How much have you spent on your numismatic library?

So inspired by Josh's thread about Sheldon numbers I thought it would be fun to make a thread about our most important reference... Our personal numismatic library.

I have spent around $10,000 acquiring the reference books that we use in the shop... I'm sure this is above most... But I do this for a living and they have more than paid for themselves.

How much do you have invested in your numismatic library?

 

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I'm embarrassed to admit...that I have not kept good enough records to give an accurate answer. My guess is...around $1500 over the last 15 years.

 

Maybe $200.

 

Well, I'm modest at this point. Under $900 at this point but the budget is there for new additions.....

 

I probably need to get more than I have. No clue as to how much my meager numismatic library has cost me up to now.

 

I'll guess about $3000 but I don't use most of it any more.

 

$0. The internet is free, people.

 

For my part, physical books total less than 200$.
29.99 (I think, so please don't quote me on this) for cointalk.com subscription.
Time reading the books and this site... don't know how to measure that.
But I intend to drop lots more as I become more experienced and learn further about "what I don't know". The hardest part is figuring out what I don't know.
-L

 

Between all the rebooks, and whitman bill books and a few other i would say between 200-400, if you add in all the hobbys i am part of i would say between 800-1200 dollars !!

 

I never kept track. I have three storage bins filled with them. But most of the time I just use Cunningham's references for miltary tokens. There are also books that aren't numismatic but are related such as Shelby Stanton's Order of Battle for Vietnam, ect.

 

I'd say about $1000 , but it's constantly being upgraded . I wish I did invest in the Krause World coins , as I'm currently going through a collection for a friend whose husband has passed and he collected mostly South American cobs and reales from Peru and Guatemala . I do have a reference for Mexican coinage but nothing for the others .

 

Firstly, the internet is not free unless you are accessing it from WiFi hotspots outside your home or you live with your parents who pay all the bills, so it's "free" to you.

Secondly, and more relevant to this thread...you are missing out majorly if you think that all knowledge in numismatics is available free on the internet. For example -- the Rennaisance of American Coinage trilogy by Roger W. Burdette is amazing and his newer book From Mine to Mint is invaluable.

If your only source of numismatic knowledge is free stuff online you are sorely missing out. Now had you said you get all of your info from a library I would not be writing this reply.

 

I really only buy gold coins, so have considered buying a book about spotting fakes, but since I have bought so many and research a lot online, I have yet to buy one. I have done fairly well with my collection so far. And yes, internet technically costs, but I have it anyways, so might as well use it for coin research

 

Between literature and online resources, probably getting up into the $3k-$4K range.

 

I'm around $300 if I've remembered everything. Prices were estimated for most of these:

Coin Collector's Survival Manual
2013 Redbook (Given away)
The Expert's Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins
Guidebook of United States Type Coins
Grading Coins by Photographs
Guidebook to Peace Dollars
Guidebook to Franklin and Kennedy Half Dollars
Sear's Roman Coins and Their Values
Cunningham Vol 1 & 2
A Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates
A Concise Catalog of US Military Payment Certificates
Confederate Currecny

Edit: Forgot the Guide to Silver Eagels. Change the total to about $320.

 

Krauses world catalogs every 3 years. $1,000

 

Great question.

I have hundreds of books, and use many daily.

Cost?

I never added it up.

Value?
Priceless.

 

When I left the hobby decades back, I sold all my numismatic books. I regret that more than selling the coins!

Since returning, less than a thousand dollars I think, but I'm buying more.

 

I really have no idea. The only reference books I have kept track of cost is my set of Red Books, with is north of $1,500 at this point. My guess would be $3K+. Like Frank, they see use just about every day. And most are not available on the internet.