Numismatic book recommendations

I would strongly consider simply going lcs to lcs on the phone and ask if anyone is hiring even for a secretarial position. If you have to move and just learn the basics for a few years. This is seriously what I would if I really wanted to become a coin dealer.

 

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My advice? Buy every book that you can afford right now, dont get hung up on a super specific topic. Sure its nice to have a list of your current interests, but buy the leading books on EVERY coin related subject you are interested in, thinking of selling, or might have an interest in down the road.

I had the misconception that owning these books was going to be like reading a novel, its not. Many of these books have tons of information inside of them, but not all of it is useful for everyday use, or make for fun everyday reading. Many of these books are used as a reference, meaning to look up the information you dont already know about a particular coin or series when you need to do so.

Thats why I say get as many as you can on as many subjects as you can. That way when you run up against something you dont know you have the information on hand and dont have to try and remember every specific aspect of the coins you are trying to collect, sell, or buy.

Thats not to say buy the book and shelf it indefinitely, just buy and put it away to pull out periodically as interest and needs arise on the particular subject.

Now the reason I say all this is because you are young and an aspiring dealer. You dont want inventory to come in that you arent able to buy due to lack of knowledge, and also as an aspiring dealer its just in your best interest to not limit yourself, so buy the books on you priority list, but also pick up anything else you can find to advance your knowledge.

Oh and again, dont shelve the books completely, please read them, but keep in mind that even reading these books many, many, times you will never fully retain all of the information, and thats why they call them reference books, to refer back and refresh your memory or learn new something altogether.

 

You need to dominate a particular series to stand out. You want the whole coin show to go silent in fear when you walk in.

 

And all of the dealers to pull your particular coin series out of their trays for fear that you will Cherrypick them. LOL

 

Best reply here!

 

There is no such thing as a local coin shop where I live.

 

I discovered there is a public library 1 block from my home so I went there and got "a guide to gold dollars 2nd edition" by bowers.

 

I dont know. Tom must be easily impressed. Lets give josh a month to study, and see where he's at.

 

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There you go. Photo copy it , then you can always have it around as a resource. Your numismatic library has begun.

 

photocopy it? it is a 274 page book.

 

scan it, and save to a pdf. you dont want to pay for it do you?

 

How bad do you really want this josh? I would call every lcs in the country and find a job then move.
I had to first move to Seattle then Boston then vegas for 11 years to get into my job. But I wanted it more then anything. Are you willing to do the same? all it comes down to how bad do you want it. Will you go all in as we say in vegas?

 

only thing holding me back is my college education. I want to graduate with a degree in Entrepreneurship. The business side of a coin company is an important part of the equation.

 

Any library can borrow almost any book through interlibrary loan. Find out what you want to read and borrow them. Just do it man, read anything you can get your hands on. Its the quickest way to learn something about coins.

 

Just a couple days ago you claimed a coin was "cursed" because you couldn't sell it for, ahem, "back of bid", but now feel the need to announce that, at least in part, you're going to "specialize" in them?

IIRC Mr. Snow recently had (or soon will have) a new edition of the complete Snow Book released. It's not cheap (and no, so don't ask), but is something that any wise and self-respecting "specialist" IHC, ahem, "dealer" should have, or at least know about, before publicly declaring his specialty. Of course even a basic knowledge of the series would be helpful, but no sense in concerning yourself with such trivial details, right?

I'm sorry, Josh, but you've become a lost cause.

 

Josh, I don't know that many specialists in numismatics sat down and said: "okay, I'm going to specialize in Indian Head cents" and started from scratch. As someone else said, I think you just need to focus on getting a broad understanding of the whole numismatic arena, and then let your interests dictate what serie(s) you become most proficient in. Arbitrarily choosing a particular series probably isn't the best move.
Vic is right, you need to be around coins every day (not just yours, different coins, all sorts of them) to start to acquire some real knowledge.

 

Gee, Thanks Books.

 

I can promise something. A degree in entrepreneurship is not in itself going to be useful. I don't know any dealers with a college degree. I'm not saying there not out there I'm just saying I have never met one. A degree like this is really only going to have value if you want to apply for grad school.

Now a business or accounting degree could help you if you change your mind about coins. Honestly I've never even heard of a degree in entrepreneurship.