Velde, W. & D. Hartill. Cast Korean Coins and Charms. (London, 2013).
New
standard Western work on the series, building on Mandel and various
Korean works. Coin listings use Mandel's 1972 Cast Coins of
Korea format and an expansion of his numbering system, nearly
doubling the listings with size and calligraphy variants. Each entry
includes a rubbing (usually Mandel's), Catalog number, cross-reference
to Standard Catalog of World Coins (KM) and the
annual Ohsung catalog, description of variant features, furnace number
range, date, and rarity rating. Extensive historical and numismatic
information. The charms section has unique catalog numbers,
cross-references to both Mandel's manuscript on charms and Han
Yong-dal's Korean work, b&w photo, rarity rating, and good
description and translation of the design elements which are further
explored in an Iconography section. Warning to collectors: Koreans
believe (correctly?) that charms were made at Seoul-area mints, which
would make them, unlike Chinese, Japanese, and other charms, a sort of
official commemorative coinage. Thus, pieces which do not appear to be
"original" are valued at little in the Korean market. The majority of
charms found outside Korea are copies of the the 1950-60s, or earlier,
so collectors should be wary of paying significant money for a piece
based on apparent rarity. The photos in this work are not large enough
for authentication. Close comparison to the color photos in the two
Korean charm works, or a Korean auction catalog may help, but apparently
even advanced Korean collectors will differ on what is an "original." - Scott Semans review on amazon.