Best Coin Collecting Books

I'm brand new to this coin collecting stuff and need to get an education.

I know that I need to get the Redbook, ANA grading guide, and Krause guide (for world coins).

I also want a "How To" book but I'm not sure which one to get. What do you guys think of Coin Collecting for Dummies? The title is unfortunate but dummy books seem to be very well written.

I've also heard that the Cherry Picker's guide is a good one for roll searchers.


What books do you recommend for a beginner?

 

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You already have a good start and a lot of reading to do with the books you purchased. You can save money and learn a lot by just searching back through the threads on CoinTalk. Do searches about cleaning coins, storing coins, third party graders, coin shows and whatever else comes to mind and read what is posted. Save the money for buying coins.

Edit: If I had to add one book to your list it would be Photograde. It will jump-start your ability to grade circulated coins and there is a lot of other useful information in the book.

 

You might also want to subscribe to Coin World or other coin magazines. The articles are short, very informative and well written. :smile

 

Also a decent monthly price guide with good articles is Coin Values , also look for books in the areas you'd like to collect . Also a good place to look at good pictures of all sorts of coins is , ha.com , its free but you have to sign up . Good luck .
rzage

 

Coins for Dummies is a good beginner book , another like it is Coin.101 by ----Herbert

 

I've got a bunch of old old books that my grandfather had, do you think they're worth reading or should I just skip to something more current? They're some from 20-50 years old.

-DJ

 

Gotta get a RedBook.

Ben

 

Those must be kinda fun to look at. My oldest coin book is from the 60's. I can't believe what coins used to go for back then. It's cool to ponder the thought.

 

It should be a requirement that all coin collectors join HA.com. There's juss so much information and coin values you can do on there. You can also log in your collection. And it's secure. Only you can view it :kewl:

 

Once I get everything cataloged, I'll take pictures and catalog all the books.. he had about 25 or so different kinds.. even a few 1950's war era children's beginner books.. very neat indeed.

 

once you get serious, you're going to want to get a breen's

 

Breen is next on my list !!

 

I really like "The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins" by Q. David Bowers. It gives lots of good general information as well as tips on collecting individual series of coins.

 

Really? I thought you'd own one for sure.

 

One of the books that should be on the top of every new collectors list is Scott Travers' COIN COLLECTORS SURVIVAL MANUAL. There is a dark side to this hobby and Travers' book is one of the few that is willing to talk about it.

Breen's book is a wealth of information and is also a good read, although some of his comments are a bit colorful if you get my drift.

 

Boy-Howdy, isn't that the truth. As far as anything Breen has written my conscience wouldn't let me sleep with or without kids in the house if I were to purchase one...

 

David Lange has written some great books, his Lincoln book is the bible of the series

No commont on Breen, lol

 

The Krause catalogs aren't cheap, but you may find slightly used copies for sale on eBay now and again. Recently I lucked into winning 5 Krause catalogs from the same seller (all released within the last couple of years), 4 of the coin guides from 1600 all the way up to 2000 and one world currency catalog. Shipping alone cost me over $50 (they are HEAVY) and I paid around $80 for the set, but I still saved a bundle.

 

I understand he was a monster in his personal life. He did however do some excellent research in the numismatic field. So while I enjoy reading my catalog, and using it for research, I don't condone what he did, and it was probably fitting that he died in prison.