The Red Book is the standard reference today, but it was preceded by The Blue Book. Ken Bressett was first listed on the cover in 1957 but had been working as an editor at Whitman before that. In these page are the stories of Lee Hewitt, Glenn Smedley, Abe Kosoff, Q. David Bowers (of course), Waite Raymond (of course), and many others who made the hobby and whose careers intersected this cornerstone of numismatic knowledge for those who pursue American coins. The book just arrived today. I don't know if I want to read it as fast as I can or read it outloud.
I have a copy coming, some day Ken is a great writer, and a great person to meet. If you attend the ANA [I'm not going this year-- too chicken] stop by Whitman and say hello.
I visited with Whitman on the bourse floor two years ago in Chicago. I met Ken way back in 1996 in Cleveland. This is going to be a tough book to review. There's lot in here. It's like a history of US numismatics from 1940 to 2000.
Few people know it today, but Richard Yeoman also wrote an excellent article on the 1848 "CAL." $2.50 gold circa 1949. It was the "gold standard" for the subject many years. I am looking forward to buying this book in the not too far distant future.
