I'm way past the Red Book and I'm looking for a nice book that will go into depth in regards to each variety and also discuss the rarities. It can be entertaining as well. What do you guys recommend? Any personal favs??
"The Expert's Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins" by Q. David Bowers is my all time favorite.
Series specific books are a good place to get information. I have the guide to Peace dollars and the guide to Franklin/Kennedy halves. In both books each year and mint is covered in great detail going overthings like VAMs, cameos, special mint sets, and grade considerations.
I know some will disagree and am also familiar with its flaws, but Breen's encyclopedia, as long as you understand it is both old and not all the information is absolute, is still about the best generic reference for US coins IMO. However, it must be understood that there are many in depth type references available that are infinitely better, but the choice is yours; if there are certain coins you're more interested in, please consider taking this route over an all-in-one type book. The book is not cheap (around $100 or so give/take) but still holds its value very well.
I have a couple suggestions that you may or may not find interesting depending on your interested. It is a hard question to answer as there are very few books that have gone into any type of depth regarding all types of US Coinage. With this in mind, I'll make two suggestions, one covering all types and their major varieties and the other covering a large area in depth. Complete Encyclopedia of US and Colonial Coins by Walter Breen - One of the only books to take on the enormous task of covering the range of US coinage and their major varieties. It is an excellent reference that is a must have IMO, but it is not without it's fault (take the info with a grain of salt). It is not very hard to find, but as BB4C said it is going to cost about $100. The History of US Coinage as Illustrated by the Garrett Collection by Q. David Bowers - This book is very different from the Redbook, but from reading your OP, I think you may like it, as it covers a large amount of US coinage; though it covers earlier coinage in more depth. A big plus is it's available to read for free, courtesy of PCGS, http://www.pcgs.com/books/garret/ As BooksB4Coins stated, please remember, there are references focusing and covering one subject in a very high level of detail and they're going to be far better than the above books ever could be, but in my opinon the two books listed are very good jumping-off points. If you have any other question about good reference material, please feel free to make another post or send me a PM, and I will be happy to answer. Jesse Edited to insert proper link to online book.
Great info all. Thank you. I'm going to start with a Q. David Bowers book. I enjoy reading his writing.
If there's one specific type of coins you're looking to collect, CBJesse is awesome at telling you what is all out there. If you're just looking for general books dealing with US type coins, I recently bought A Guide book of United States Type Coins Link. Lots of good information, I bought another type set book from amazon as well, but I can't remember the name of it. Much larger with lots of beautiful pictures. I recently bought a few books dealing with large cents, half cents and Bust half dollars. Between all the books I probably spent close to $500, but without knowing what you're buying with the older US coins, it can be a crap shoot. Some of the books are hard to find and you need to know what edition you want/need. There is no lack of information out there, just have to know what you're looking for. If you have any questions, I'd say contact CBJesse, he helped me out quite a bit! Here's the thread I started asking about coin Books- Coin Books
IMO you need two books since you are starting and have TWO objectives: -- US coins, and -- collecting them. The US coins part is easy to answer: the Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins). Collecting them is a bit tougher; I think there are several books about general coin collecting. It is HIGHLY recommended that you read the books and then come back here with specific questions. The collective numismatic knowledge at this site is huge.
Definitely start with the Experts Guide by Bowers, was a really good read and walks you through most of the coinage in depth. Highly recommended!
