Something New- Less than 25 years old or newer
Hookneck is a term coined (pun intended) over 150 years ago by J. L. Riddell, M.D., an American and the “smelter and refiner” in the United States Branch Mint in New Orleans, for a short lived group of the most fascinating coins ever produced in the mints of Mexico. Clyde Hubbard and David O’Harrow have taken the time to bring you, their readers, the complete story of the coins and how they came to exist. Believe me it is a story worth reading!
The authors start their book with a dedication to Dr. Charles Aby who was instrumental in the early study of the Hooknecks and whose work led directly to the interest in the Hookneck series by many early collectors who had the privilege of seeing it.
Chapter 1 begins with the Hookneck patterns and the story behind the coins that will make modern collectors understand just how hard it was for the new Republic of Mexico to get anything done in the way of coining money. There were many obstacles and it took a long time just trying to decide what the first coins of the Republic would look like. A contest was held for the selection of a new design and some of Mexico’s best engravers and sculptors entered the competition with the final winner being Jose Guerrero’s design.
Chapter 2 covers the Hooknecks produced in Mexico from 1823 until 1824 and contains many interesting facts about the Mexico City Mint. The authors attempted to identify all of the varieties of Hookneck coins produced there, but fell a little short because several collectors had no idea that the book was being produced and had not sent photos of coins in their collections. This has been remedied with the issuance of an update to the book showing newly discovered varieties from all three mints.
Chapter 3 covers the emissions from Guanajuato along with a very good design comparison of the main elements of the coins from the three different mints. One of the most interesting items in this chapter is a photo breakdown of the nine different punches it took the die sinkers to make just the Eagle on the early Mexican Republic coins until hubs or master dies were later produced. One can only guess at how many total punches were used to produce each set of dies and with the short life of these dies how many total hours were used to produce a years worth of dies? Is it any wonder we have so many varieties of the early coins from all of Mexico’s mints?
Chapter 4 takes the reader to the Durango Mint where the largest design differences and numbers of varieties occur. I personally believe there are still many years of study before all of the varieties from Durango will be fully cataloged because the authors have already identified 44 different dies from three major varieties of the Snake.
Chapter 5 concerns just the edge deigns of the of the coins and pictures fifteen different edges and focuses on how many collectors today pay very little, or no attention to this the third side of the coins of the Mexican Republic.
Chapter 6 covers some of the many counter stamps and chopmarks that can and do occur on the Hooknecks, thus making still more varieties for the collector.
Chapter 7 includes both contemporary and modern medals that have a Hookneck appearing on them for those that are interested in them.
Chapter 8 provides contemporary counterfeits and fakes that have been found by the authors in their many years of collecting. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book for all collectors of Hooknecks because it covers nothing but contemporary counterfeits and fakes. This could save you from purchasing one of the many “suprious” coins out there and will save you more than the book’s price.
Overall, this is one of the greatest books written in recent times about any series of Mexican coins! It has great photos, it is well written and covers one of the most interesting periods of Mexican Numismatics. I have only one complaint, it covers only the Hooknecks, it is a real shame that the authors haven’t seen fit to write even more books about the great world of Republican Numismatics.
I personally rate this book 10 Star, on a 5 Star Scale. You should rush right out and buy your copy before they all disappear!
[Table of Contents] Return to the Table of Contents Volume 1 Issue 2
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