Kolbe and Fanning Numismatic Booksellers recently sent out a catalog of Select Numismatic Books For Sale at Fixed Prices (February 2016). The heading for Lot 5 immediately caught my eye, " Rare English Translation of a German Duke's American Travels, Including Visit to Mint" / Notes that No Silver Dollars Had Been Minted since 1803. The book was titled,

Bernhard, Duke Karl. TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA, DURING THE YEARS 1825 AND 1826. BY HIS HIGHNESS, BERNHARD, DUKE OF SAXE-WEIMAR EISENACH. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1828.

This offering was cataloged extensively, including the following excerpt which will be of interest to many of us who study the early U.S. Mint and coinage:

This sure makes me want to "turn to the next page!" Discovering information like this to me is like being a fly on the wall, this time in 1825 or 1826. And now we know where some of the bag marks come from on 1825 and 1826 half dollars, and possibly the first toning on some of these coins.

By the way, the book is beautifully bound.

Kolbe and Fanning can be contacted at df@numislit.com and their website is www.numislit.com.

For more information on the John Reich Collectors Society, see:
www.jrcs.org