I'm interested in the definitive books/guides for: -- Liberty Seated Dimes -- Liberty Seated Quarters -- Liberty Seated Half Dollars By "definitive" I mean an "in depth" coverage of varieties. Sort of like Overton with Capped Bust Half Dollars or Tompkins with Early Quarters. I did a quick search and found some online sites. Liberty Seated Dime varieties by Gerry Fortin was one. But I would prefer books/guides. Here's a few that I found: -- The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Dimes - Brian Greer -- The Authoritative Reference on Liberty Seated Quarters - Kevin Flynn -- The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars - Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert Are these the best? The Seated Half one appears to be expensive.
I rely on Gerry Fortin and Kevin Flynn references quite offten. You may want to research out of print text. Which are most always high dollar. I love to have an L&M reference on half dimes....I seldom see them for sale,and when I do they are high. And I'll agree some new references material on the seated series would be great. There are plenty of varieties in that series as well some of our best designed coinage.
I've got Federal Half Dimes, the Logan McCloskey book. Looking to get some "in depth" guides for the other Seated Liberty issues.
Yeah Kanga that's what I'm looking for...but must admit since its hard to find my hunt has been off and on. I do like Flynns books I have several,and they proven their worth many times over!
The seated half dollar book has been greatly expanded with several books created based on mint. The current one available is Philadelphia 1839-1853 I think. check Dick Osburn Coins for more info.
I forgot to add that the previous books are online at the Liberty Seated Collector Site. Just go to online reference and they are available in pdf.
For seated half dime the standard references are United States half Dimes by Daniel Valentine and The Complete Guide to Seated Half Dimes by Al Blythe. Of the two I would recommend the Blythe book. Neither one is great but Blyhe is easier to use. Dimes Fortin's on-line book is the best thing going, Greer's book is next and then Kamal Ahwash's book. Twenty cent pieces would be Double Dimes The United States twenty Cent Piece by Lane Brunner and John Frost. Quarters would be Thhe Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Liberty Seated Quarters by Larry Briggs. It is also about the only thing out there. Half dollars, by far the best of the books by William Bugart. They greatly supersede The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars by Wiley and Bugart. the complete guide just listed a few of the best known varieties for each date and mint, his later books cover each mint individually and list every known variety. Dollars would be A Register of Seated Liberty Dollar Varieties bu Dick Osborn and Brian Cushing. It is available online or as a printed book. Kevin Flynn has also just announce the availability of the second edition of his book The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Dollars. About the only thing I know for Trade dollars is The United States Trade Dollar: Americas Only Unwanted, Unhonored Coin by John Willem and it isn't really a book on varieties. I would also recommend the collected volumes of the Gobrechet Journal. There are five volumes, I don't believe they have ever published Volume six and they have enough material for volume seven by now.
"For seated half dime the standard references are United States half Dimes by Daniel Valentine and The Complete Guide to Seated Half Dimes by Al Blythe. Of the two I would recommend the Blythe book. Neither one is great but Blyhe is easier to use" I have a Valentine and yes if you're a novice and have no knowlege of the series the book will be pretty much useless for you. Given the time and some good specimens to attribute one can learn. Unlike other references the images or should say lack of good images makes it difficult to get a grip on what is being described. Of course it a reference book that is easy to find a copy even though like others on this series is out of print. I've had mine for years now but was it of print when I obtained it still new with plastic wrap on the book. Which just proves it's not that high on demand. As for the L & M and Blythe books hopefully one day they too will be in my reference libary.
The problem I had with my Valentine was it used either actual size or maybe 1.5 times actual size halftone images for the plates. Too small, poor quality and any attempts to enlarge just turned them into a bunch of dots.
