Ok, so I have placed my order with Amazon. I have Photograde, The Official Redbook, and the ANA's grading standards books on their way. Are there any other absolute "must haves" that I should consider?
No. Coin books are generally poorly written and not worth the money. The three you ordered should be sufficient. However, if you have a specialized area that interests you such as morgans, $20 gold coins, foreign coins, or tokens, it is probably a good idea to buy a book that covers that area.
Probably not, if you limit your collecting to US coins, and ignore the vast wealth of material available in world coins, ancient coins, and exonumia.
Yes they are the good ones---The grading guides IMHO are a must---also you might look around for a PCGS Grading guide---then check for books on the type of coin you are interested in collecting. Speedy
Blasphemy !! We shall have to burn you at the stake ! Seriously, there are those who disagree with me, but in my opinion one can never own enough books. But I will readily admit that some picking and choosing needs to be done. As with anything else, there are some good ones - and some not so good. But as has been mentioned most coin books are rather specialized and typically only deal with one type of coin. So if you only collect one type of coin a few books will do. But if like most collectors you collect several types of coins, you not find anything but very basic information unless you buy the specialized books for each. And that of course is how one ends up with more books than coins
The reason I say that isn't to critize the writing style or the competence of the authors, which is in some cases extraordinarily good. I just find that coin books tend to be very repetitive and a very large percentage of them seem to contain chapters and chapters full of the same material and suggestions. How many time do you need to read the history of various mints, how to care for coins, the basics on how to grade, the history of the US Mint, and the advice to buy the best you can afford? The material is stale. I guess every author believes his/her book is the first book the collector ever read. At the other end of the spectrum is the highly technical material that is way beyond anything someone like me will ever use. So I'm stuck in the middle without many books to fit my needs.
At the moment, my interest is primarily US coins... simply because I have to start somewhere, and US coins are most readily available. I've picked up a number of foreign coins, no ancients yet, but just starting out it's a bit overwhelming to try to spread worldwide, over millenia and into tokens as well. No doubt I find all areas interesting though. If it's a flat disc of metal with a picture... I'll get there in time.
Actually, if you think you might like arieties for various series, I highly recommend Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins. It is by no means complete, even though they put that in the title, since it hasn't been updated. It is also not comprehensive for any series (I myself have at least two coins that are not in it). Even for all that, it is an excellent reference and can, for a time, keep you from having to buy specialized references for some series in which you may be interested. You should be able to find copies online for $100 or perhaps even less.Hope that helps,Fish
I am currently reading "The Experts Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins" by Q. David Bowers. It's not really a reference book, but contains some fantastic and very interesting information. It is taking me quite a long time to read though because it's quite long at about 650 pages or so. Oh, and I'm trying to read it along with about 4 other things I'm reading at the same time. I may get done with it one day. :goofer: I think it has some great info in it though.
Breen is great for checking for varieties, and Cherrypickers is pretty good. But there are a number of books out there for just about every coin series. for example Barber dimes, quarters, and half's. Decide what you want to collect, then, to quote Dave Bowers" "Buy the bokk bfore you buy the coin." And good luck.
Not real good at that... I tend to buy affordable specimens of coin types before researching them. In my case, having the coin makes me want to learn more about it.
I can see that point of view, since owning some coins has indeed led me to buy the book after. Look at it as obtaining an excuse to buy another book. LOVE books. In fact, books are what my wife is buying me for the holidays. Fish
Fish: I can't agree more: I love to read about coins, and buy all that Ihave any ingterest about. Buy all books.
There is a good book by Bowers on Type coins---that would give you alittle info about each coin---I would highly suggest it---I have it and Bowers signed it! Speedy
Well, sure, Speedy... if you're offering me a signed book, I'll take it. If you're talking about A Guide Book of United States Type Coins - A Complete History and Price Guide.... by Bowers, I just started reading it last night, but I'm willing to trade my nice shiny new book for that one you got that somebody scribbled in. :whistle:
haha....not hardly All you have to do is email Bowers and send it to him with return postage and I'm sure he would sign yours too---I bought my book from B&M Auction Co. and they shipped it to him and then he sent it on to me at not extra charge. Speedy
Well, it was worth a shot... worked when we were kids. I remember we were at the park and my brother found a $20 bill. We were young enough that denominations didn't mean much yet. A guy playing tennis noticed and came over to look. The bill was dirty and wrinkled up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crisp clean $5 bill and offered to trade it for that dirty old bill. Happily we ran home and told our parents about our great fortune. Within a minute, my dad, an ex-Navy Special Forces vet was running back to the park to express his "gratitude" to the nice young gentleman playing tennis. We learned a lot about denominations and the value of carrying a change of shorts that day.
