Hiya guys....I've been looking for a big encyclopedia or desk reference for U.S. and world coins and currency. Looking for info not so much about the value of the items, but rather the history and design concept, release history et cetera. Any recommendations for some decent paperback encyclopedias that would give me the low-down, be useful to look things up and provide more info than just the price and whose initials are on it? Not looking to spend 70 bucks on a single book, but would love some suggestions....or if anybody has some books they would want to part with, drop me a line. Hope y'all all have a great weekend! :high5: --Manic
Here's an Amozon link - a 2002 Krause World Coins reference - pretty much THE BIBLE. Shipped to your door for less than $20. If you want more recent and I don't really know why you would need that if you're not concerned about valuations - then you'll have to pay more. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/08...ls?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1266478968&sr=8-45&seller=
Atlanta is a big city and I am sure you'll find all kinds of great numismatic books in the reference section of your city library. Try them before you buy them! :kewl:
Well, you get what you pay for but an old Krause Cat. Well, you get what you pay for but an old Krause Cat. would be a good cheap overview of the coins side of it, no paper in it though. It really depends what you are wanting to know and how far you want to get into it. The internet can answer most of your questions and look up just about anything but let me leave you with one little piece of advice. No one, and I mean no one has ever complained about having to many reference books or what they had to pay for them if they used them well. I have books that costs $250, $100, $35, and under $20, I have dozens of auction catologs that normally retail for $50 or more, many you can get (at least once) by just sending in a request. The DEAN of Numismatics Mr. Bowers has wrote extensivly about the value of books. In fact books (for me) are not the best written material regarding coins that you can obtain but subscribing to Coin World, Numismatic News each week is. It's there every week and with several years of weekly reading gets you familar with everthing, pricing, rarities, who, what, when - it's the very best IMO. But who konws what you want to gleam out of all this, at little, enough to get by, or a life chainging hobby - it's up to you!!!
If you just like nice pics and some history on coins, I'd suggest auction catalogs. I order about a dozen a year and have never paid a cent for any of them. If you subscribe to Coin World look for the Heritage ads and they give you a code to use to receive free catalogs. When you use them it first says the codes are only good for certain ones, but if you plug it into the others it isn't good for, it still works. But be forwarned, the catalogs will eventually get the best of you and next thing you know you'll be bidding on all sorts of things. Guy~
Good point, Since there are alot of books out there to choose From, Do a test drive always the smart move:high5:
Real shame your so far from Illinois. At two of the many coin shows I go to there is a dealer that has many, many books. I've seen some on his table almost a foot thick on world coins. I didn't ask how much or the names of any of them since I don't collect foreign coins but his prices are really rock bottom. Example is I get my Red Books from him every year for $10 for either the hard cover or the ringed versions. Not really sure that those world ones are really a foot thick but they are large enough I wouldn't want to carry one around. Check out coin shows in your area. You might find a similar situation.
IMO the best is Krause World Coins in PDF format, I can scan through real easy with bookmarks on the laptop and look up anything in seconds. I currently have the 2009 SCWC 1901-2000 and 2010 SCWC 1801-1900. I just love the PDF format.
