any new guides due out

[Greg McDonald]

Two parts to this update.

Firstly, Shane, my apologies for the mix-up with the comments about the future of my books.  I honestly overlooked your enquiry about an update for my email address.  I had a lot of bounced messages due to lines being down during the bushfires and other issues with my Iinet router.  I ended up cancelling that service and also my Optus account and now just use gregmcdonaldpublishing.com.au.  You have been very supportive of my books and I apologise unreservedly for any hurt.  Thanks also to the many other supporters who have had nice things to say about my books.

In fact, I have spent most of the past two years catching up with all the new issues and researching new price levels.  Both have been frenzied, to say the least.

Collecting interests have changed over the past five or six years and I don't believe the traditional one-stop shop is sustainable for my "pocketbook" size book.  There are a number of reasons for believing that just adding more and more pages, or reducing the type size and image size any further, is realistic.

Collectors also don't collect everything!  I've even seen examples of my book where a reader has torn the book in half and only keeps either the coin or banknote section that they are interested in.  A pretty brutal wake-up call but the point is well made.

I am well on the way to having a book devoted just to the issues of the RAM from 1966 to the present day ready for Christmas.  Prices have skyrocketed there is certainly a growing interest in collecting mint rolls. The layout of the new book will be redesigned as the technology used for the 23rd edition has been corrupted.  There will be a big increase in the number of footnotes to explain the significance of many commemorative issues.  I think it is fair to say that both mints do a much better job of educating us about our rich history, fauna and fauna than the school syllabus.

I've had to make another decision since starting this endeavour which is easily going to run to 500 pages.  I have decided to bring out a separate book just for the PNC issues.  Just before Christmas,  I started working on a spreadsheet to update the issues released since the last book and was staggered by the number of new releases and associated spin-offs  

Many coin fair issues are either unique listings; or different colours to the general issue and some even have completely different postmarks for each day of the fair.  One fair issue even has an AM and a PM cancellation!  There has also been a growing interest in special low-numbered "ballot issues" that often include silver-proof versions of coins.  So far, I have listed over 350 variations - and I'm still going.

I think it is necessary to get this book out as quickly as possible as I think the series is just so complicated that collectors are likely to lose interest if they cannot identify what they have and still need to get.

In the new year, I will be concentrating on another book for coins from 1788 to 1964 with lots of new pages covering the Indian/English variations as well as die varieties attributed to differences in the legends and dates. I have had correspondence with Fred Lever in the past and I am very appreciative of his support. I also have some great new sovereign and half sovereign discoveries.  

The next book will cover all the banknotes from early colonial issues to the latest polymer releases and, again, the inclusion of lots of information that just wouldn't fit in previous books .

To introduce this new concept I am retiring the name "Pocketbook Guide."  Each new edition will carry a title that better describes the contents.  I will also be publishing these books under a new business name with new ANB identity.  The only thing that won't change is my commitment to producing to the best to my ability.  It goes without saying that I welcome all suggestions and any research you would like to share with other collectors. As I have always done in the past, any information that is not my own research will be acknowledged.

I will keep the forum updated on progress.

Kind Regards

Greg

[jens coins]

Thank you for the update Greg.
Much appreciated.