Coins Books

Collecting coins is a great hobby for both the young and the old. If you are going to get into selling coins as well, this is a MUST READ. Spend the time with this book and you will avoid getting ripped-off and actually make some money.

I've decided to begin collecting and needed something to kick-start my hobby. This book appears to be a nice way to ease into it. It gives the basic grading systems and sound advice. It's not too detailed and covers what you might require as a novice. If you're considering US coins, get the "Red Book" as well for pricing and more info.

Recently I had inherited a coin collection. Honestly, I basically knew very little about coin collecting. I found this book to be very informative, and very helpful in learning about this hobby. I like that Scott Travers writes in a no-nonsense style. He is easy to read, and better yet, easy to understand. I think he goes well to describe many aspects of coin collecting.

I like that the book takes it time in telling you about the grading of coins, where to purchase coins, and better yet the pitfalls and traps inexperienced people may fall into. I like the many pictures throughout the book and found them instrumental in understanding about grading, and how to look at coins for any possible defects.

I would recommend this book to the novice, as well as the more experienced coin collector. I think this book covers many aspects of coin collecting that everyone can gain knowledge from. This is definately the ideal book to pick up for someone who is interested in collecting coins.

OK, so I'm biased. I've known Scott Travers since he was a teenager, and I've worked professionally with him on a number of projects over the years, including this book. But I'm also a former consumer affairs reporter, former American Numismatic Association Consumer Education Committee Chair and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Better Business Bureau in Chicago. Yeah, I'm a big believer in consumer education and protection. That's exactly what Scott's new book provides: absolutely crucial information for anyone who wants to buy rare coins whether for future financial gain or just to make sure you're getting a good deal today.

At the February 2006 Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo I watched and listened as an unsuspecting "collector" who purchased several gold coins in an online auction was crushed to learn from several reputable dealers that his "MS68" Saint Gaudens was only MS64 at best and worth thousands less than the $8,000 he paid for it. If he'd read Scott's chapters about grading and online auctions he would have saved money --and grief.

Even if you don't buy five, six or seven-figure coins, this book will help save you or make you hundreds of dollars by knowing insiders' secrets about buying and selling even modestly priced coins. COINage Magazine's Senior Editor, Ed Reiter, called this new edition "...the gold standard for coin books on consumer protection and investment." I agree.

-donn-
Donn Pearlman
(Affiliations given for identification purposes only)

I have been a fan of Scott Travers books for a while now. When it came time to sell my collection after reading a few books, Mr. Travers who promotes himself and his firm throughout this particular book, was nowhere to be found. I followed the advice in this book and tried to contact Mr. Travers several times by phone and email to sell my collection valued at over $20K. After leaving messages on more than one occasion, I received a phone call inquiring on my collection, and explaining I would receive another phone call later. That phone call never came. All I would ask is that this author, who took time to write a book claiming to be the best of it's kind on the market, to follow through with his own words.

I bought this book looking for values to my coins when I realized it was dealer buying prices. Regular collectors should not own this book, and go for the Red Book. The Blue Book has little insight on the history of US coinage, and most clad coins (post-1964) are face value in MS65. But even the Red Book can be a bit misleading. The Coin Prices periodical, a bi-monthly, gives more insight on the prices of the best pieces. However, Red Books are the way to go for any collector.

This is an absolutely essential book for the collector of U.S. Coins. Now in its 53rd edition, this book just gets better and better. A must buy for any U.S. coin collector.

This is the greatest coin price guide available

I found this book to be one of the worst I've bought. The information is very inaccurate. Great for someone buying coinage but very poor for the seller, not a fair way of doing business. I feel that this book was writen by a seller for the porposes of cheating buyers. When a book is set out to the public as an official handbook the information should be accurate. I find the pricing indexes to be very low at best. I buy and sell as a hobby and these are not the prices I pay nor are they the prices I sell at. I figure on average the prices are 200-500% below what they should be. I feel this is a poorly researched book that should not be taken seriously, nor should it be used as a standard for your dealings. My sugestion don't buy it find another price guide. Yes I do own this book and would not sell it do to the facts that I have stated, this is my loss so don't let it be yours.

According to the "Numismatics Fair Price Guide," its prices are very low. I like "A Guide Book Of United States Coins" a whole lot better. See my review on that one.

This was a last minute gift for my son for Christmas..not only did the book get to me in time for Christmas but my son loved it and has a new trick to show me almost everyday!! Great buy!

Karl Fulves has been putting out these kinds of books for what seems like an eternity. They are good books for kids and even a skilled performer can pull some good material from these books.
[...]

Got this book for my 11 years old son and figured out that descriptions for the tricks a little to complicated and not illustrated enough. The Klutz would be a better recommendation.

THIS IS THE MAGIC CARD TRICK BOOK TO GET!!! I have had this book for a couple weeks now, and I LOVE the tricks! All the tricks are easy to do, you just have to follow the directions in the trick you are doing and it works out great! There are tons of different types of tricks, including a few tricks to do on two people at one time which I love. If you are a beginner this is DEFIANTLY the book I recommend for you.

On the other hand, if you are looking to build up your skill with sly cuts, shuffles, ect. This is not the book for you. But, If you want to learn fun, easy, card tricks this is the book to get!!

I have been doing the card tricks I have gotten out of this book along with tricks from "THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MAGIC ( which is a great book, has great instructions, photos and coin, rope, card, string magic ) and the tricks are great. I do tricks to my whole family, my cousins, my aunt, my friends, everybody and everybody loves them and are amazed!!

THIS IS DEFIANTLY THE BOOK TO GET!!! 10 OUT OF 10!!

The book is well written. Explanations are really good but, the tricks are for BEGINNER! Some of them are so evident that I wouldn't even do them in front of my 6 years old nephew. But still, you have some (maybe 2 or 3) good tricks. So for the price, it's still good if you want to get into card tricks.

Brilliant, could not do without it- the best on the market without a doubt.

This book is the third volume in a line series dedicated to paper money collecting. This one particularly concentrates on the banknotes issued by central banks all over the World from 1961 onwards. The book is "The reference" used by all collectors and dealers alike. Thus, it is a must in order to keep uptodate with market prices and with the current issues. Unfortunately, it has mistakes and sometimes it lacks continuity with its counterpart (vol. 2) which is not issued annualy like this one. Nevertheless, if you are involved in paper money collecting, owning this book is imperative in order to be able to refer properly to any moder banknote.
The book can be bought from many sources, starting with its Publisher (Krause), however, my advice is to get it from Amazon.com, since its discunts are unbeatable.

As always, the work and research to get the latest information available to the collector is presented to us in the catalog as best as possible. I would like to see a section that list countries whose names have changed. While the catalog is a tremedous effort to 'keep current' with the many changes going on while it is in the making, I long for the day when the CD comes out and changes are added electronically. Stamp collectors now have this and a virtual stamp collection. Thanks to all that work to get the latest information for a great hobby!

Most useful - but - there seem to be several errors in this catalogue. One of the most glaring is the complete omission of SOMALIA, despite the index refering the reader to page 772. These are, in fact, the entries for SOMALILAND from 1994. All entries for SOMALIA from 1962 to 1990 have disappeared.

I would say, - there is no other, better book, so we have to use this one. I have looked through some pages of it and I already found quite a few blunders. First of all there are quite a few misleading price valuations, I would even say many price manipulations. I haven't gone through every single page of it yet, but a quick look at the book reveals the following:

- Overall image quality got worse (much worse) in this year 2005 edition. Some photos have some white spots and cuts.

- Signature tables have disappeared in quite a few country listings. Instead of signature tables Krause website is advertised all across the pages. Question: why remove what already has been added over years?

- Most of the country letter code explanations and country names are gone from West African States listings.

- Signatures are numbered but not always displayed in signature tables.

- Catalogue numbers are changed and moved around to frequently confusing the collectors and especially addong tons of extra work for dealers.

- Many banknotes are valued way below market value. Some are valued below anytime exchange rate. Example: Latvian 100 Latu exchange rate always was over $160 but Krause values it in Uncirculated condition at $150.

- No ERRATA is being printed. Any self-respecting publisher prints errata pages and puts them in a book, or even sends Errata (corrections) pages to all their customers and book owners. The book was published carelessly. Some colourful images (not so important to a professional) were added, but what's most important is the text info and price valuations. This book is important to a beginner and as well to a professional. We still have to use it, cause there is no other catalogue for All World's Paper Money, but making so many errors and blunders shows that the publisher of this book does not care much about what the reader gets from it.

Good-bye Pick... hello Krause.

This is probably one of the best coin books I have ever purchased. The hard cardboard exterior is great. Just wish I had more presidents to fill it up.

Nice collector book. It has slots for both "D" and "P" Issuances. Many only have one coin slot so two books are needed "D" for Denver or "P" for Philadelphia.

It's very nice with each President's name and their term in office dates. Conviently folds together to keep it looking like a book

I got these for my grandchildren and they are very nice tho because of the places for the coins to go there are 2 for each President for where they were minted and we seldom get both there will be many empty spots. I didn't notice when I ordered it that it was in the description. The coins fit in nicely and are very secure. I love ordering from Amazon.

This folder goes to President Ford, however, the coins are of non-living presidents and President Regan, who predeceased President Ford, is missing. There are no extra spaces either.

I also purchased the Littleton Coin folder. It was manufactured prior to Pres. Ford's death. This folder has space for additional coins. It's not the quality product of Sterling folder but it is error free. By 2016 I'm sure there will be new folders.

This book was laid out in a way that you could follow and understand. Very informative.

This was a good book except there were no real ideas except to break out your coins from the already sealed and graded plastic cartridges and resend them back to have them graded again hoping they will upgrade their already graded grade. Hopefully, in breaking the protective case, you don't scratch them getting them out. To me, that was expensive and taking a chance on their judgement. There were no real hints that I could use other than what I was already doing.

I bought this book with the idea of picking up some investment coins, salting them away for a few years, and cashing out. While that may indeed work, it's not the essential theme of this book. After reading and thinking through some of the strategies, I became fascinated with the grading arbitrage game that is covered in great detail. Despite Travers' warnings about doing this online (and ebay specifically) I was able to parlay $600 into $1200 in about two months using ebay coin auctions. There is some risk involved and you absolutely must do your homework, but pretty much everything you need is discussed in this book. You can make your own price guide by using the resources on ebay; you will also need the self-discipline to not over-bid!

While well-written, this book comprises of one theme throughout: cracking older PCGS graded coins and re-submitting them in the hope of a higher rating and a higher value. The book is very well detailed in this respect, but many of the older holders have long ago been cracked and re-submitted. Very little in other advice as far as making a profit.

When you buy these kinds of books, you tend to expect some secret techniques of making money. Many books even manage to create the impression of telling you something previously undisclosed, until you try it and realise that it does not work.

This book is written by the professional in this field. Making money in coins is a business, and not such an exciting one, after all. There are a few ways of making a profit honestly (or almost honestly) in numismatics. And there is no guarantee of being succesful. Very sobering message, and this book gets it across well.

I learned a lot from this book and would recommend it to anyone interested in this business.

rather weak when you deal with uncirculated coins. very
difficult area of grading.

This book is exxentially an extended version of the coin conditions/states table that you'll commonly find in coin magazines. This book is much, much more complete and comprehensive as it covers all U.S. coins in circulation (no commemoratives) and has photos and key points of wear for each grade from About Good to About Uncirculated. This edition also has interesting chapters concerning the cleaning of coins and artificial toning. This reference is a great help to inexperienced collectors of USA coins who are building eclectic collections. Don't feel that you need to buy this book new, the grading information is static and, as you will learn much from this book in a short time, it won't be used much thus used copies are likely to be in excellent condition. Four stars because, as the young reviewer below states, color photos are sorely missed in this book.

Almost useless for AU and MS grade coins. Very, very small and poor quality b/w pictures of coins. Dissapointing as it could have been great if high resolution pictures were used and enlarged. Also, not including pictures of MS60-67 grades truely limits this book.

It is very helpful if all that you have to go off of is the Guide Book of United States Coins 2003: The Official Red Book, And I dont know what Wayne Lukert was thinking but they are real photographs. Gives a nice description of coins and a black and white photograph of every grade. also If you dont have any books on cleaning care and other helpful topics it has page after page about that stuff too.

If your a beginner at coin collecting this may be okay for you.
This book has hard to view pictures ( not photographs ) of the coins being used as samples. This alone can confuse the beginner,as imperfections appear on the pictures and may be mistaken for the actual coin. The written descriptions and arrows point to too specific areas. The areas to be scrutinized are much broader than the head of the arrow. A better book for the beginner is HOW TO GRADE U.S. COINS by James L. Halperin.
It uses a color code system that is much easier to follow and the pictures have much better detail. Also type coins for newer coins are NOT dicussed.

As I told in an other review regarding the blue book of US coins, I'm very intersted in the coins and their history; the red book is an exploitation in that world.

This book is good for what it includes, but there is a glaring and shocking omission! There is no info on proof sets, only on some individual coins. With the introduction of state quarter sets, annual proof sets have become a hot commodity, yet this book completely overlooks the entire category!

While more pictures are always nice, this book gives me everything I was looking for, its well put together and its certainly a great price. I recently inherited a modest coin collection and this book has answered just about every question I had. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who is just getting into the coin collecting hobby.

As another reviewer pointed out, I to was dissapointed by the fact that the latest commerative coins were not included. At first, I thought since these are not very valuable they were excluded. Next, I thought these are the precise coins that new beginners would be looking for when they bought this book. But in conclusion, I think the real problem is timelyness. Each edition is just plain not too timely. That's a shame since time is both knowledge and the advantage one needs to stay on top of the market. This book is not meant to be a history book of the past. I hope the editors get the picture expressed here.

This work has been printed and re-printed for years. It is well
organized. There is a fair concensus of coins represented.
This book is a "must read" for coin buffs and persons
seeking to establish a fair valuation for any collection.
If you own a coin handbook, eventually it will have to be
replaced in order to keep current with the most recent
evaluations. Yeoman distinguishes between grades of coins,
alphabetic abbreviations and the quantity minted.
For instance, in the year 1909 alone, there are at least
4 different coins. i.e. Lincoln Head, VDB, S and SVDB.
Lastly, the author enunciates U.S. Coin Standards in terms
of diameter, thickness, gross weight, grains and thousandths
(fineness measurement). Purchase this book if you have a coin
collection either large or small.

The book has a page for each state, plus a page for the new 'gold' dollar, and a few facts on the history of US coins. For each state, there is one die-cut coin holder (2 for the dollar coin); some of these holders required great effort to get the coin to fit. The book also has a few pages of games...although one must note the error on page 70, "...America RECEIVED its independence from Great Britain." In reality, America DECLARED its independence from Great Britain in 1776, fought for 6 years, then negotiated for two. Congress ratified the treaty to end the war in January 1784. I hope next edition of this book corrects this error.

I purchase this book over 2 years ago. All my friends asked me where did you purchase this book. I purcahsed it a Target. This book is very educational not only to me but my seven year old son. He is currently in the first grade and on different social studies homework assignment he needs information regarding the states. He always says, "Mom, I need to go to the Library!" I tell him, "No,everything that you need, is in your book!" I'm glad I bought the book when I saw it because the only way to purchase now, is on-line.

I love this book. It will come in handy when my child has to do a report, on a certain state. We know of several people who would like to buy this book, but can't find it any where. Can anyone please help me, with some locations to find it? Every time I find it in the internet, it is out of stock. I live in Iowa. I need 5 more.
Thanks,
Treasa Vander Hart

My twin 8 year olds each have one of these books and they are terrific - both educational and fun. The children anticipate the arrival of each new coin and love to learn about the state/the design choices and also spend some time on the facts of the other states each time we use it.

After reading all of the opinions concerning this book, I thought I was receiving a collector's item for which I could store my state quarters. However, I was extremely shocked and disappointed when I received this book and found no coin holders. My main reason for purchasing the book was for the coin holders. I would have thought there was a mistake in shipping had I not received 2 from 2 different companies with the same missing item.

THIS IS A NEEDED BOOK FOR ANY LARGE SIZE CURRENCY POTENTATE, BUT THE BOOK BY GEORGE CUHAJ "STANDARD CATALOG OF UNITED STATES PAPER MONEY,26 ed." IS MUCH MORE ACCURATE WITH BOTH LARGE AND SMALL VALUES AND NUMBERS PRINTED.

This is a very useful, if not indispensable, reference work on United
States currency, including much colonial and Continental currency.

The Friedberg book continues to be a classic reference for U.S. Paper Money. However, its strength is still pre-1928, large size notes. There are far better references for small size paper money, notably the Standard Guide to Small Size U.S. Paper Money by Schwartz and Lindquist. For example, that book catalogs blocks, mules and other variations, something that friedberg doesn't even mention. However, having said that, Friedberg is still an important book for anyone interested in U.S. paper money to have in their library.

Being a coin collector, I purchased this book to give me a guide on Gold Certificates as they caught my eye recently at the Carson City Coin Show. The book flows through the different eras of US paper money to the National Bank notes, Federal Reserve notes, fractionals, etc. My only issue with the book was that I would have liked to have seen more color pictures of the bank notes, especially the 1905 $20 "Technicolor" Gold Certificates.

Now my only problem, as a coin collector, is that I have a list of Federal Reserve bank notes and Gold Certificates I just have to have in my collection. HA!

A must have for any collector of Collectible Paper Currency !!! This reference book is yearly updated (which is a must to stay on top of the ever changing pricing of these collectible notes) and goes into great detail of each and every U.S. Note ever printed with the current market value of the notes. Black and white pictures of each note as well as breathe taking colored photos of each U.S. Note. I find I use this reference book everyday along with my other U.S. Paper Currency reference books in my private library.