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Message:: [QUOTE="physics-fan3.14, post: 3255351, member: 19165"]Okay! Bust Halves, you need Overton's guide, as mentioned above. Some will say the newer editions aren't as good, but I disagree. Overton is the standard reference. Someone mentioned Souders as well, but I wouldn't buy that unless you really wanted to get into Bust Halves. For early copper, Whitman's guide is by QDB. I haven't read it, but most of QDB's work is high quality. That is going to be a generalist text, but it will give you a good foundation for the series. If you want to dive deep and start looking at varieties, each separate series is going to have its own book. As for Gold - the first book you should buy is the "Encyclopedia of US Gold Coins" by Garrett and Guth. It covers all gold coins minted in the US, and gives you an instant idea of every date and mintmark for all series. It's a hefty work, but they had unprecedented access to the Smithsonian collection, and many of the photographs in this book are from there. I highly recommend this book as a starting place if you are interested in gold.[/QUOTE]