I want to learn more about US currency and would like some help on which book/s to get. I have 'The official Red Book' which is nice but it does not have any info on mules, not much info on star notes, and no printage numbers. Any suggestions?
For currency - that is - U.S. paper money, this may be a good guide for starting: Whitman Encyclopedia of U.S. Paper Money, Q. David Bowers, ISBN 978-0794827021, Whitman Publishing (c)2009
In addition to the Whitman mentioned above, here's a few more: Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money - 1928-Date by John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist The Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money: All United States Federal Paper Money Since 1812 (Comprehensive Catalog of U S Paper Money) by Gene Hessler U. S. Essay Proof and Specimen Notes, 2nd edition by Gene Hessler The Early Paper Money of America by Eric P. Newman
I've become a fan of Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money. http://www.amazon.com/Standard-Catalog-United-States-Paper/dp/0896897079/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_14 Unlike many other books it gives values for modern notes in grades under CU. Considering the scarcity of some modern issues it can give one a much better idea as to what to hold onto that is found in circulation. Perfect example happened a few weeks ago at work. I was counting the till before closing and spotted a 1996 AH-* note. I was the only one that knew it was a tough note with a printing of only 640,000. This information I garnered from Schwartz and Lundquist. The $45 in XF came from the book I first mentioned. Now that note sits in our display case. A fun thing about paper money is that there is still a lot out there to be found. A few good books can make it even more fun.
Well thank you for the compliment. All I can say to you is be patient, know what you are after and above all, be ready to act on a note that you want. Hesitation often lends itself to someone else beating you to the punch on a Banknote you are after. Patience, selectivity, knowledge, resources and the ability to react are all in my tool box of essentials. Good luck to you. I also use a variety of resources as far as books are concerned as well as many Auction Houses. Keep in mind that PCGS and PMG has an archive of existing notes that they have graded....since it is near impossible to determine how many are left from any given Series so Pop Reports have their place as well. For Large Size, I know Martin Gengerke has the most up to date census if I am not mistaken. RB
does that book do both large and small notes? Also, does it provide information on mule/varieties for most notes? Does it provide print run sizes as well? If so, that sounds exactly like what I want. I have mostly been getting star notes from circulation, but I just started to go to some coin auctions where the buyers are mostly coin buyers with little knowledge of currency. So the handful of notes that show up don't get much interest, while the coins go for multiples of what I would pay. If they don't want the notes I might as well research them and pick them up cheap, and learn in the process. The auction tomorrow has an 1891 $1 silver certificate, a 1923 $1 silver certificate, and a $10 national note from Baltimore. I did most of my research, and know the woods/tate 1923 is worth much more then the other 23s, but any other important things to look out for on these notes?
Not exactly what you want I'm afraid. Takes more than one book to do that. It does include large and small size notes and has a nice cross reference for Friedberg. As for printing figures. NONE and certainly not print run numbers. It's a great book to be used in conjunction with other books. Like coins actually but different variables. Also in comparison to coin books take values with a grain and sometimes block of salt. Full retail. Paper money is just like coins except totally different. It's a matter of retraining your brain while you retain (your coin knowledge). Welcome to paper money!
