Readers had a number of comments on coin postcard albums. -Editor

"Ms. Davies's set of 45 cards appears to contain cards of substantially the same countries as those published circa 1910 by printers and compilers in Germany and Austria for the tourist market. The cards were sold singly and in sets, and the sets could be obtained in folders, loose leaf albums (like Ms. Davies's) and in bound books. I have not seen the particular album variety that Ms. Davies has and hope that her album might have some indication of the source. The brochure is very similar to those in other albums (and folders and bound books) produced at the time.

"I wrote stories about these coin cards and collections in The Asylum in 2005 and 2006 that can be found on the Newman Numismatic Portal. Since then, quite a bit has been discovered about them. Thomas Engelen of Lenzerheide, Canton Graubunden, Switzerland, has been working on a very detailed catalog of these cards for a number of years and I will make sure to inform him of this discovery. Hans-Joachim Bergmann of Herbrechtingen, Germany, is another coin-card expert and a dear friend.

"The card of Canada, as you will see by looking at the dates on the coins, was published much later, circa 1925. By then a new publisher had taken over the business and had expanded the line (and of course many new countries came into being after World War I).

"I can't explain the asking price for this card, except perhaps that some Canadian collectors must be gung ho or something. The last of the cards came out right before World War II, circa 1937."

"The album in question was made to host cambist cards for the UK market, most likely the album produced in the UK itself. The copy I have has a mixed content re publishers of cards just like the one Mrs Davies seems to have including three cards made by HSM for Boots The Chemists, UK. My album has the original price tag of 2/6, or two Shilling and Sixpence. The leaflet included is an accurate translation of the text on leaflets found in German language albums by Heimbrecht (Germany) and Blümel (Austria).

"All cards that have a text – headings are in English, country-indications (mostly bottom right) in English, as are the currency exchange rate tables. Even if from different German publishers all clearly collected to serve an English-speaking audience......From the cards & countries included it is clear these albums were made pre-WWI / pre 1914.

"Canadian cambrist cards : enclosed two pages of my draft coin cards listing. The listing was put together with the help of David Gladfelter and Hans Bergmann (Germany).

"These Canadian cards are not very rare: for none of the 4 varieties listed, nor for three duplicates I have I paid more than $25 /each, one of these I bought last December via eBay from a Canadian collector. I've seen the $375 card listed, it was listed before at $600 and – guess what – it's still to be had. In my years of collecting the highest paid price I've seen is $185 for an Egyptian card with two bidders from Egypt."

"Sally T Davies asks why the Canadian coin postcard is so valuable compared to the other coin postcards in her album. I have one of the Canadian cards in my collection that I gladly paid three figures for. It is in high demand because of the coins portrayed on it. The 1921 5-cent and 50-cent coins are exceptionally rare and among the most valuable coins in the decimal series. The 1911 dollar was a pattern and never issued for circulation. Only three exist: one in lead and two in silver. It has for years been by far the most valuable Canadian coin. The only one in the collector hands was recently donated to the National Currency Collection, which now is in possession of all three examples.

This is as close as I'll get to owning these coins."

"I'm very happy to hear that there's such erudite interest in the album. There are no indications on the album as to it's origin though I strongly suspect it's German or Austrian, incidentally, a Google search brought up an identical one with the title in French. Some of the cards are stamped H.S.M for Hugo Semmler and some are stamped dep. with a number.

"Although they appear relatively rarely I suspect there are quite a few of these albums lingering in drawers and attics, perhaps more will emerge in time"