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best books for a newbie?

lightsareoutlightsareout Posts: 10
in U.S. Coin Forum
title pretty much sums it up. Like top 2 or 3 for right now.

Comments

  • TheRavenTheRaven Posts: 4,148 ✭✭✭✭
    Red Book is a cheap book with lots of information.....

    Photograde is a cheap book with grading information to learn from.....
    Collection under construction: VG Barber Quarters & Halves
  • LeianaLeiana Posts: 4,349 ✭
    The Red Book is excellent. The ANA Grading Guide is also excellent. Those are the two main books in my numismatic library, the others are specialty books. Well, one's a book. The other two are like mini-books.

    -Amanda
    image

    I'm a YN working on a type set!

    My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!

    Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • lightsareoutlightsareout Posts: 10
    awesome thanks, anything specifically for cherrypicking?
  • TheRavenTheRaven Posts: 4,148 ✭✭✭✭
    The Cherry Pickers Guide is out there

    Not a book I have or have looked at.....

    Collection under construction: VG Barber Quarters & Halves
  • RTSRTS Posts: 1,408 ✭
    ...and a Red Book...

    image
    image
  • MrSpudMrSpud Posts: 4,499 ✭✭✭
    Scott Travers book called "The Coin Collectors Survival Manual"
  • constructconstruct Posts: 932
    Coin Collecting for Dummies.
    The strangest things seem suddenly routine.
  • FletcherFletcher Posts: 3,294 ✭
    Forget books for now ... you will learn much more by spending your time reading these threads. Just skip over the religious/political/ebay topics image
  • 123cents123cents Posts: 7,178 ✭✭✭
    The Coin Collector's Survival Manual by Scott A. Travers.
    image
  • DaveGDaveG Posts: 3,535 ✭
    If you're planning on spending some serious (how ever you define it) money on coins - then you simply must start by reading Coin Collector's Survival Manual by Scott Travers. (The fifth edition was recently published.) It tells you how to go about being a smart collector - buying, selling, all about the grading services, numismatic publications, price guides, etc.

    The Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins) is also a "should have", although these days, CoinFacts.com is pretty good for basic info. The good thing about the Red Book is the list of suggested reading after every chapter (assuming they still include it, of course).

    If you're thinking about collecting circulated pre-1964 coins, then a good grading guide, like Photograde or the ANA Grading Standards is a must, too.

    You might also want to read/try a subscription to Coin World or Numismatic News (both weeklies) or Coinage or Coin World (both monthlies) - all are good for beginners.

    Check out the Southern Gold Society

  • lkrarecoinslkrarecoins Posts: 2,137 ✭✭✭
    Try searching the boards under Buy Sell & Trade....I hear some really handsome guy is selling Red Books and Ana Guides image

    Heres the link: http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=7&threadid=527296
    In Loving Memory of my Dad......My best friend, My inspiration, and My Coin Collecting Partner

    "La Vostra Nonna Ha Faccia Del Fungo"
  • WhizzardWhizzard Posts: 955


    << <i>The Coin Collector's Survival Manual by Scott A. Travers. >>



    I'd highly recommend this book, if you're new to collecting.
    What do you think, Mr. Bigglesworth?
    image
  • JulioJulio Posts: 2,501 ✭
    American Numismatic Association Grading standards for us coins. jws
    image
  • coinandcurrency242coinandcurrency242 Posts: 1,969 ✭✭✭✭
    2007 krause catolog to world coins if you collect world coins a little bit too!

    Positive BST as a seller: Namvet69, Lordmarcovan, Bigjpst, Soldi, mustanggt, CoinHoader, moursund, SufinxHi, al410, JWP

  • TheRavenTheRaven Posts: 4,148 ✭✭✭✭
    I agree that spending time reading these boards, if you have a question use the history of the board to see if it is answered already.....

    You have specialists for just about everything on here so.....

    Collection under construction: VG Barber Quarters & Halves
  • ArtistArtist Posts: 2,013 ✭✭✭
    I find Breen's book to be a great & entertaining resource. Just be sure you get the right Breen book. image
    image
    >>>My Collection
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Coin Collecting for Dummies by Ron Guth is a great read and covers all aspects of collecting.

    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

  • MyqqyMyqqy Posts: 9,777 ✭
    The pcgs grading book is a good one to have around....
    My style is impetuous, my defense is impregnable !
  • ERER Posts: 7,345 ✭
    For the newbie:

    Red Book
    ANA Official Grading Guide
    PCGS Grading and Counterfeit Detection
  • DentuckDentuck Posts: 3,820 ✭✭✭
    The Expert's Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins, by Q. David Bowers (2005). Twenty bucks in paperback (or less if you shop around), and you get almost 700 pages of insider information from the "dean of American numismatics."
  • LongacreLongacre Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The Expert's Guide to Collecting and Investing in Rare Coins, by Q. David Bowers (2005). Twenty bucks in paperback (or less if you shop around), and you get almost 700 pages of insider information from the "dean of American numismatics." >>




    This book is great.

    I didn't know it was in paperback!
    Always took candy from strangers
    Didn't wanna get me no trade
    Never want to be like papa
    Working for the boss every night and day
    --"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
  • jmj3esqjmj3esq Posts: 5,421 ✭
    Cant go wrong with a Red Book.
  • Conder101Conder101 Posts: 10,536 ✭
    A Guidebook of United States Coins by R S Yeoman (Which is the proper title of what everyone else has been calling the Redbook. Go to a library or bookstore and ask for a "Redbook" and you'll get a womens magazine.) When you get your Redbook, READ IT!. Not the prices, they aren't important. Read all of the introductory text. It will give you the best condensed history of US coinage found anywhere. There is a lot of good information in there.

    My second recommendation is a copy of the Coin World Almanac, any edition except 2000. Nine hundred plus pages of all kinds of numismatic information. When I am looking for the answer to a general numismatic question the Coin World Almanac is one of the first places I check. It has sections on general numismatics, the laws related to US coins, Title 18, Title 31 etc, Gold and silver, The Mint, The Treasury, The Federal Reserve, the BEP, paper money, united states coins, world coins, errors, terms and abbreviations, and a whole lot more. Cost? Usually about $5 plus shipping.
  • lkrarecoinslkrarecoins Posts: 2,137 ✭✭✭
    How to Make Money in Coins Right Now, 2nd Edition Scott A. Travers, is also a good read.
    It was one of my first reads and very insightful. Travers is a great proponent for the collector.
      In Loving Memory of my Dad......My best friend, My inspiration, and My Coin Collecting Partner

      "La Vostra Nonna Ha Faccia Del Fungo"

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