Beschreibung:

Title: New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins, Counterfeit Coins, and Bullion; With Mint Values. Author: Eckfeldt, Jacob R., and William E. Du Bois Place: New York Publisher: George P. Putnam Date: 1851 Description: [6], 72, [2], 2, 2 + 12 ad pp. Illustrated with 5 plates. (8vo) 22.5x13.5 cm (9x5½"), rebacked with original brown blind stamped cloth with gilt design and lettering. Second Edition. Second edition, "rearranged, with numerous additions," after the first Philadelphia edition of the previous year. The authors were the official assayers for the Philadelphia Mint at the time of this work's publication, and the book was intended as a guide for those unfamiliar with recent advances in coinage and assaying. The text includes much data regarding the recent strikes in California, and devotes an entire chapter to the analysis of the quality of ore coming from California. The black and white plates depict various gold coins produced in the United States, including California bullion struck by private firms. There is also a discussion of the coinage of various countries of the world, including the TONG TSIEN of China, a "trashy coin...extremely convenient for alms-giving, a single piece being the usual quietus for a beggar." Cowan, p.76. Kurutz 217b. Lot Amendments Condition: "Mercantile Library Co." blind stamped on front and rear covers, small chip of cloth missing from front cover; light library rubber stamp at top corner of title page, some toning to endpapers, light rippling to page edges, small tear at top of front free endpaper; very good. Item number: 270895