My Girlfriend had to go to a book store today. To her suprise, I cheerfully agreed to go along. Adding to her suprise, I spent more money than she did. I bought: ANA Grading Standards for US Coins (sorely needed) The Coin Collector's Survival Manual The Whitman Guidebook to Morgan Dollars and 6 Whitman folders. Thoughts on these guides ? I'm sure the ANA Grading book is a given. Anyone else read the Survival Manual ? It looked noobish, but appeared to have a lot of info. The Morgan Guide was only $10, so I figured it'd be worth that.
I have the Grading Standards book and the Morgan book. My next book will be the Survival Manual. The Experts Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins by Bowers is a good one.
My coin books are the redbook and Coin Collecting for dummies. I will eventually buy the grading standers.
The ANA Guide for me is a MUST. I keep referring to it so that my "grading eye" doesn't drift. I like the Red Book for a quick reference. I like Coin World's "Coin Values" for retail values. I like CDN for wholesale values. For Morgan/Peace dollars I've got an early version of Van Allen & Mallis's (VAM) book. If I got serious about those coins I'd have to get something better. I've got Breen's Encyclopedia... I just got the the two volumes of the Cherrypickers' Guide. And I've got a number of speciality books on certain issues. My advice. Buy only what you need. You could get some really nice coins for the price of some of these books.
I'd say to get all the books that you can get your hands on, except maybe for those whitman guides to proof sets and type coins.
Roto, You keep up the readin like that and before you know it you'll be a real fart smeller - I mean smart feller!
Who needs books when you have cointalk? nawww, It helps, but I have loads of coins books. I really like the series of books by Whitman about specific coin series.
I also like Coin Values for retail. I use their website constantly. It is a lot faster to look stuff up there. Don't tell anyone. I'd hate to ruin my reputation and have people expect things out of me. I actually had that thought in my head, when deciding what to purchase. It shows you the respect this site garners and what a valuable resource you all are.
Yes, Sir, yes I do. When I go to auctions, I will only go to 50% of the amounts listed. Sometimes I'll go to 75%, if I really want it or its any of the bust series.
I also have the Survival Manual and its what I'm currently reading. Although, all of the info isnt for everyone its still a very interesting book. The ANA Grading Standards is a coin collectors must have so you did good there and I also have the Whitman Guide to Morgan Dollars, which I havent started reading yet. I have an old Photograde book I bought years ago but I really dont care for the illustrations in it so I dont use it. I've been wanting to get Breens Encyclopedia but havent gotten around to it yet.
I'll probly start with the ANA Grading book, then delve into the Survival guide. I nearly filled the 1965-1987 and the 1988-2000 Whitman Quarter folders already...lol
I’ve spent way more on books this year than coins. lol Ancient Coin Collecting volumes 1-5 The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins. 2007 North American Coins & Prices (instead of this years red book) A guide book of Mexican coins, 1822 to date (1983 publications) Standard Catalog of World Paper Money Modern Issues, 1961-present
