All books on coins are OK but I'd rather spend the money on coins. You can resell coins if you wanted to but used books are not a great investment commodity.
yes, but if you dont know the basics about coins. the question is, can you resell them for what you paid, or more? its better to learn first, than to make a mistake when purchasing a coin.
well..everyone else that gave me adivice told me to buy the books first..so thats what im doing....the knowledge i get will be the investment later on
I buy more coin books than I buy coins sometimes. I figure the more I know the better prepared I am when I buy a coin. Knowledge is power. Sometimes knowledge is extremely valuable. Plus, I like to have reference books that I can refer to when I need to know something about a coin.
Alan Herbert is an old timer, and has good advice. Keep reading, pick up a Guide Book and then keep reading. Anything by Dave Bowers should be good.
stainless - you done good! buying books, and thinking they are NOT and investment is short sighted. The knowledge you gain will certainly help you with later purchases! :thumb:
A little overstated. Actually grossly overstated. What I was indicating is only that excessive buying of books on coins is in my opinion a little outdated. There is way to much information now available on the internet. And you don't need an entire book to look up just one type of coin. Then again the information is completely up to date on the internet and in many books sometimes outdated. For example the prices in the famous Red Book now outdated by over almost a year. . You could have an entire library on coins and spend many hours looking up something about a Lincoln Cent of just go to www.coppercoins.com and find out many, many times more info on that particular item. Also, with that type of web site you can ask questions about that item. I do agree books are educational and it is rather soothing to sit down and browse through them but for complete, accurate, up to date information, the internet is far superior to any publication. For example this forum. Even the subject of what book to buy, where to buy it, how much to pay for it, etc. is right here on this web site. Could never find that in any book. This forum and many like it are the future. Sorry if I affended book collectors on coins but I too have numerous books on many subjects. For example being a chem teacher in college I too have substantial library on Chemistry but when requiring up to date, complete, detailed information the internet can't be beat.
Carl is right as far as finding up to date info, such as pricing, retail and info that changes on a day for day basis. But, I think as far as learning the history behind a coin and the minting process, there is no substitute for books. Sure, you could find the same info online, but you'd have to spend hundreds of hours browsing hundreds of sites to gather the info that may be found in a single book or two. Who has that kind of time? Besides, I've always thought learning about a coin was far more entertaining than actually buying the coin. Guy~
You got me there for sure. Don't know how many times I looked up info on just one coin over and over.
Good work, stainless. You passed the first test. You listened to us. This book should be fine for you to introduce you to the basics. Building a collection, understand, is like building a house. Study your book, and when you have questions, remember, there are a lot of expert builders here. Good luck! :thumb:
I agree! I can't imagine how many times I have just picked up Breen's just to read it. (great bathroom reading.)
Really ?? Carl I have books that I paid less than $100 for and that I can sell today, in a heartbeat, for over $1,000.
And I am looking for an out-of-print book right now (see Open section). If someone has it they can easily sell it to me.
In some instances true. Example I have all the Red Books on coins and some are really worth a lot. However, I also have a massive amount of chem books, some from the 1920's, and about to throw them away due to no one wants them, including libraries. Many, many auto books and also ready for the garbage. Like coins, stamps, etc. some are and some are not of any value monitarily.
