Richard S. Yeoman or R. S. Yeoman (born Richard S. Yeo on August 15, 1904 in Racine, Wisconsin) was a commercial artist, publicist, avid coin collector, and creative genius who helped to revolutionize and promote the field of numismatics. During the Depression, Richard S. Yeo - who later used "Yeoman" as a professional and pen name, took a job in the marketing and advertising department of Whitman Publishing Company. At that time, the hobby attracted only a small number of professionals and academicians, who had no easy way to store or display their coins. Coins often were laid flat in a drawer or dumped into an envelope. Later in 1930's Richard Yeo was asked to promote a large coin board that Whitman had acquired from an inventor. The boards Whitman produced (and first sold in the Chicago area) were large enough for framing but difficult to store. That prompted Yeoman to work on a new design, and by 1940, had designed a 5.75 by 7.5 inch blue coin folder, which was convenient to use and also protected the coins. In an interview in 1978, Yeoman reminisced, "Our product wasn't an instant success with everyone, some Chicago dealers in the early 1940s would snicker when I came in with the folder, saying people didn't learn anything by using it." But those dealers soon realized that folder sales helped to pay their rent. This blue fold-out model (The Whitman Folder) continued to catch on during the 1950's and 1960's was sold in many neighborhood drug stores across the U.S. I believe that these inexpensive Whitman Folders provided a launching pad for many young collectors in the 1950's and 1960's. Variations of that folder are still used and sold today. In late 1946, Yeoman wrote "A Guide Book of United States Coins (1st Edition 1947)" -- also known as the "Red Book" due to it's bright red cover. This book has become the most widely distributed coin book ever published, which has sold over 21 million copies since it was first published in 1946. Today, many coin historians acknowledge that the Whitman Folder and "Red Book" have done more than almost anything else to make coin collecting one of the country's more popular hobbies. Yeoman remained active until the end, serving as a consultant to Whitman and visiting selected coin conventions. He won all of the hobby's highest awards, and was praised for his sincerity, generosity and organizational ability. R. S. Yeoman retired in 1970, and his assistant, Kenneth Bressett, remains the editor of the Blue Book and Red Book. Yeoman (with Bressett) is still listed as the author of each edition of the books. R.S Yeoman died while driving a car near his retirement home in Tucson, Ariz on November 9, 1988. He was 84 years old. Early editions of the "Red Book" are collectible. Original copies of the first edition have commanded $1,500 or more on the open market. I recently bought a reprint of the original 1947 Redbook on Amazon for $17.95 -- and the first thing I noticed was there are no mintages given for any coin in this first edition, just market prices. It's interesting how we as collectors have come to rely on mintage numbers (at least I do) and their omission in this first edition seems very strange. The second amazing thing were the prices themselves. I was blown away by the incredibly low market prices of some numismatic rarities in the year 1947. Wow! Here are a few samples: 1792 Half Disme (1947 Redbook $100 in Fine) (2012 Redbook $40,000 in Fine) 1793 Chain Cent (1947 Redbook $125 in Fine) (2012 Redbook $28,000 in Fine) 1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar (1947 Redbook $35 in Very Fine) (2012 Redbook $5,500 in Very Fine) 1795 Ten Dollar Gold (1947 Redbook $200 in Uncirculated) (2012 Redbook $90,000 in Uncirculated) 1895 Morgan Proof (1947 Redbook $35 in Proof) (2012 Redbook $45,000 in Proof) 1907 Ten Dollar Gold Rolled Edge with Periods (1947 Redbook $100 in Uncirculated) (2012 Redbook $72,500 in Uncirculated) 1909 VDB Matte Proof Lincoln (1947 Redbook $6 in Proof) (2012 Redbook $2,750 in Proof)
I have a bluebook from the early 60's. The rarities have clearly hyper appreciated, even if you allow for 65 years. However, I think they are now done. A million + coin will not likely perform as an investment....or likely really any coin ( except maybe bullion) , in the future. We don't really have the collector base anymore with all the Chinese high quality fakes.
Are you sure the mintages aren't there? Check in the back of the book. That's where they are in my 1948 edition. (Haven't seen my 47 edition is some time so I can't check it.) Growth rates for the coins listed 1792 half disme 10% per annum 1793 chain cent 8.5% 1795 dollar ~8.5% 1795 eagle ~11% 1895 proof dollar ~11.5% 1907 eagle ~10.8% 1909 VDB proof ~10% Not bad rates of return Better than the official inflation rate of about 3.1%, even better than the more realistic unofficial rate of around 5.8%
That's true and POG @ USD$43./ozt in 1947 and $1,531./ozt in 2011 illustrates the appreciation also, for your backward-looking 'select' dates. But were THOSE seen as the rarest coins in 1947? For coinflation (numismatic premium) it would be more informative to see a weighted average by a) popluation and b) price of the 'Top 50 in 1947' ... still impressive I'd bet, but not so astronomical (on average) as these cherry-picked examples. Which coins could typical collectors reasonably find back in 1947? (Say, of the 'Top 100' favorites of the day, #s 51 -100 on the list.) Is the average or median lower-mid US rare UNC of 1947 Redbook now worth about $4,000 - 5,000 today... 2x - 3x POG? Or how much higher?
Interesting comparison with the price of gold. The return for gold was about 5.5% per annum. You have me curious about the return on some of the "lesser" coins. I don't have the 47 rebook or the 2012 but I do have the 48 and 2006. Lincolns 09SVDB F $10 $675 7.5% per annum 09SVDB UNC $16.5 $1200 7.8% 09S F $1 $90 8.1% 09S unc $4 $250 7.4% 14D F $4.5 $250 7.4% 14D UNC $15 $1500 8.2% 31S F $.75 $65 8.1% 31S UNC $1.5 $95 7.4% 11D F $.35 $8 5.9% 11D UNC $2.5 $90 7.5% VNICKELS 1885 F $12.5 $650 7.2% 1885 UNC $22.5 $1350 7.4% 1886 F $4 $340 8.2% 1886 UNC $8 $1000 9% 1912S F $5.5 $225 6.5 1912S UNC $30 1400 7% 1889 F $1.10 $20 5.3% 1889 UNC $3 $150 7.3%
I have an original copy of the 1948 "second printing" that I cherish. The preface reads "The wide acceptance of the first edition of the GUIDE BOOK OF UNITED STATES COINS far exceeded our fondest dreams. The response was so great in fact, that a second printing was necessary three months after publication. We feel justly proud of this achievement and hope that this, the second edition, will justify the continued confidence of our readers". Copyright date is still 1947. I bought this book at a local used book sale about 10 years ago for $1.00...Ray
