I looked at the Numismatic References discussion board here on CoinTalk but it didn't seem to reference early US dimes. So doing a Google search I came up with this: Early United States Dimes, 1796-1837: A Reference Book of Their Types, Varieties, and Rarity Hardcover – September 1, 1984 by David Davis (Author), Allen Lovejoy (Author), William Subjack (Author) Is this the definitive reference? Is 1984 the latest edition? I'm looking particularly at Capped Bust Dimes, Variety 2 (1828-1837).
Slightly off-topic. I mis-remembered (or grabbed an alternative fact), but here's the book for half-dimes, for the benefit of other CT-er's who are collecting early 19th Century silver, maybe the OP too. Hardcover Publisher: Quarterman,, Lawrence, 1975 273 pages, green cloth, dust jacket.shrink wrapped New. The Quarterman reprint with additional material by Ahwash, Breen, Davis, Neil and Newlin. (COINS, NUMISMATICS) $32.25 listed at www.bookfinder.com under: author=Valentine | title=dime
I prefer Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837 by Russell Logan and John McCloskey, 1998. But it is more expensive; $100 if I recall correctly.
That is the only edition and for a long time it was the definitive reference. There is currently another book out which is much easier to acquire, Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide by Winston Zack Lois Scuderi and Michael Sherrill Cost is around $50. It works well, has good color images on heavy glossy paper. It is spiral bound card covers in an 8 1/2 X 5 1/2 format. Both books are quite good, but I would give the nod to the new book due to the better images and greater availablity. (Until the new book came out the old book was very difficult to find and sold in the $300 - $400 range. It is still hard to find but is now in the $75 range because the new book has lowered demand.) As far as the half dimes go, forget the Valentine reprint and go with the Federal Half Dimes book, much easier to use, better and larger images. (The Valentine reprint used halftones and actual size images.) Still being out of print for 20 years it is hard to find and would greatly benefit from a new edition with even better images. Publishing technology has improved a lot since it was first published.
Actually I already have the Early United States Dimes, 1796-1837: A Reference Book of Their Types, Varieties, and Rarity book. But newer publications generally have updated information. So I'm getting the Bust Dime Variety Identification Guide book And I have Federal Half Dimes 1792-1837. But also have the Valentine half dime book. My library, although not large, contains books on series that I collect. One big problem for me is that Snow keeps updating his FE & IHC guide BUT doesn't issue pages to update the 3-ring binder. To get all of the updates I'd have to get all the back issues of his magazine OR buy the current hard cover version of his book. And since it's a work in progress that too will be out of date in a few years.
