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 Replies: 25 / Views: 2,751 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
There are a lot of very bright and knowledgeable people on this forum, with a wealth of information that they are willing to share. We are in the "age of information" of course, and the internet is a huge source of some types of numismatic info.
Books, however, though ancient technology, are still valuable to the collector.
What are your recommendations for "must have" books in a coin collector's personal library?
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Valued Member
United States
393 Posts |
The Whitman Red Book Guide of United States coins is a must have for me. It's kind of small, compact, and with the spiral binder it'll lay flat. I would like to get the Breen's book in the future. |
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Forum Mom
 United States
5877 Posts |
A lot depends upon what you collect. For US coins, I would recommend the Red Book definitely. The Breen Encyclopedia, while pricey, is also a very valuable book to have. There are also specialty books for various series. Some of these can be a little expensive, but many are very reasonable. If you collect World Coins, the Krause catalogues are invaluable. They are split into 4 very large volumes by century. There is also a volume for World Gold Coins and another for Unusual Coins. If you look on Amazon, you can probably find a good deal. I just got the Unusual Coins (new) for $8.00 and that included shipping. This is a $40 book. I don't think the seller knew what they had or they just wanted to get rid of it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2600 Posts |
Hunter, try Tolstoy's War and Peace, great book but a little long reading.  Just kidding, considering how many Lincoln cents you will look at in the future, the book "Looking Through Lincoln Cents" I would consider a must. I believe the author is Charles Daugherty but not sure. I will get it off of the book when I get home if someone has not posted it by then. It really make sense of what you are looking for when it comes to DD and anomalies. Jim I have double checked and the author name is correct and it can be purchased from his website , coppercoins.com, and is very reasonably priced. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
A good grading book is nice to have- The Official ANA Grading Standards for US Coins and Photograde are two of the most popular. I have both of them in my growing library. If you are looking for some solid general informational reading on the study of numismatics, I would recommend The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins by Q. David Bowers. My wife purchased this book for me for Christmas and I had never heard of it before then. I started reading it, could not put it down, and plowed through all 600+ pages in two weeks! Edited by biokemist6
04/04/2007 1:28 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
651 Posts |
I think a book shelf is defined based on what your are collecting as there are some great specific title for nickels, quarters, etc... from some great writers like Bowers.
But if you are looking for general books then many of the books already listed are great choices and the only other one I would add is Scott Travers "Coin Collector's Survival Manual".
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4867 Posts |
I hightly recommend the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1327 Posts |
I would recomend the Red Book. the newset one comes out on april 10th. the other book would be a grading book you like. I knwo most like the The Official ANA Grading Standards for US coins, but I personal find that the book "Making the Grade" is very nice and good to use. It is put out by Coin World. it is laid out the same as the grading section in coin values. the only downside is that they do not have all of the US coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
986 Posts |
It all depends on what you collect. For just general stuff I've got: A RedBookPhotograde Breen's Encyclopedia The Expert's Guide to Investing and Collecting Rare Coins by QDB In my specialty area of early halves, I've got: Bust Half Fever Overton, 3rd Edition Pocket "RAG"- great for cherrypicking Depending on your specialty area, QDB has written a lot of great books that serve as excellent references. An added plus is that they're usually available at your nearest bookstore. |
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Valued Member
Australia
161 Posts |
No matter what you collect you should get a book on die manufacturing and techniques and also study the minting process. You will be much wiser in many areas of collecting.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
Grading Coins: A Collection Of Readings. Compiled by Richard Bagg and James J. Jelinski. ISBN 0-930332-01-6
They are grading articles taken from the Numismatic Scrapbook, The Numismatist, and Whitman Numismatic Journal. It's out of print but available used at ABE Books.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
The Krause catalogs, RedBook, if you collect ancients, ERIC, RIC. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
I've got the RedBook, the Coin Collectors Survival Manual, & the ANA Grading Standards, all great books. Does anyone have any suggestions for a book on detecting counterfeit &/or altered coins. I'm looking for a guide that will help me identify coins that have been cleaned, or dipped & retoned, or artificially toned, or whatever. Some altered coins are fairly easy to spot, but some things are not so obvious to someone(me) without a lot of experience. A guide book with a lot of pictures would be very helpful. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
651 Posts |
I just picked up a used book from 1977 for $3.95. "U.S. Type Coins, An Illustrated History of The Federal Coinage" by Norman Stack (one of the founders of Stack's). All I can say is excellent. In a time with no personal computers, Stack did an excellent job organizing coin chapters that allowed for different methods of type set collecting.  Edited by Ken_3567
04/06/2007 10:18 am
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Valued Member
United States
487 Posts |
Everyone has mentioned the Red Book but does anyone use the blue book. I have a 1982 Red Book and the prices in there are about what coins are actually selling for today. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
834 Posts |
I only purchase a Red Book every four or five years because it is a poor price guide, however it is a good reference book. I think any collector new or old should have a grading book as for myself I use the ANA grading standards by Whitman and Making the grad by Coin Values. Another good reference book is the CherryPickers Guide and Looking through Lincoln cents by our member here Chuck Daughtrey. Bruce. |
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Replies: 25 / Views: 2,751 |
Posted 04/04/2007 12:22 pm
