Modern Copper Coins of the Muhammadan States of Turkey, Persia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, etc.

8vo (165 x 250 mm). (4), 203, (1) pp., including 77 plates of coin illustrations. With 6 colour maps. Contemporary green cloth with giltstamped title on cover and spine. Rare manual of Muslim coinage: the first in a series of facsimiles of numismatic manuscripts by W. H. Valentine, text and plates lithographed by Spink as a cost-effective method of reproduction. An amateur numismatist and former carpenter for London's tramways, Valentine wrote his reference books to facilitate the identification of coins for collectors like himself who had no academic knowledge of Arabic. Accordingly, the text is easy to follow for the novice: it starts with a brief introduction on how to read Arabic; followed by chapters on the various countries covered. Each chapter is prefaced with a brief introduction on the history of the country and its coinage, with plates and a description of each coin. Pasted to the inside front cover is a newspaper clipping about Valentine, published in The Evening News in 1925. - Light wear to binding. Some browning, but very clean internally. A newspaper clipping about the author, pasted to the inside front cover, has created some offsetting on the flyleaf opposite. - OCLC 4767045.