Coins 2012

In color and on glossy paper, this is obviously more attractive than  Collecting U.S. Coins on a Budget , also from Frederick Fell Publishers. But is it any less sloppy?COINS 2012 starts poorly, with the Table of Contents ill-placed on page C23, and with close to thirty pages *prior* to the Preface.Many typos and inconsistencies ruin the enjoyment of this reference book and diminish one's confidence in it. I will enumerate some below:p.C12 half ounce vs half-ounce: both are used on the same pagep.C12 The price...has (not have) risenp.C13 'direct from the mint program' should be hyphenatedp.C13 one ounce vs one-ounce: both are used on the same pagep.C34 ever (not every)p.C37 an (not any)p.50 missing an attribution to Frank Gasparro (probably the Eisenhower Dollar)p.56 spacing problem: planchantmayp.57 spacing problem: planchantwillp.57 spacing problem: planchantisp.61 What's (not That's)p.69 pronoun disagreement: Aunt =/= his/he/he/himp.96 early (not earl)p.162 sells (not has sold)p.235 spacing problem: planchantisp.245 Issues (not issues)p.248 inscriptions (not sinscriptions)p.251 incorrect reference: There is no Chapter 13p.254 pages 273-279 (not section 273-278)p.259 strike (not strikes)p.264 incorrect reference: There is no Chapter 10p.265 incorrect reference: There is no Chapter 9p.268 an art (not and art)p.272 ICG address truncated, others possibly missingp.281 PCI in text but no PCI listing on referenced page 283p.283 PCGS Web site pasted into ICG entryp.283 ICG info truncatedThere were some things I liked about COINS 2012, especially the detective-styled Cases on pages 67-70 which presented identification and valuation of found coins. Also, the idea of targeted metal detection as explained on page 250 in order to find coins buried at the sites of old schools or businesses was novel to me. And the many photographs of mint errors were interesting.But overall, this is another amateur effort full of typos. Critically, I question the author's own conflict of interest. Despite his own caution on page 262 not to have a coin collection appraised by a potential buyer, he subsequently admits on page 281 that he has done exactly that--appraised then purchased coins himself from the same source.A final embarrassment for the publisher: the ISBN doesn't match! The ISBN on the back cover ends with 260-7, while the ISBN on the copyright page ends with 206-7. FYI, the  duplicate listing  on Amazon shows a cover photo but that is evidently a pre-production version.[The reviewer was provided with a complimentary copy of the book.]