Collectible Red Books

I too collect those dumb things. I have all editions and the one with the missing page also. I say dumb because I never use them, just put them on a shelf and there they sit. Ever since the ringed versions came out, those are the only ones I even open. I used to open the first ones to just look and then placed on a shelf. Purchased them all when they first came out so they were cheap back then. I guess when my time comes my son will just take them all and give to the Salvation Army or throw out. He just doesn't like coins.

 

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That is the way you are supposed to do with them if you were worried i would buy 2

 

Thats correct, I still need the specials although I do have a special leather edition from 1997 I believe. As for the other specials I do need them also. Reading one of your earlier posts, #8 I believe, I didnt realize there were so many others until now. As for the first edition you have, how poor is poor? LOL...I'm always interested in obtaining new Red Books. I'll PM you on this subject. Thanks Frank!!!

 

Indianhead:
If you have the 1997 special leather edition it is one of only #500 produced, and was issued (as I remember) at about $39.95.

Current value is more than double that!

[see guys, there is profit in strange places.]

 

I'm afraid that I don't understand the appeal of the Red Books. I do have the one and only one I ever purchased - 1976 - but it, and all the rest, in my opinion, are really full of relatively useless information, lousy pictures and totally out of date price data. Even the newest one published is out of date now.

Just for the information, when were these first published?

 

1947 (1rst ed.) 1st printing


According to my Red Book...

 

1951 I think

 

I totally disagree with you David. I feel the pictures are adequate and the information therein is quite useful, especially to the new collector. As for the prices being out of date, well, everyone knows that....:smile

 

I have to agree. Yes, the prices are not accurate, but there is alot of usefull info for the beginner. I use it too, as not so much of a newb. Mintage figures for example. Also, right off the top of my head I don't know the mint mark location for every series of coins, so that is helpfull too. You can see what years the different series were minted in, or not minted in. And even though you shouldn't use it as a price guide, you can get an idea for which coins are the keys and which coins are common. I'm sure there is other usefull stuff I'm not thinking of right now. But I think a copy of a Redbook is a must have for a new collector of U.S. coins.

 

Ok, I can see buying one copy for basic reference, but what value is the entire series?

 

Collectability Dave. People love to collect.

 

Its like anything else that is collectable, coins, stamps or even books. Some people, myself included, who like to collect sets of coins like to collect this set of books along with the "Blue Book" aka A Handbook of United States Coins" also by R.S. Yeoman. I choose to put together sets like this because of the challenge in it, and believe it or not.....its fun!!

 

Thanks for the info Frank. I believe that its also signed by Ken Bressett, well, I guess all 500 of these are signed by Mr. Bressett. You see, I didnt even know the value was up that high. Frank, how do you find the current values of these books? And did you include the values of different editions in your book at the time of its writing?
Thanks Frank

 

Values are in the back of the current Red Book Kevin. But can you trust the dollar amounts they state? I don't know....you know what they say about the Red Book.:smile

 

My sister gave me a '54 for my birthday , think she would know I was born in '53 .
Anyways I love looking at the old books like even as late as '75 you could pick up a ExF 1909-S-VDB for $150 , of course a dollar was worth a little more then .
rzage

 

Oh ok...Thanks. I havent actually read one for a while. I usually just stick them on my shelf as soon as I get them. I have a few extras that I'll open up from time to time but I never noticed that. As for the values for the Red Books being accurate, I really dont know but I cant imagine they'd change as often (daily) like gold and silver. Lets see if Frank can tell us.

 

I have 59, 61, 62, 64, 65, 70, 79, 83, 90 ad 97 50th anniv. Anything to look for with these?
Also have
Bluebooks: 19th , 20th, 25th silver anniv. ed. and 26th.
Canadian (Blue book? its blue):64 and 65 (13th and 14th ed.) Standard cat. of Canadian coins,tokens and paper money (Charlton)
Paper: A guidebook of Modern US Currency by Shafer 1st and 2nd ed.
Greenbook: 4th ed. Appraising and selling your coins
High profits from rare coin investment: 7th and 12th ed. Q. David Bowers
Major Variety and oddity guide of US coins :Spadone 4th ed.
Brown and Dunn; Guide to grading US coins 4th ed.\
Anything to look for with these?
Thanks, hope I'm not hijacking

 

The series is excellent for research of pricing data over the decades. In addition, if you are a collector of varieties, it provides a historical reference to when varieties became accepted as collectible to the mainstream collectors.

Thanks, Kevin, for asking.
And yes, I have included pricing data, and estimated of existing #'s available for certain special editions, where the data is known.
In adidtion, yes, all #500 of the 1997 special edition, leather were signed by Ken Bressett. In fact, if a copy is found WITHOUT his signature it would be worth a great deal, but, sadly, none are known to exist.

Green:
Sure you can trust the values, however, there are some of them that are too low!
Examples: the 2008 special editions for the ANS and the NLG. there were only #250 and #125 (respectively) that were issued.
Currently they are listed at $800 each, and that may be very low. To date, none of the ANS have been offered for sale, or at auction. No one knows what they may sell for. The NLG were offered at $400 the day after they were distributed, and they were snapped up at that price. Since then, a few have been auctioned, at $800 or better, and one is currently available at $1,000.

 

Noost:
Sorry, but nothing extraordinary here, unless they were signed by R.S. Yeoman, then, it would depend upon the condition.
As for Shafer, only a small premium, if the books are mint (new) condition.

As a side note: I have a copy of Shafer's paper money book (you'll see it in my book) that was bound with pages from the Guide Book! It is also signed by both Yeoman & Shafer. To our knowledge it is unique and until my book is released, has never been seen before.

 

Well what edition came out in 53? The 1954 edition of course.