Now back in stock ! Limited supply
Catalog of Dealers Price's
For Shells
Marine,Land
& Freshwater 23rd Edition FINAL EDITION
edited
by Tom Rice
2007,
Of Sea
& Shore Publications, Phuket, Thailand, paper covers with clear
plastic outer cover, spiral bound, 270 pages, about 8.5 by
11.5 inches (21 by 29.5 cm)
This looks as if it
is going to be
the last edition of this publication that Tom Rice is going to do.
After putting a tremendous amount of work into to it from the
modest beginnings until today it has been a publication that has
required a tremendous amount of work and sadly, very little
financial return. I know that many of us will sorely miss this
publication since it has been the best source for not only
shell
prices but as a quick "look up" source for information on who named
that shell , and when it was named. Many collectors that I know also
use it as a quick check list to see what they have in their collections
and what they need. This function has largely been replaced by the use
of computers but it is still a function that many of us use. I think
that Tom may have picked the right time to retire this publication. We
are now at a time when the computer can give us more up to date
information about the price of many shells than we can get
from a
publication that appears once a year. And we also are at a time when
there is a two tiered structure in shell prices when it is impossible
to get a "real" price for a shell when it sells in the USA for one
price and in Europe for a (generally) higher price. The shell "market"
is also one that now seems to be "new name driven" and there seems to
be a more than ample supply of people who are willing to meet the
demand for the supply new names for shells and who are at the
same time willing to sell you specimens of these "new" shells that
generally come with an extravagant price attached to them. I think that
we all owe Tom a sincere "thank you" for the work that he has put into
this publication and hope that the "loss" of this work will allow him
to devote more time to his magazine "Of Sea & Shore" to make it
an
even better publication than it is now. I think that as the supply of
this final edition drys up there will be increased demand for it both
as a reference work, and as a reminder of what shell collecting was
like before it became a blood sport. Thanks Tom, well done! |
