Anyone remember as a kid reading the Red Book or Blue Book from cover to cover over and over again?
braddick
Posts: 25,000 ✭✭✭✭✭
I do!
I used to look forward to the new addition each year.
I was perusing eBay and stumbled upon this little time capsule. I had to purchase it!
What are your fondest memories of these books?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1964-RS-YEOMAN-BLUE-HANDBOOK-OF-US-COINS-20-FIRST-EDITION/283424879348?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
4
Comments
Yep. When I had more free time when I was in elementary school. My red book basically fell apart
. Gotta focus more on school now I’m in high school but do look though from time to time.
Collector
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Oh yes......They were like 'dream' books......
I remember looking at the pictures with a magnifying glass
I don’t know about cover to cover but the first red book I had access to as a kid was a 1982 one. I definitely flipped through it many times wishing I could have this or that. I never imagined I’d be in a position to actually own many of the things I wished for back then. I’ve been blessed in my life.
Like the old Sears wish book Christmas catalogs...
Yes, I remember, as a kid, wishing for a Gobrecht Dollar, a Draped Bust Dollar and some Proof Classic Gold with black mirrored fields and frosty devices!
I still wish for that!! 
Sometimes, it’s better to be LUCKY than good. 🍀 🍺👍
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i remember looking at bust coins and thinking only millionaires had coins like that
When I was 12 or 13 I could probably quote just about any mintage or price of any coin in the redbook. It was my sears Christmas catalogue all year long!
Absolutely. Just wish the prices were the same.
Yes-many years ago. It was the 1962 edition followed by ten or so more.
The first coin book I had was the 1969 Blue Book.
It actually fell apart from use.
At the time I didn't understand about mintage rarity (or accuracy) vs. demand.....I saw the puny mintages of some of the $2.50 Liberty gold pieces (1881, 1885 etc.) and figured I could possibly own one at some point in the distant future.....
I don't think there was much price differential noted between those low mintage dates and the more abundant dates.
Of course I didn't understand then that just because a price was printed in a prestigious book that is was accurate or was likely to actually change hands at the printed price.
2010 was my first redbook. I still have it and it’s worn down to probably a VG grade
It really is the best book for a new collector and it’s shocking how much information fits in those ~300 pages
No but I remember reading The Exorcist and it scared the living bejesus out of me.....
Bedroom to Bathroom. My 9th edition in the mid 50's was both well read and well traveled. Quite thread bare by my teen years. We only had one bank within walking distance and it accompanied me every trip. Bill the banker loved it.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Actually the book that got me hooked on coins was the small Dell coin guide that was at my grandma’s house, back around 1970. Within a few years I was filling Whitman folders, subscribing to CoinAge magazine, and buying the Redbook every year!
Yep. For many years I read and re-read the same Red Book. Still have it and I just opened it for the first time in about 30 years. Should have bought me one of them 1794 dollars in "Unc." for $90,000.
LIBERTY SEATED DIMES WITH MAJOR VARIETIES CIRCULATION STRIKES (1837-1891) digital album
I started with The Black Book. I still remember lusting after the illustration of a proof 1866 $20! Actually, I still want one of those, purely for nostalgic reasons.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
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In August 1962 our family went to Panama City , Florida for a week vacation. When we were downtown one night my parents bought me a 1962 Red Book. I had started collecting coins in February 1961. On our trip back home I sat in the back of our 1958 Oldsmobile Delta 88 and read the entire book. Those were the days.
Me to...the Red Book.
I remember being absolutely fascinated with large cents. I wondered if I’d ever be able to afford one. Fun times!
Dave
Each year I'd look up the 1804 silver dollar and see if and by how much it went up in value.
I remember going thru it about 197o. Them were the days
I had forgotten about the Dell book.
It was always in the supermarket near the checkout lanes.
"I had forgotten about the Dell book.
It was always in the supermarket near the checkout lanes."
Was that the Stacks booklet called "Coins of Value?" I remember that one. As I remember, it had only two grades-good and fine. It listed the coins Stacks wanted to buy and prices paid.
Yes.
Been there, done that. I even memorized what the key dates were and their mintages in each of the popularly collected series.
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
!!! That was my 1st book also! I still have it!
Yup! I used to carry a pocket version in my back pocket while roll searching outside a bank during lunch break. Thems was the days. Peace Roy
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I was four years old when the first Redbook was published. I never even heard of the Redbook until I was an adult with kids - sheltered life
I do have a shelf in my library with many of them now, not sure how many. No coin books as a kid, other than the offerings on the back of magazines/comic books. Cheers, RickO
...and Photograde. I still remember wanting one of those Barber Half Dollars.
I even sent in for a couple of those Silver 1 ounce Reproductions that were advertised in the back of the Red Book...I sold them in a weak moment.
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Yep, Read it all the time when I was a kid in the 70's I even used it to write a report on Colonial Coins for my "bicentennial writing project" in 5th grade. I got a new edition as a Christmas gift every few years so it never fell apart. I also had a copy of Frank Spadone's Variety and Oddity of US Coins, but that did fall apart fairly quickly
I remember going to the library periodically and taking out the Red Book.
I nearly memorized it, and stared at the different type coins.
BHNC #203
Yup. The binding of the 1975 book was lousy, because the pages started falling out, but they changed it within a year or two to fix that problem.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
One could read that book as a kid hoping to some day be able to afford an 1898-O Morgan dollar.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Back when I started collecting, I was getting a .10 cent allowance (I know, I was spoiled). The thought of buying coins never entered my mind. I was only collecting from circulation, because old silver could still easily be found.
I also stood at the supermarket checkout area reading the Dell pocket coin books. But .25 cents was more than I could afford at the time.
The books pictured were given to me by a very generous forum member.
My 1st Redbook was the 1977 edition.
The bicentennial coins were new, easy to find, and sparked my interest.
The draped bust coins were old and rare, and held it.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Yes, would have been mid-50's. I remember calculating the cost of a high-grade type set. Too bad the paper route didn't pay more.
For a few short years, I had both Blue and Red books. Read them thoroughly.
My first Redbook was either 1961 or 1962. I remember reading it from cover to cover, but didn't really understand all the colonial issues nor the territorial gold. I was more focused on what I could collect. That left out gold, dollars, halves, and quarters as they were too pricey for a kid looking thru change to fill blue trifold Whitman holders with cents and nickels.
Never bought a blue book - paged thru one once but it didn't stick.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
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