A Guide Book of Barber Silver Coins by Q. David Bowers (Foreword by John Frost). Whitman Publishing, 2019. 386+xiii pages. $29.95. A Guide Book of Lincoln Cents by Q. David Bowers (Foreword by David W. Lange). Whitman Publishing, 2019. 310+x pages. $19.95. A Guide Book of Civil War Tokens: Patriotics, Store Cards, Suttler Tokens, Encased Postage by Q. David Bowers (Foreword by John Ostendorf. Reminiscence by Dr. George Fuld). Whitman Publishing, 2019. 500 + xii pages. $39.95. A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars by Q. David Bowers (Foreword by Adam J. Crum). Whitman Publishing 2019. 310+x pages. $19.95. “Buy the book before you buy the coin,” said Aaron Feldman. The only argument against that is a warning that “the” book does not exist. A serious collector is both money-wise and educated. Even a restricted passion for Morgan Dollars, Civil War Token, Lincoln Cents, or Barber Quarters will bring at least several books to your shelf. Then there are memberships in clubs because it is in the newsletters and journals that the wisdom found in books first blooms. But it starts with books. A good guide book will save you money many times over and it will enrich your enjoyment of your collection with intangible rewards. Over the past 20 years, Whitman has become the premier provider of standard reference books for American numismatics. (They also publish other titles and cover other hobby areas.) Each of the books follows the paradigm of what we all call “the Red Book” but which is formally A Guide Book of United States Coins. The special interest Guide Books give a full page of narrative (sometime two, if warranted) to each Year-Mint issue. The books are also tailored to their specialties. The Lincoln Cent and the Morgan Dollar, in particular, are two different kinds of coins, produced under different regimens, for different needs. And those who collect them are most concerned with different details. For each Morgan Dollar Year-Mint issue, you will find a Key to Collecting Circulation Strikes, hints on Surface Quality, a discussion of Proof-like coins (if known), a synopsis of the Mintage dies and die pairs, and the geographic distribution (if relevant). Each page also includes a summary of known Die Varieties, albeit the most common. Then, for each Year-Mint issue, are two bars of prices by grades and summaries of certified populations by grade. For each Lincoln Cent Year-Mint issue, you will find a Key to Collecting, a one-line description of Striking and Sharpness, a line about Proofs or Matte Proofs (where relevant), a paragraph about their Numismatic context (if applicable), and other mainstream news or other relevant miscellany about that particular Year-Mint issue. The pricing is presented as relevant to the coin, with G-4 prices for the early dates and Very Fine for the middle years, and Proof only for the latest. For the Barber coins, the first half of the book is dominated by the historical context. For each year to 1916, there is a summary of the Current Events and a discussion of the Numismatic Scene. For each Year-Mint issue, the page presents the Availability of Mint State, the Availability in Circulated Grades, Characteristics of Striking, and Availability in Proof Formats. The pricing lines are for both Circulated grades and Proofs. Civil War Tokens are a broad specialty with two generations of scholarship by Melvin Fuld (1901-1987) and George Fuld (1932-2013). Their first book on Civil War Tokens was published by Whitman in 1960. The Civil War Token Society (http://www.cwtsociety.com) was founded in 1967. But they are not the only club that studies these. The national-level Token and Medal Society (http://www.tokenandmedal.org) and the state-levels TAM clubs also pursue CWTs with great interest. Therefore, the Whitman book should be viewed as the introductory textbook to this complex field of study. It is here that Aaron Feldman’s maxim pays the most dividends because you need a book to guide you through the books that guide you through the coins. CWTs were mass produced in an open market. Hundreds of types and thousands of varieties are known. New ones are still being discovered as the occasional survivor of a local issue comes to the attention of a knowledgeable numismatist. Broadly, token makers offered obverses and reverses. Obverses tended to be stock images of Liberty, Indians, “Army / Navy”, or other easy icons. Reverses tended to identify the issuer, especially for “store cards” which were given out as change because all money in gold, silver, and copper went into hiding during the war. But stock reverses also exist, especially for “patriotics,” tokens that were otherwise anonymous. Therefore, from the obverses and reverses offered by any one machine shop, dozens of matings were possible. And those days, machine shops served local markets. So, any obverse or reverse or combination popular in one place was easily replicated (somewhat differently) in another. Suttlers were merchants who sold to the military. Sometimes they were camp followers (with all that the phrase means) and sometimes they were attached to a fort. They issued their own ad hoc currencies. And then there are encased postage stamps. It was not just during the American Civil War that postage stamps served as small change, but it likely began there. Of course, they do not stand up well to circulation, so holders (cases) were invented. Typically, the front was a mica inlay that let you see the stamp and the back gave the advertising message of the issuer. Clearly, CWTs invite a deep dive by the obsessive collector. These four books indicate the depth and breadth of the Whitman “Official Red Book” series. You can tell by the page count and the pricing that these are intended for collectors who value a good bargain. The full color illustrations, glossy pages, and sturdy binding make these books to work from and work with.
The real question is how much new material is in these books? Or did they just update prices? None of these books are "new" they are new editions of existing books. If you want the information and don't need the new prices (which are transitory anyway) the older editions can give you most of the same information for less (I'm either frugal or cheap, you decide which). If you look the first edition of the Barber book can be had for $14. Lincoln cents first edition for $6, second for $11, civil war tokens 1st for $23, second for $24, and the current third for $28, the Morgan book 2nd for $7, 3rd for $11, 4th for $17, 5th for $34(?), and sixth for $18 (If you want the 6th just buy it from Whitman)
