These are the books that I own for coins, also have red book guide to Lincoln cents on my kindle and just bought red book guide to us type coins. What other books would you suggest I look into? I'm looking for holiday gift ideas and seen someone on here said something about the book penny wise? I think I'm all set on Lincoln's but would like to read more about older copper coinage so I know what all these R,S,O numbers you throw in with your coins. Aside from early copper I'd like to learn more about barber quarters, bust halfs, and the draped bust half dollars. I know some of the early coin books are rare and maybe that's why I'm having trouble finding anything. Anyone ever have luck with old coin books at antique shops or anything like that? Any information would be greatly appreciated
The only place I ever have any luck getting good deals on books is through eBay and the forums. Anyway here are suggestions for the subjects that interest you. Early Copper Early Dates- Penny Whimsy by William Sheldon- Used for attribution of large cents by die marriage, though some rarity ratings are different now and condition census is outdated. Every large cent collector need one though. Very easy to find, any edition should do well, you should be able to get a copy for $30-$50 United States Large Cents 1793-1814 by William Noyes - Better attribution guide than Penny Whimsy, has good pictures, as well as updated information. Tough to find and expensive ($150 or so). Middle Dates The Cent Book by John Wright- Fantastic guide for attribution, make it very easy, great information about rarity rating, premiums you can expect to get, etc. Moderately easy to find, you should be able to find one on ebay for $80 or so. United States Large Cents 1816-1839 by William Noyes- Another attribution guide for middle dates, I find The Cent Book easier to use though. I have one, but doin't use it very often, though it is probably better for the advanced large cent collector. Pretty tough to find, $100 or so. Late Dates The Die Varieties of United States Large Cents 1840-1857 by Grellman/Reiver- If you want to attribute late date large cents, you need this book! It is tough to find though, any will most likely cost you $100-up, sometimes you can find them a little cheaper Penny-Wise is the publication by the EAC, with great info submitted by collectors, you recieve new issues as they are published if you are a member of the EAC. The back issues are tough to find but the EAC has digitized all of them and put them on CD, I have an extra, if you'd like I'd be happy to send it to you for postage cost. Onto Bust Half Dollars Early Half Dollar Die Varieties by Al Overton- Either the 3rd or 4th edition will work but I prefer the 3rd edition. The third edition is harder to find than the 4th, the 3rd will cost $80-$110, just depends on where you get it and you should be able to get a 4th for about $60-$80. This covers DBH and CBH. The Ultimate Guide to Attributing Bust Half Dollars by Glenn Peterson- Great as a supplement to the Overton guide, speeds up the attribution process, if you'd like to get one, send me a PM, I'll direct you to a site were you can get one for $85. This book only covers CBH. Bust Half Fever by Edgar Sounders- Great book, Sounders does a date by date analysis, examining strike, mintage, investment potential, etc. If you collect bust halves you need this book. I'd suggest the 2nd edition, though the 1st will work as well. Only covers CBH. JR Journal- Published tri-annually by the JRCS, great information on all Bust series, you receive the new issues as they are published as a member. Back issues can be had for $9 through the JRCS. If you are not a member and collect Bust coinage, join, one of the best $25 investments I've made in coins. Barber Quarters I don't collect these so I can't say for sure but supposedly the book by David Lawrence, The Complete Guide to Barber Quarters, is the best book on the subject. Please feel free to let me know if you need help finding any of these books or if you'd like suggestions on other series. Jesse
I recently got United States Coinage: A Study by Type and it's a book I HIGHLY recommend for someone doing a United States Type Set. It's by Ron Guth and Jeff Garrett and published by Whitman. Besides having gorgeous illustrations of beautiful type coins, it also has a flabbergasting amount of knowledge the average type collector does not possess. I will definitely be consulting this book on a regular basis while I try to complete my 7070.
I just bought the type set book by David Bowers, do you think your book would provide additional information?
I have recommended 10 books so far and have written reviews for all of them. They are available on this page: http://coinshowradio.com/Book_Reviews.html This is by no means all-inclusive, but these are all great books for a personal library and on each page you'll find a link to Amazon.com where they can be purchased if you so desire. As for the Study by Type that Garrett and Guth have authored, I'm going to check it out as well. It sounds really good. Big Tee, it likely has at least some unique information. I don't see any reason why someone couldn't read both.
I honestly haven't taken read A Guide Book of United States Type Coins by David Bowers but I'd be genuinely surprised if this book didn't have more to offer to you. A Study by Type devotes a single page to nearly every type coin in US history detailing the lowest minted date per type, a brief but comprehensive history for that type, historical retail values, beautiful images, and plenty more. My recommendation, if you are working on a type set, have this book around.
Pulled the trigger on that one, for $2.32 on amazon how could I not right? 4th book I bought this week for under $3 on amazon
This is a very informative and timely thread. I was just thinking about this very topic. Thank you to all contributers! -L
CBJesse offered really good advice on large cent attribution guide books. I will add that if you join Early American Coppers you will get some nice discounts on those books. It will more than pay the dues. For more into go here: http://www.eacs.org/
$50-$60 is about the range you can expect to find them in but keep in mind that the publisher, DLRC Press, was nice enough to put them online for all to read for free. http://blog.davidlawrence.com/index.php/reference-books/the-complete-guide-to-barber-halves/ Not only can you read all the books by David Lawrence on Baber coinage, you can also read, The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars by Wiley and Bugert, which is a $350+ book. Jesse
