Coin Books and Guides

Yikes! I am starting to spend more money on coin books than I have on the coins themselves. Some of them are outrageous.

 

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Any subject in particular or all coin books?
Ancients, Foreign, Mint Errors, US Coin Guides?

 

I have started to research coins of occupying nations during WW2 era, since I have a head start from Asia and Europe (just a start). I love books much more than internet sources, because I can never remember what I find on the internet.

 

If you are spending money on books then you are doing the right thing.

The wrong way: Buy coins with no references and then ask [here for example] what do I have?

I can see asking what something is worth if you get it in a lot of coins, but spending big money [a relative term] and not knowing about the piece is ridiculous.

Remember: Buy the book before the coin

 

Like my Old East Indian grandfather used to say when I was little boy and ask him a question "Anthony You must look in the book"!

 

The thing even better about books; they increase the enjoyment value you get from your coins. Just a couple of months ago I bought a coin from an area of the world I am interested in I hadn't ever seen. Coincidentally I had ordered a book also from a different seller. I get the book, and the coin I had just won was in there. Turns out that coin is HORRENDOUSLY important to the civilizations of the area, was a one ruler only for a civilization, has the longest lineage ever documented on an ancient coin AND could give us clues to the geneology of the large civilization. After reading this book, that coin that I luckily had bought was worth WAY more to me.

That is an example of the power of a good book. It increases your personal enjoyment of coins you already own.

 

It all depends on whether the books you're buying contribute to your enjoyment of your hobby. If they do, that's a good thing. If they give you more knowledge about what you're collecting, that is also a good thing.

If you're just accumulating paper because of a compulsion to buy random books, you should get professional help.

 

A coin is for a collection. A book is for knowledge.

 

Unless one is a book collector also.

 

In the early 2000s, I started purchasing lots of uncleaned ancients with the hopes of it being a cheap introduction to the topic. I had a copy of Sear’s Roman Coins but was making little progress so I ended up buying a few volumes of Roman Imperial Coinage at $75-$150 a pop. All to be able to ID some late roman bronzes in poor condition that cost about $1 each. Then it took me a few months to learn how to use them for LRBs (it’s really tough determining legends, mints, and officinas on low grade stuff when you have nobody to help )

I probably ended up spending over $1000 on ancient coin references since then. Even though I’m not very active in ancients, I learned quite a bit from them and they’re still an important part of my library.

 

Great quote Collecting Nut. Enjoyed the post also it brings to light the importance of books and knowledge.

 

Thank you.

 

I was not referring to a collector of coins or books. I was simply answering the OP. Since the OP dealt only with coins and coin books my reply was directed at coins and coin books. Perhaps I should have said coins are for collectors and coin books and for collectors of coins to increase their knowledge of coins but AU didn't think that was totally necessary.

 

Sometimes I will buy a book an a particular series just to see if I am interested enough in the history to bother collecting. If I decide not to collect that particular series I always find someone in my coin club who is willing to buy the book at a discount.

 

I have also used this method of looking at a book to see if the topic interests me. However, since I'm a member of the ANA, I'm able to borrow books without the cost of purchasing. Most of the time, I ended up buying the book, but it was still worth the look. IMO, the library lending service is something that I find very valuable as an ANA member

 

You are on the road to being a numismatist, and not just a coin collector. Yes books can be expensive, not having books can be more expensive. (Most of the books I buy now are $125 each and up and that's NOT for anything special, no leatherbound or special bindings etc. And many of them are for series I don't collect. Most I have paid was $500 for a compilation of articles from a British magazine published in the 1790's. Not an easy book to get your hands on, they only printed 89 copies.)

 

I spent $95 on Roger Burdette's Saints book, but it was invaluable and well worth the $$$. My only peeve was it was NOT in hardcover.

 

A good book on a series you collect is the best money a coin collector will ever spend. It makes the coins you own more special, and gives you great insight into undervalued rarities.

 

A great book. Roger is in my local coin club and he signed my copy of the hardcover.

 

Yup....and this is a 600+ page book....whereas you get 1 page of data and commentary from Bower's DE Red Book, you get anywhere from 6-10 pages on each year/mintmark.

TONS more information !