 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1913. In 1907, there were four mints making dimes, with the first dime made at the Denver mint being struck. This lasted until 1909, where in 1909, the last dime was minted at the New Orleans mint. After ceasing the production of silver dollars, the main coinage struck at the New Orleans mint, the New Orleans mint stopped receiving funds after 1909, until it was finally decommissioned and closed indefinitely in 1911. All of its machinery was shipped to the Philadelphia mint, and the New Orleans mint was downgraded and became an assay office for the US treasury, before in 1932 the office was transformed into a federal prison for 12 years, until it was abandoned as a ‘storage facility’ for the coast guard. In 1978 it was restored, and is now a museum of American Coinage, the New Orleans Mardi Gras, the New Orleans Jazz Museum and displaying a collection of Newcomb pottery. After all of its years, it left its mark most on the Morgan Dollar, its most produced coin. After 1909 for the dime, it was only struck by the Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco mints. In 1913 and 1915-16, the Denver mint did not make any dimes, therefore its last Liberty Head dime was struck in 1914. The Philadelphia and the San Francisco mint both struck Liberty Head dimes until the end of the series in 1916. There were 77 known different issues in the series.�

The book 100 Greatest Error Coins, by Nicholas Brown was a very fun read, and has caused me to now find myself looking at pocket change more closely, hoping I too will find some sort of error. Over 144 pages, I learned about errors that happened years and years ago, and errors that have happened more recently. I really loved all the pictures, and how it would relate the most famous error to smaller and more common errors, some I could actually afford to add to my own collection. I found it hard to look away from, and enjoyed every page. I also really liked how the author would go into detail about the errors, when and how it happened, other similar errors, what could have prevented it, and of course, how much they’re worth and some of the auction prices. I would definitely recommend this book, not only to coin collectors, but to anyone who wants a good, fun, and interesting read.�