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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 656551, member: 57463&quot;]&quot;Buy the book before you buy the coin.&quot; -- Aaron Feldman</p><p><br /></p><p>You need to know which books to read.&nbsp; Asking for advice is a start, but realize that &quot;cognitive dissonance&quot; and social ignorance are pitfalls.&nbsp; People only recommend books they have read specifically because they have read them.&nbsp; Their recommendation to you justifies in their own minds the money and time they spent.&nbsp; When I worked at <i>Coin World</i>, one of the books in our reference library had a handwritten note from editor Bill Gibbs never to cite this book because it was unreliable -- even though we published it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore, you need to know which books to read, and the first resource you need is <b>The Numismatic Bibliomania Society.</b>&nbsp; Their website, <a href="http://www.coinbooks.com" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.coinbooks.com" rel="nofollow">www.coinbooks.com</a> will take you to the E-Sylum maillist archives.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Books by Q. David Bowers always come recommnded.&nbsp; If you want great narratives, you might enjoy</p><ul> <li>The Numismatist&#039;s bedside companion (1987) </li> <li>The Numismatist&#039;s fireside companion (1988) </li> <li>The Numismatist&#039;s weekend companion (1992).</li> </ul><p>Dave Bowers has been called &quot;the Dean of American numismatics&quot; because he has written, co-authored or published over 100 books.&nbsp; Dave Bowers currently is working with Whitman Books on their stellar series of outstanding new references that are at once lavish and affordable.</p><p><br /></p><p>Goto <a href="http://www.whitmanbooks.com" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.whitmanbooks.com" rel="nofollow">Whitman Books</a> click on the link to Whitman Books at the left and find the numismatic references.&nbsp; Among those with the strongest narratives -- all nod to pricing; it is what &quot;most people&quot; seem to want -- are these:</p><ul> <li>100 Greatest U.S. Coins - 3rd Edition $29.95</li> <li>100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens $29.95 </li> <li>History of the United States Mint and Its Coinage $19.95</li> <li>Encyclopedia of U.S. Gold Coins 1795-1933 - 2nd Edition $69.95</li> </ul><p><br /></p><p>Whitman just sold out of Bowers&#039; new book <i>Colonial and Early American Coins.</i>&nbsp; That book supplanted the previous standard, Sylvester S. Crosby&#039;s <i>Early Coins of America</i> (1876), reprinted last by Quarterman.</p><p><br /></p><p>Those classic books are the stock in trade of John Burns, Fred Lake and Pete Smith, among a few other numismatic book dealers who bring their wares to conventions.&nbsp; They also have on-going auctions and catalogue sales.&nbsp; </p><p>The Red Book is not a &quot;must.&quot;&nbsp; However, it is ironic that for all the people who own Red Books very few have the attention to detail to notice the <b>Bibliographies</b> of sources in the important headings, such as Gold Dollars, Silver Dollars and Territorial Gold.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Under Silver Dollars, you will find <b><i>The Fantastic 1804 Dollar</i> by Newman and Bressett.</b>&nbsp; Eric P. Newman was president of the American Numismatic Society. Kenneth L. Bressett was president of the American Numismatic Association.&nbsp; You will find no more authoritative and readable narrative about the history of the object that many American collectors consider &quot;The King of Coins.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>The best way to read a lot of books cheap is to join the ANA (<a href="http://www.money.org" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.money.org" rel="nofollow">www.money.org</a>).&nbsp; ANA members can borrow books from the ANA Library for only the cost of shipping and insurance both ways.&nbsp; Right now I have materials on The Wizard of Oz (no kidding: some consider it a numismatic parable).&nbsp; Without the ANA Library, the articles I wrote on The Peace Dollar and Proof Double Eagles would have been impossible.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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