Yes, I have both Cherry Pickers Guides but they are limited to the scope of major errors/varieties and only the ones "they" consider to be important enough to include in new editions. I know it would be a HUGE undertaking but If Cliff & Chet could develop their enormous volumes on world coins why could someone not develop a HUGE volume on all known errors/varieties that are substantial enough to include. Each time I open my Numismatic News it seems a new error/variety listing has been included in the monthly price guide . I would love to see a book that was all inclusive of U.S. errors and varieties. I need some meat in my reading. I need to learn as much as I can in what time I have left without bouncing all over the internet, spending endless hours trying to find information on single pieces. I need more! What say you?
I hear you and feel your pain! I'm all over the internet as well. I have pages of links and bookmark I've tried to organize. It's so damn frustrating trying to find something (knowing you've seen it) and can't locate it in a timely manner. Plus the hours wasted searching the net and not finding anything. Besides that, I think I'm old school like you. Give me a book over this stinkin computer, where I can sit back in my easy chair and read it. A reliable, industry standard, one stop shop would be great!
I'm not an error collector but it seems to me that an expert could put together an e-book that could be updated with new errors for buyers of the original book. Just a thought.
If new errors are revealed all the time, then how would a book keep up with that? If what you're saying is that they don't include enough of other minor errors, then I see your point. I mainly collect world coins and I know of no error book for these, which is a lot less than what's out there for US coins like the Cherrypickers guides, Get Rich with Pocket Change, etc. I think someone could at least make a major error book for world coins. That would be nice
In my opinion this is something that could only be done in a digital format. A website would obviously be the easiest to keep up to date but any sort of document could do. A printed copy would cost far to much to publish if you really wanted a complete extensive edition and in all honesty I don't think the market for such a book would be strong enough to come close to recouping those costs. You would likely be talking something that was multiple volumes as well. It also wouldn't be practical or cost effective to run a new edition every time something would be added not to mention how many people would really order that again every year for a few updates here and there
I am rather old school, wishing for a hard copy book, but the idea of an e-book is also a positive step in the right direction. Perhaps even an open format type where collectors who make new finds could submit to a moderator/owner of such a book for possible inclusion. I really did not mean very minor errors though, such as small chips and cracks. Wexler's attempts are great but not too much there for a price guide to get one in the right ball park w/o searching ebay results or auction results endlessly. And publishing a physical book on Amazon could be cost effective as you order and they print on demand as need be.
Checked it out Chris but it's dated 2007. This would exclude so much, such as all of the recognized 2009 Lincoln errors and all of the state and ATB quarters found to date. Not to mention all the newer varieties that have been popping up in the last several years from older series. Thanks for the heads up on this one though. I would love to see Wexler & Potter get together for such a project such as Mishler and Krause did. I'll admit, it would be an enormous undertaking but what a positive contribution it would make to the hobby. Combine all of the knowledge and contributions other error experts could make and I truly believe it could be done. A good example is Overstreet Price Guide to comics. There are credits for over a hundred experts in that field who make regular contributions to that book to make it possible.
Tommy, there is a finite number of the types of errors one may expect to find coming from the Mint. This is why a book like Alan Herbert's is so important because it explains how such errors can occur. Is it really necessary to detail in book form how one "railroad rim" was discovered on a quarter and another one on a half dollar? If you are asking for an updated price guide for such errors, you're wasting your time. It doesn't matter if it is in book form or a digital online format. It won't be any better than the price guides we have like the Red Book, CDN, Numismedia or PCGS. As we have said a thousand times, "A price guide is only a guide, and if you want more accurate quotes, you are best served by searching prices realized at auction." Chris
Let us clarify some things: the Cherrypickers focuses on *varieties.* The book linked above by Herbert focuses on *erorrs.* These are two very different things. As a classification of the types of errors, Herbert's book is very good: there are only so many ways something can go wrong at the mint. Until and unless new technology is implemented (which is a slow process), the book remains fully up to date and one of the best on the subject. I wouldn't use it for pricing, but no print book is ever going to be useful for pricing data. The Cherrypickers does exactly what it claims to do: focuses only on the most popular and/or most available varieties. It never claims, and doesn't attempt to be, exhaustive. If you want a fairly exhaustive list of the varieties for a series, you must turn to specialist publications or websites. Most series have a standard reference which lists their varieties (although, even these are often selective - with thousands and thousands of dies used for a long running series, a complete list of varieties would fill an entire shelf). Again, a book is going to go out of date, but a website is easier to maintain up-to-date. I don't know what series you are looking for, but the Variety Master Listings at CONECA is pretty much the most thorough listing for modern coins. You can find it here: http://varietyvista.com/CONECA Master Listings.htm To make this into a book would be Herculean, redundant, and probably not terribly necessary.
I would also recommend the CONECA website. When all the e-books are completed it will be the only reference of its kind. The only drawback is that it covers only the 20th century stuff at present but what is there is outstanding.
