What is your favorite Numismatic Reference Book

Doug:
Sounds like you have some great ones there.
Have you collected the Wayte Raymond momographs written by, among others, Walter Breen?

There is also Wayte raymond's "Coin Collector's Journal" issed monthly, and then bound for the year.
I only have one of those, the Vol. VII, Jan 1940 to Dec 1940. Nice thick book. Sorry to say that mine is in mint condition, so I hate to open it and love to keep my new books new.

How about "The Fantastic 1804 Dollar" book by Newman & Bressett.
As the story goes, Newman & Bressett wrote the book, sent it to the printers and then went to the ANA show that year. [1962]
While there, the first ever appearance of the King Of Siam set was shown and changed history.
This, of course changed the entire tenor of the book, since the authors had one chapter relating how the Diplomatic Gifts theory was bogus.

Accordingly, per Ken Bressett, they literally called the printers with a "halt the presses!"

Returning home, they re-wrote two chapter and reordered two of them.
The original printings were saved, about 12 copies, and bound. Ken gave them out as souveniers to some contributors.

I recently was able to obtain a copy of this 'rare' book, in mint condition, signed by Ken Bressett.

That is probably my rarest, non-error printing, book.

And one that I am very proud of.

 

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I guess that's like collecting vintage wines or unopened rolls of coins, but as a practical matter to me it makes them useless for their intended purpose (unless, of course, you have a second copy to actually consult).

 

wow, thats a keeper for certain. One of my prized pieces of literature, which was purchased as a gift for me, is an 1860 ( first ever printed in this country) 4 page Prices Realized on 801 lots. Another friend of mine, is my original, first printing of Crosby's The Early Coins Of America ( 1875) and many other rarities, catalogues of the Harry Bass sales, who was a close
personal friend for the Twenty years I resided in Dallas, Texas.



AKA...auction publication pack rat.

 

Doug:
Thank you, I have been searching for one for (literally) years.

I had always hoped to find one in that old fashioned way-- a cherrypick of a book.

Alas, it wasn't to be.

But, I have to find a way to take care of it now.

 

I have "The Numismatist" complete year 1908. nicely bound. Oh the goings on in 1908!

I just pulled that out again the other evening for reference on an auction that took place and researching for a post I will be presenting here when I am completed.

 

I have read a wide range of books, but my favorite and best overall is The Expert's Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins: Secrets Of Success by Bowers. It is a very comprehensive book and I have learned a lot from his experiences and stories. There are times he is long winded and a bit arrogant, but the material and insight is very good. He definitely knows what he is talking about. He also has a very good book on Morgan silver dollars (Wittman). I would buy more books from Bowers to get a solid numistmatic education.

Travers' books are also very good on grading and counterfeit detection. His material for the most part is very interesting. However, several of this books have the same material but written in different chapters or sections.

Naive or simple, Coin Collecting for Dummies is pretty darn good and entertaining reading.

 

Without a doubt my favorite is the Redbook. :thumb::thumb::thumb:

It's cheap and has a wealth of information. I refer to it at least a few times each week as it's much faster to flip through than to search on the Internet for things like mintages and general price information. Sure, the prices aren't spot on, but it gives you an idea of whether a coin will be $20 or $1000. Also, take it with me to every show as a basic guide in case I run into something I like that I'm not very familiar with (maybe someday I'll get Internet to work on my phone instead). I buy a new one every couple of years as I use them enough that they start to get pretty worn out.

 

I agree with the Red Book being your overall handy guide. That book with the ANA grading standards and the Grey Sheet is a noce combination.

The illustrated book on the 50 greatest US coins was also very interesting too. The illustrations are beautiful.

 

For general reference on US coins my favorite in the 1990 edition of the Coin World Almanac. It has almost everything that the Redbook does and much more.