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 Replies: 17 / Views: 4,413 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
535 Posts |
I just had my ANA membership renewed for me as a gift. I guess part of that was a free Red Book. I've never had one or used one before. I don't understand the mintages they list and I couldn't find an explanation in the book itself. Some times they list the mintage in parenthesis: (200,00) and sometimes they don't: 200,000. What is the significance of the parenthesis? |
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Moderator
 United States
6563 Posts |
they be the proof issues  Edited by GO
09/10/2007 10:39 pm
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New Member
United States
21 Posts |
And the numbers in parentheses are not included in the total mintage.
You will find that information in the introduction at the beginning of the book in the paragraph "Quantities of Coins Struck"
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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
The Red Book is full of information and it takes time to figure out what everything means. Don't worry though, this confusion can be corrected with time and use. If you can't figure something out, feel free to ask! |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19948 Posts |
Wow....they gave you a free Red Book? Great deal! Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Depends on which Edition they gave you. Hopefully, it's the lastest. The Red Book is probably the most sold coin book anywhere but that is primarily due to it being around the longest. It has now become a book full of errors probably due to the comptition making this book a fast get out and disregard the mistakes. Absolutely none of the prices are of any usefullness. No one uses that book for prices at coin stores or shows. There are many types of errors and many people that use or collect that book have been complaining to Whitman for some time now. Note that this edition has been out since the beginning of the year almost and it is called a 2008 edition. I think they need a new calendar. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
535 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I was only kidding about which edition. I don't think anyone would award you an outdated book. Also, it is a great book to keep near you for reverences. Sometimes fun when someone says they made 2,000 of those and you can say oh no, it's 20,000 and it says so on page xxx of the Red Book. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
[quote]And the numbers in parentheses are not included in the total mintage.[/quote} Not always true. That is a problem with the mintage figures in the Red Book, they were not consistent with how they handles the business strike and proof mintages. The way it is SUPPOSED to be is that for those coins that came from a mint in both business strike and proof, the number not in () is supposed to be the TOTAL coinage, and the number in () is the number of proof coins. To find out the business strike mintage you would subtract the proof mintage from the total. But they did that on some series but not on others. On some series the () were the proofs, while the other was JUST the business strike mintage, not the total. The Ike dollars were a good example of that. Up until about the 2006 edition it was that way. Apparently someone finally brought to their attention that it was confusing so they went through the book and subtracted the proof mintage from the total mintage and reported the proof and unc separately. Problem is they just did that through the whole book including the series that were already wrong. Again from the Ike dollars the correct mintage for the 1972-S silver clad is proof 1,811,631 and Unc 2,193,056 and that is how they were shown in the pre-2006 Red Book (and how they should be in the current RedBook. I don't have a copy of the 2008 edition so I don't know how they are actually shown). In the pre 2006 editions they SHOULD have been given as (1,811,631) 4,004,687. Then in the 2006 they show up as (1,811,631) 381,425. OOPS. They made this same type error on the other series that did not follow the standard pattern in the pre-2006 editions as well. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Conder101: Sounds like you are taking the Red Book as a Bible. Everyone knows that the latest Red Books have many errors of all types. Of course in their defence all books of that size and full of facts and figures are bound to have such errors. Way, way back no one questioned what was in that book since there was no other book, magazine, internet, etc to verify what was in that book. Over the years, myself and many others have written to Whitman in an attempt to improve the quality. Please notify Whitman with your findings. I would do that but I think they are getting tired of my letters of errors, suggestions, etc. Of course we all could write them and suggest this forum will proof read their next revision, for a price, that is. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Again from the Ike dollars the correct mintage for the 1972-S silver clad is proof 1,811,631 and Unc 2,193,056 and that is how they were shown in the pre-2006 Red Book (and how they should be in the current RedBook. I don't have a copy of the 2008 edition so I don't know how they are actually shown). In the pre 2006 editions they SHOULD have been given as (1,811,631) 4,004,687. Then in the 2006 they show up as (1,811,631) 381,425. OOPS. Just for your info in the 2007 and 2008 Edition it now reads (1,811,631) 2,193,056. |
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Moderator
 United States
23510 Posts |
Perhaps that is a new thread that someone should start here.  In Australia the reference book we use is called Maccas- Short for Greg McDonalds Pocket Guide to Australian Coins and Banknotes. since it is almost impossible to catch every error.  The Australians post on a forum all the errors they have found for others to correct in their books and the author realizing that we are only trying to help him uses these error listings to make corrections in the next edition.  If we had a thread where errors were listed - then even if the publisher was not interested - our members would be.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
535 Posts |
The only error I saw made me laugh. It was in the State Quarters section. It said that in 2008 quarters for the following states would be made: Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico, and Hawaii. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
rggoodie: That is a great suggestion. I wonder how difficult it would be for this forum to start such a permanent post? That would end up helping us all. Not only for error and mistakes, but suggestions also. Our Red Book is a massively sold book and probably the most popular in this country. Most all new collectors think it is the final word so it sure would be nice to help make it just that. As that book becomes larger each year it is sure to become more and more difficult to monitor and verify every entry. And for karrlot, check out this. In the 2008 Edition of the Red Book, page 6, AFTER the entry for commemorative...266, you will note that most pages are 2 page numbers off. I thought that was funny. |
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New Member
United States
7 Posts |
I use this book only for quick reference as to list price on coins I am interested in. Many factors must be considered when making a purchase and this book is a good start for me.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
quote:
Conder101: Sounds like you are taking the Red Book as a Bible.
No I rambled too much and my point wasn't clear. I have known for ages that the RedBook has many errors. My points were that 1.) they say that they would do something one way and then did not do that consistantly through the book which calls all of the mintages into question until they can be checked against other sources. 2.) they continued this error for years. And 3.) when they "corrected" the error they introduced a new error into the problem. Yes, the RedBook is a "bible" but like all bibles it contains serious flaws and should be approached with some skepticism. (As should the other bibles.) |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 4,413 |
Posted 09/11/2007 09:41 am
