I recently bought this book on eBay with the title listed as: US MINT and COINS, by A.M. Smith, 1881.

When I opened the book to examine the front matter, I became confused as to what the title of the book really was.

I recognized the book as one I had seen before in the ANA library, but here, there appear to be alternative titles such asIllustrated History of the US Mint, or COINS and COINAGE , or The UNITED STATES MINT, PHILADELPHIA. None of these matched the title on the spine of the book.

After only a few minutes of internet research I realized that I am not the first to be puzzled by an A.M. Smith book.I found this excellent web page by NBS past president Pete Smith, titled: The Challenging Literature of A.M. Smith.It is based on an award winning exhibit Pete made in 1996. It says it all, and answered my naive questions in a very professional way.

To visit the exhibit web page, see:The Challenging Literature of A. M. Smith(www.coinbooks.org/about/exhibit_amsmith.html)