Fascinating Facts, Mysteries and Myths About U.S. Coins

by Robert R. Van Ryzin

Who were the models for the Indian Head nickel? Why is it called the Orphan Annie? What is the King of American Coins? Fascinating Facts, Myths and Mysteries about U.S. Coins is a compilation of some of the more intriguing stories in the history of U.S. Mint coinage. Some are based on facts. Others are hobby myths. All of them make for entertaining reading. Read    • The five-known 1913 Liberty head nickels    • Augustus Staint-Gaudens and his famed gold $20    • The short-lived 20-cent piece    • The $1 million coin exhibit    • The reason for the Liberty cover-up on the Standing Liberty quarter

Genres: Numismatics

240 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

Reviews

[Nathan]

If you’re already a coin nerd (like me) but not a coin professional, this hits a sweet spot. Plenty of interesting facts about coins of all denominations. There’s a whole chapter (“Religious Motto,” chapter 7) on the history of the phrase “In God We Trust” on coinage, first appearing on the 1864 two-cent piece. But my favorite fact (myth?) was on the famous 1883 “no cents” racketeer nickel and the way Josh Tatum passed gold plated five cent coins off as five dollars, while purchasing five cent cigars at stores across Boston and New York. His defense at his criminal trial: “I never asked for change.”

[Davorin Lenko]

While this book provides some interesting insights into the history of US coinage, it at the same time, as it seems, lacks some editing. Some tales (or facts, or myths) are told very detailed, while others only scratch the surface. Sometimes there's much written about a 'fact' where I just could not see what's supposed to be interesting about it ...
All in all, this book provides some useful and/or interesting information, but could do much better with a clearer concept and some serious editing.

[Christopher Obert]

A fine collection of coin and medal stories and history. I did not know many of the stories in this book which made it well worth the low price (I bought this book at a discount website). If you are a collector, or someone interested in United States history, this is a fun book for you!

[James Crawford]

Really interesting information about various American coins and the stories behind them. To me the most interesting part was about the buffalo nickel. Still, I learned a lot from the other sections. I found the whole thing fascinating.

[Ben Zimmerman]

This was a pretty good book about, as the title would suggest, Facts Mysteries and Myths about U.S. Coins. Defiantly a good read, and well worth the $13 it cots!

[Robin Wilson-whedon]

My son had 2 copies and gave me one. Interesting fun facts.

[Will Walker]

This was absolutely the right book for me at this point in my life, and I genuinely enjoyed every page. It was incredibly informative without ever feeling like I was simply reading a textbook or reference guide. Even when it went into the longer histories behind particular coins, people, or events, it remained entertaining enough that I stayed completely engaged.

One of my favorite things about the book was its pacing. A longer, more in-depth section would often be broken up by what almost felt like little “side quests”: short stories, strange pieces of numismatic history, myths, controversies, and fun facts. The shifts between subjects kept the book moving and prevented the more detailed sections from ever becoming dry. I loved being able to go from learning about something like the history behind a particular coin to some bizarre piece of hobby lore or an old numismatic mystery.

The best indication of how much I got out of this book is how often I’ve actually used what I learned. I kid you not, I’ve probably brought up information from it in conversation at least 10-15 times in the past month. That feels incredible to me because it means I wasn’t simply entertained while reading it; I actually retained a surprising amount of the information.

This is exactly the kind of nonfiction I love: educational, accessible, full of memorable stories, and closely connected to something I’m already passionate about. I really hope I can find more books like this, especially ones about numismatics and the history surrounding coins.