The second volume of "Gold of the times of the Vasa dynasty", a continuation of the well-received book about which we wrote as follows:
This publication is the result of many years of gargantuan scientific work carried out by Dr. of historical sciences - Jaroslaw Dutkowski.
He performed a very extensive search of available sources, in search of quotations of all gold issues of the Vasa reign period in Poland - coins, medals, etc.
The author reached both museum collections , as well as private collections. He analyzed auction listings, both contemporary and archival, including such sources as old inventories of magnate treasuries.
This publication covers the rarest Polish coins. Among the coins included here are those that are often known only in single pieces, as well as those that have not been listed on the market for the last hundred years or more.
The knowledge contained in this book is one that is impossible to obtain empirically, and the coins shown are of such a class that even just seeing them anywhere is really not easy.
The main strengths of this edition
- Occurrence
The occurrence of each numismatic coin is given, i.e., listed public collections in which it appears, listed - though often anonymously - private collections, as well as auction, bidding and any archival listings. This gives a n e w and true knowledge of the rarity. We will value differently such an item that appears in only a few individual sources, differently one that appears in a dozen, and finally differently one that has dozens of listings. - Photos.
I haven't counted, but the author states that in Volume I about 1,500 different gold numismatic items are shown in photos. In Volume II, their number is also large. This is definitely more than the catalog types themselves, but with rare pieces, the author aimed to illustrate, if possible, all the pieces that are known, or as many of them as possible.
In the case of the studuklatka from Volume I, of all known pieces, he failed to show only one piece in the photo ! In the case of more common items, the author "juggles" with the photos, i.e., for example, in 1:1 scale he shows a photo of a different piece than in the enlargement.
Yes, someone with only a cursory perusal of the book may say that the quality of the photos is uneven, one is more yellow and others green; some are out of focus, etc. but just try to collect such illustrative material ! It is invaluable, fully readable and, most importantly, it is important that it is there at all.
