Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Coin Resource Center includes Coin Collector’s Guides, brief primers on different classes of numismatic material with an overarching focus on United States coins, tokens, medals, bullion issues, etc. Though not in-depth analyses of the different areas covered, the Coin Collector’s Guides offer valuable introductory information for collectors first approaching a series or area of U.S. coin collecting.
Included in the CRC is a Collector’s Guide to Colonials, coins produced by the European powers that colonized North America and by the colonists themselves. Dates of issue range from the early 17th to the early 19th centuries. The Guide splits colonials, a vast and diverse field, into nine basic categories, many including sub-categories:
- British New World
- British Royal Patent
- French New World
- Early American Tokens
- Speculative Issues and Early Patterns
- State Coinage
- Early Private Coinage
- Washington Pieces
- Patterns of 1792
Interested readers should check out the detailed descriptions of the nine categories and their subcategories. The Guide also outlines some practical considerations and limitations for most collectors approaching colonials for the first time.