Coin Collector Books

For a good book (and hardbound) $100 is average to cheap. Most of the books I buy cost that much or more. And many of those books are for series I don't even collect. I have a few that are in the $500 range. No books are not cheap, but I have never regretted buying my library.

 

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True story. My first "good" coin book I bought was WB on SL halves. Paid $85 for it 20+ years ago. I got it, read completely through it, and basically memorized it. In the next 6 months I went to every coin show I could, and I picked up 6 major double dies the book listed but no one else knew about. Its the "7 finger" 1858. Just remembering that ONE doubled die from the book paid for itself many times over. Another story, I was just perusing a Roman coin book once, not for any particular reason, just pleasure. A month later I saw an auction of "junk" byzantine coins and something caught my eye. There was an Ostrogothic bronze in this lot, and I only recognized it because of that book. I got the lot of 40 coins for $45, and the Ostrogoth alone is hundreds of dollars.

These are just a couple of examples I remember, but even they are not important. How much is your enjoyment in this hobby worth to you? Don't you realize that books allow you to have more enjoyment for coins you ALREADY OWN? I can own a bronze of Augustus, ok its kind of cool. Now, I open up a book and read that this is a sestertius of Augustus, a bronze denomination he invented. He invented it, but didn't make very many different types. Not only that, but this is a much scarcer type than normal. That same coin just became MUCH more interesting to me, and my enjoyment per dollar spent on the coin just went up tremendously. Therefor, for every dollar I spend on coins I now get much more "coin happiness". Make sense?

 

Very good post - they should read it twice.

And one book alone netted me enough to pay for all the books in my collection and still buy some coins. The cherry pickers guide on one coin netted me (after costs) close to $1200 dollars. Books are your friends and can make this hobby much more enjoyable when you find a rarity like this.

 

So true, I sold some of my lower grade CBHs but kept one as it was an R3 variety...w/o the book I would have never known about it.

 

Guys I understand but...looking at the TOC made me 100% sure I was not going to spend $100 on a book like that. I have a bunch of books I have bought over the years but a $100 is a nice coin for me to add to my collection.

 

I think I may in fact by a book collector at this point. I have spent more this year on books/auction catalogs than I have on coins. I'll beat the dead horse, good specialist books pay for themselves, and quickly. The additional value they add to your collection by increasing your appreciation for coins you already own as described by Medoraman is just gravy, very very nice grave...

 

I will beat a dead horse one last time, (poor horse). I would say someone who pays attention to important books in his/her field and owns the ones important to them are numismatists. Anyone who considers books, (and by extension in depth knowledge), to be less important than coins to be a coin collector. Nothing wrong with being either, but I do believe there is a distinct difference.

The one caveat I would make would be sometimes there ISN'T a good book in a field. In that case the numismatist might simply be investigating the field himself, making notes himself, and these are the people who WRITE the books that others read. I might say Paul, (Lehigh) or Morgandude in regards to toned coins might be in this category.

 

Well I checked and there are none in stock for under $200......I understand that I should get it and I might if I could see it beforehand, but not blindly.

 

The author will not re-print this book. The copies out there are the only ones available and limited supply v demand sets the price. If you collect Kennedy varieties and you can find this book for $100 in mint condition, it would be $100 well spent.

I have seen this book sell for $250 online and even at this level it may save you money from buying miss attributed coins in NGC or PCGS holders.

EDITED TO ADD: I have a few pictures in the set linked below that might help with a few of the different varieties but no where near as comprehensive as Wiles' book.

http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/showcase.aspx?sc=1165

 

I guess I will keep my eye out for it then. I would sure like to 'see' one first though.

 

Are you a member of the ANA or CONECA? If so, both orginizations have Libraries that you can check the book out for a time period, all it cost is postage.

 

Or you can usually borrow it from your local library through the interlibrary loan program.

 

That is what I will try

 

Well that did not work, looked it up online and one in the state had it, sent the wife to the library and they said they would try. Came back as a no go now....Maybe I can borrow one somewhere someday. I would like to check it out for sure. I wonder why they will not reprint it? If that is the case then it needs updated and a new title for it.

 

If you just want to borrow Wiles' book on the Kennedy Half Dollar, the ANA or CONECA library(s) will loan to members. edited

 

Buy? Maybe but I would like to see it first to see just what is in it. How much is it to join the ANA?

 

http://www.money.org/membership/join-the-ana/membership-rates.aspx

You can navigate from the link above...

 

http://www.money.org/explore-the-world-of-money/library.aspx

Here is another link

 

Thanks. I might just do this....how is the magazine?


I just joined....

 

The magazine is .............. It covers all aspects ...... paper money to world coins. To me sometimes it covers world coins too much but that is just me...