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Coin Books - A Guide Book of United States Commemorative Coins: History-rarity-values-grading-varieties (The Official Red Book)
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $36.14
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Manufacturer: Whitman Publishing
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 737
EAN: 9780794822569
ISBN: 0794822568
Label: Whitman Publishing
Manufacturer: Whitman Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 275
Publication Date: 2007-04-30
Publisher: Whitman Publishing
Studio: Whitman Publishing
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Complete Guide to Commemorative Coins
Comment: This is a great book on U.S. gold and silver commemorative coins. Anything by written by Q. David Bowers on coins is a fun read. The book covers both the classic era (1892-1954) and the modern era. Today, a type set of the classic 50 coin silver commemoratives would run approximately $30,000 in Mint State 64 condition, $60,000 in MS65, and $140,000 in MS66. Slightly less than double those figures would be needed if you wanted to have a complete classic 144 silver commemorative coin collection. If you aspire to collect classic U.S. commemorative coins, you must buy this book.
Dave Bowers discusses the statistics, background, and key to collecting each coin. Time and time again, Dave explains that coins laden with abrasions and bagmarks were the result of the original planchet surfaces not striking up fully at the mint or that the coins were simply mishandled at the mint. And he encourages you to keep looking for a finer specimen. Critical information for those looking for exceptional coins.
Dave uses the Lafayette Dollar as an example of how the price increases as you go up the grade ladder. He also advises what grades he thinks are getting the best value for the money; he likes MS64 ($4,000) and MS65 ($12,000). A triple increase in the price of the Lafayette (or $8,000) for one step up in grade is a big difference! It would have been appreciated if Dave had gone a step further and explained what you actually get for the money, beyond the "label," when you go from a MS63 to MS64 to MS65 to MS66. Perhaps it would be overkill to do it for every coin; but, an example could have been made using the 1928 Hawaiian. I was delighted to learn that undipped Hawaiians often have a yellowish tint; I thought the yellow was the result of overdipping or a bad bath!!! How many coin dealers know that the inner "circle" or "line" often found near the obverse rim of the Panama-Pacific half dollar is due to die characteristics?
Some readers may be disappointed that there isn't more of an emphasis on investing; but, Q. David Bowers is above all, a smart coin dealer. He knows that emphasizing investment isn't what sustains the coin collecting hobby; especially, with the roller coaster pricing of commemoratives. It's the collector that sustains the hobby and Dave is always trying to encourage the collector side of us.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Q. David Bowers brings history to life by connecting America's commemorative coinage to the people, places, and events they honored, and to the artists, promoters, and politicians who brought them from raw concept to finished coin. A Guide Book of United States Commemorative Coins explains how to build a collection of commemoratives, determining authenticity, analyzing strike and eye appeal, being a smart buyer, realities of the marketplace, comparative rarities, full details, certification, establishing fair market prices, and more. 288 pages; full-color; paperback.
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