early half dollars die varieties Al C Overton/Don Parsley

jesbroken · November 17, 2015 1:27AM

Does the 4th and 5th edition of "early half dollars die varieties" offer enough new
information to warrant purchasing the books or is the 3rd
edition sufficient? Also, exactly what is the additional info
contained in the "Revised Edition"? I love numismatic information
and have a library that I utilize regularly, but do not wish to
purchase books only to cover the same information as in previous
editions without major updates.
Thanks
Jim

LanLord · November 17, 2015 2:00AM

5th edition is good, does some updates in R#s and so forth.

I'd avoid the 4th edition, too many errors.

I think the 3rd edition is still the one that most people know and trust.

I have both 3rd and 5th, and generally like the 5th.

jesbroken · November 17, 2015 3:18AM

Thanks LL. I've heard of issues with the 4th edition several times.
Apreciate your response.
Jim

Hydrant · November 19, 2015 1:33AM

Steve Tompkins upcoming contribution will be revolutionary.

Nysoto · November 19, 2015 1:53AM

The 5th edition has all of the current known die marriages, the 3rd and 4th do not. The new discoveries are with the flowing hair and draped bust varieties, as all of the capped varieties were discovered before the 3rd edition. So if one only collects capped bust halves, the 3rd edition works well, knowing that current JRCS rarity ratings should be used, rather that the book. For the 1794-1807 half dollars - buy the Tompkins book, it is far better. As mentioned by Hydrant, the upcoming books on the capped series by Tompkins will replace the Overton/Parsley books as the standard reference.

lkeigwin · November 19, 2015 2:01AM

All versions have errors. And the errata list is just as large for version 3 as 4. Rutherford's site lists them.

Version 3 has slightly better photos but not substantially.

Version 5 has higher quality paper and some of the text has been abridged so it is a thinner book. Photos are unchanged. Parsley did not include all the errors documented by the BHNC, unfortunately.

I spent the time to correct all the known errors in my volume 4 and don't refer to 3 or 5 much at all.

For pre-turbs use Tompkins' book. It is so much better in every way.

Lance.

early half dollars die varieties Al C Overton/Don Parsley

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