The SAFE online store has been the exclusive sales channel for Kaupo Laan’s book “Eesti mündid, rahareformi medalid ja müntkodurahad” (Estonian Coins, Monetary Reform Medals, and Minting Mint Currency) for several seasons, since the second edition in 2021. This is the most comprehensive overview of the coins of the Republic of Estonia, monetary reform medals, trial coins, coin sets, coin cards, error coins, exile government publications, Estonian minting mint currency, and their prices, available both in Estonian and English. A new edition is published every year, incorporating newly issued coins, corrections, and additions. Soon, a new publication focusing on paper money will also be added to the book series.
In the cover photo of this post, you can see Kaupo Laan’s coin book placed among other books on a bookshelf, with the publication year visible on its spine. Why not treat this book as a collectible in itself, allowing you to have a detailed overview of how the selection of coins has expanded, what new discoveries have been made, and how the prices of coins have changed? This is exactly what many dedicated Estonian numismatists do. At the same time, the book makes a great gift for any coin enthusiast, as the images and descriptions don’t change much over time, and for a hobby collector, it contains everything necessary up to the publication year.
The current print and sales model is based on a limited edition, with the majority of the copies being pre-sold at a discount, and a limited number available for general sale. Some copies of the 2023 book are still available, and pre-sale for the 2024 edition is underway. Both books can be found in the SAFE online store under the category ACCESSORIES > Books and Catalogs.
Kaupo Laan, the author of the book, shares the background and purpose of the book project:
Everything is simple when you know what to do!
But what if you don’t know what to do? Where to start? Where to gather knowledge? Especially as a beginner collector who doesn’t yet have a network of contacts with other collectors? The answer is usually literature.
When I made my first coin-themed book in 2012, it had been 20 years since the last comprehensive book on Estonian coins (the legendary Ivar Leimus’s Estonian Republic Money 1918-1992). Two decades, a whole generation!
Since I didn’t see anyone else filling this market gap, I decided to do it myself. I did it, and for the most part, I was satisfied with the result— a beautiful and thorough book. But the biggest value of this book was probably the lessons learned about what could have been done differently and better.
Let’s move forward eight years, to 2020. The first year of the coronavirus pandemic, and there was more free time than things to do. The market gap had been filled but not fully eliminated. Although I had already thought about correcting the mistakes in my previous book, now was the time to turn that idea into reality!
Now, I wanted to create a true coin catalog, a collector’s manual with price lists. So that even beginner collectors would have somewhere to start.
- An annual edition, so there would always be a fresh version.
- As affordable as possible, because the goal was to create practical literature, not a beautiful coffee table book gathering dust on a collector’s shelf.
Therefore, I chose soft covers, and to keep costs low, I decided to do everything myself—photos, design, translation, language editing, publishing, selling, etc. In the end, the direct costs of the book were only for printing, as I decided not to charge for my time and effort (I consoled myself with the thought that a hobby doesn’t need to bring in money). Starting with the second edition, I decided to delegate the sales process because, firstly, it didn’t really fit with my hobby, and secondly, the professionals at the SAFE online store are much better at it.
You might rightfully ask why I even bothered to go through all this effort if the financial goal was mostly just to break even? Simple: there is always hope that something new and unexpected will turn up, or someone will discover a new variety, or perhaps new information will come to light. I am happy to say that neither the golden nor the blue books have disappointed in that respect. There have indeed been new discoveries, and the numismatist inside me is delighted!
And I wont’t hide it, there are also more self-interested motives. I’m still a relatively young collector, and I want coin collecting to be popular even decades from now. After all, someone in the distant future will have to buy my coints! But the main reason is that, as a beginner myself, I felt the real need for this. At least today, starting collectors will have an easier time!
Happy collecting and many exciting finds!
