Best Guide Books for U.S. Currency ??

GoldFinger1969

I have the 9th Edition of the STANDARD GUIDE TO SMALL SIZE US PAPER MONEY and the 27th Edition of The STANDARD CATALOG OF UNITED STATES PAPER MONEY. I must have bought them both about 10-12 years ago...maybe longer (friend who's been into currency and bill collecting recommended them when she got me into paper collecting ).

Are these still a good/must have pair ? Does it pay to update them both ?

I ask because I also see good reviews for the Whitman Red Book A GUIDE BOOK OF UNITED STATES PAPER MONEY. Maybe some of you have other sources, too.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Steve_in_Tampa

Both are excellent guide books for your numismatic library. The SGSSPM only had a 10th edition printed, so 9th is fine and what I own. The SCUSPM is on its 35th edition and gets updated every couple of years. I’m still using the 19th edition. I don’t recommend the Red Book because of its lack of detail.

I use these guides primarily for their detailed information and the prices are secondary. Most serious collectors use Track and Price or research auction results for current pricing. There are specialty guides available for almost every category of paper money so knowing what genre of paper money collecting interests you would help with the recommendation.

element159

I have the 10th (last) of the first, and the 14th of the second. I plan on keeping these books for a long time. Prices are not the important information most of the time.

GoldFinger1969

Is the Whitman Red Book good for interesting information and story-telling on specific bills or series ? That's been my experience with the Double Eagle and MSD books.....I don't have them for pricing or even accurate pop census, but a Big Picture on every year's coin struck plus the stories that the author (Bowers) tells in chapters every now-and-then.

Like that story about the Gold Certificates (or some other rare bill) where they threw them out of the office during
a fire in Washington, DC -- I thought that was interesting. That was in one of the two books I listed above that I own (can't remember which one).

I thought maybe the Whitman Currency Red Book had a similar format.

coinkat

It might depend on what you collect…collecting small size nationals may not require either

asheland

My primary collecting is fractionals, so there’s one by Kravitz for that, but because I collect other notes as well, this is my favorite book, and it’s the most recent edition:

GoldFinger1969

I just realized I DON'T have any books by the Friedbergs.

So I guess that's next on my list...I guess I should avoid complete duplication with what I have (or if I buy newer editions for both books I listed above) and try and get something that adds new material or resources to my currency library.

Any suggestions for an Arthur L. and Ira S. book ? They seem to have several out there. I'm a beginner-to-intermediate currency collector, FWIW.

TxCollector

I would just go with the one that @Asheland is showing above.

GoldFinger1969

I definitely need something by the Friedbergs, I have nothing right now.

I'm just wondering why my friend, who was big into currency, would not have recommended their book 15 years ago when I got started. They had me buy the 2 books above which I guess covered everything and probably overlapped with lots of stuff from Ira and Arthur.

What's interesting is there are more Currency "Bibles" than it seems for coins, where it is basically The Red Book. Seems like there are multiple currency "must-reads" even though fewer people collect bills.

Am I right ?

Serial_no_8

Seems like there are multiple currency "must-reads" even though fewer people collect bills. Am I right ?

Depends on how serious (deep) you wish to get into paper. @Steve_in_Tampa suggests to use your catalogue as a reference & this would suggest taking some of the Book Values ( BV ) with a grain of salt since they're dated the moment these books are published. But they show the # issued & other facts which serious collectors like to chase. IMO: they're indispensable if you like the hobby like many of us here do.

I replace my Charlton (for Bank of Canada banknotes) once every 5-7 years (& no more often than that) & each time I do I marvel how little the info changes. When I started collecting there were no catalogues & when they first came out I always bought 2-4 year old catalogues heavily discounted. I buy books/supplies at shows (& LCS) so I skip the high postage payments.

Here's an eBay link to Paper Money of the United States. It has 53 results so there's lots out there.

GoldFinger1969

@Steve_in_Tampa said:
The SGSSPM only had a 10th edition printed, so 9th is fine and what I own. The SCUSPM is on its 35th edition and >gets updated every couple of years.

Steve, unless I have an Amazon glitch....I see nothing newer than that 10th Edition for the SG SSPM which goes back to about 2011 or so....but more amazingly....NOTHING newer than that 35th Edition for the SC of USPM -- which is 2016 !!??

Could they have done a new issue EVERY year from 2008-16...and NONE since ?

GoldFinger1969

I just found out that Krause, which put out both books, went under about 8-10 years ago . Hence why no updates for either book.

Oh well, I needed a Friedberg source anyway.