Sedwick's Practical Book of Cobs Spanish Colonial Coins & Shipwreck Reference

The Practical  Book of Cobs is a reference book on Spanish colonial coins by  Daniel Sedwick  and Frank Sedwick. First published in 1987, the book has been  re-released three  times, most recently in a 20th Anniversary edition (4th  edition) published in  2007 An essential guide and reference work for divers and shipwreck enthusiasts,  this  book offers information that is not readily available or only available  after  searching many reference works or auction catalogs. This book covers the mints, assayers, styles, and types of “treasure coins”  from  the period 1536 at the Mexico City Mint until 1773, the end of cob-type  coins  minted at the Potosí Mint in Bolivia. In addition it has a section that  goes  over each of the most famous treasure wrecks of all time including the Atocha,   the Spanish 1715 Fleet and many others. Reviews: -   "Dan Sedwick has produced a fourth edition of The Practical Book of Cobs. In it   he has carefully revised and enlarged assayer descriptions and very importantly   for any and all researchers, he explains the rationale for his conclusions.  He's  added a new section giving a list of fifty-five treasure ships and their  cargoes  and has compressed virtually every important fact known about cobs  today into  this well structured volume. It is well written—lucid and  logical—and is a  meaningful addition to cob coin literature that should be  included in everyone's  library. I wish that I could do as good a job as Dan has  done." - Joe Lasser,  The E-Sylum: Volume 10, Number 36, September 10, 2007,  Article 2 - “This popular book has been out of print since 1995 and unavailable for a   number of years now, so this [fourth] edition should be a most welcome addition   to the market! Greatly expanded from the previous edition (more than 100 pages   longer!), this 20th Anniversary Edition contains a long new section on the   shipwrecks that have yielded cobs over the years, complete with a foldout map   and specified bibliographies for each wreck. Also, the assayer section   incorporates the latest research information, with specimen photos of most of   the assayers (not separated into a photo section as before). The values in the   back, of course, have been updated. What has not changed, however, is the  appeal  to both beginners and advanced collectors alike, as well as dealers and  jewelers  who work with cobs. The Practical Book of Cobs offers readers a look  at the  following topics: Historical background / Elements of design / Market  values /  Extensive bibliography / Complete ID of mint marks, assayers, and  period / How  cobs were made and used / Treasure Fleets and other shipwrecks  that produced  cobs / How to buy and sell, and how to spot counterfeits.” –  Ernest Richards,  PLUS VLTRA Newsletter: Enrada Publications, October 2007 · Bidding: Paperback, perfect bound, 8½" x 5½" |  Pages: 254 · Edition: 4th edition (July 1, 2007) · Publisher: Sedwick & Associates, LLC, · Location: Winter Park, FL, USA · Language: English | Illustration: Illustrated throughout (b/w) · ISBN: 0982081804 | · ISBN-13: 9780982081808 What is a Cob coin? By reading The Practical Book of Cobs we understand that "cobs" are the   original "treasure coins." Struck and trimmed by hand in the 1500s through  1700s  at Spanish mints in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia (among others), silver and  gold  cobs are handsomely crude, nearly all with a cross as the central feature  on one  side and either a coat-of-arms (shield) or a tic-tac-toe-like "pillars  and  waves" on the other side. Silver cobs are known as "reales" and gold cobs  are  known as "escudos," with two 8 reales (about 27 grams each) equaling one  escudo.  Some cobs were struck with a date, and most show a mintmark and an  initial or  monogram for the assayer, the mint official who was responsible for  weight and  fineness. Size and shape were immaterial, which means that most cobs  are far  from round or uniform in thickness. Cobs were generally accepted as  good  currency all around the world, and were the exact coins pirates referred  to as  "pieces of eight" (8 reales) and "doubloons" (any gold cobs but  originally 2  escudos). About the Authors: Daniel Frank Sedwick is a specialist in the colonial coinage of Spanish   America as well as shipwreck coins and artifacts of all nations. Until early   1996, Daniel Frank Sedwick worked in partnership with the late Dr. Frank  Sedwick,  who became known as a pioneer in the field of Spanish colonial  numismatics with  his book The Practical Book of Cobs. The fourth (2007) and  third (1995) editions  of this well-known book were authored and co-authored by  Daniel Frank Sedwick,  who is also a contributing editor to The Numismatist (the  monthly magazine of  the American Numismatic Association) and the author of  several articles. Sedwick  is a member of the American Numismatic Association  and Florida United  Numismatists, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree (cum  laude) from Duke  University. Numismatic pioneer Frank Sedwick, Ph.D, was born in 1924 in Baltimore, MD, and   earned degrees from Duke University, Stanford University and the University of   Southern California. After a wartime stint in the Navy, Frank became a career   professor of Spanish and Romance languages, which he taught at the Naval   Academy, Ohio Wesleyan, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and finally Rollins College in   Winter Park, FL. At Rollins, while earning royalties as the author of several   standard textbooks in the field, he took the position of Director of Overseas   Programs and made frequent visits to Spain and Colombia, where his interest in   Latin American numismatics began, although coins had been his hobby since   childhood. In 1981 Frank left academia forever and became a full-time coin dealer. At  first  his focus was modern Latin American coins, but soon he realized that  there was a  niche in cobs, which had not been properly researched for the  average collector  to understand and appreciate. Thus was born The Practical  Book of Cobs (now in  its 4th edition, 2007), which was perfectly timed to  satisfy new cob collectors  generated by the fabulous Atocha find by Mel Fisher  in 1985. For well over a  decade Frank was considered the authority on cobs, his  main area being gold cobs  from the 1715 Fleet, thousands of which went through  his hands. In 1991 Frank authored his second numismatic book, The Gold Coinage of Gran   Colombia, in order to update the existing references in his own area of   collecting interest. Frank's collection of Colombian Republic gold coins is   still one of the finest ever put together. Frank's son Daniel joined him in   business after college in 1989, full time in 1991, after many summers of   "interning" with him at the various ANA shows. In 1996, with plans to retire   that same year, Frank died unexpectedly, leaving the business to his son.  Daniel  has continued the coin business and book authorship ever since.

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