I'm thinking of picking up a copy of these books. My question is, is it really necessary to buy the 2007 edition of the general issues (1368-1960) book? Could I not buy an older (and cheaper) copy of this book? How much does the info in this book change? Thanks, David
That all depends on how current you want the prices and info to be. If you aren't that concerned about pricing, then pick up an old copy off of ebay or abebooks. I got my Standard Catalog of World coins that way, and except for the most recent years, it's perfect for what I need.
I concur with Topher. Even the pricing does not change much from edition to edition of Volume II of the Standard Catalog.
Me three... Besides the above choices, sometimes libraries offer previous editions at their book sales. It's a lot of shelf space to carry multiple years of these "phone books" (as my dad and I used to call them). Our principal use for the books is identification, mintage information and "relative value," which most of the time is "not much".
