For the last 3 years or so (since I begin to seriously collect) I've been using the black book, the only reason is because I didn't found the Red one...I'll buy a new book soon (2005), and I want to know your opinions and experiences...my bro was at Borders (just opened last week) yesterday and told me he saw the Red ...but not the Black one...so I wanted to know if any the good differences and advantages between them. Thanks
Years ago the Red Book was the collector guide and the Black Book was a dealer guide. If you compare prices in both you will agree the Red Book will make you feel much better about your collection. I should still point out that the Redbook is a year behind as it is published the summer before so purchasing a monthly Coin Prices guide or a grey sheet is much more accurate according to todays coins values. I buy the RedBook every year and it has also become a collectable book? The Redbook is a GREAT reference guide but that would be about the extent of my faith in either book. The Dealers Gray Sheet is very very up to date but a little costly compared to other publications. None the less, the more you read and study, the better off you will be as a collector. Personally I avoid the Black book! Good luck with your new hobby!
If my wife ever caught me with a little black book, she make me see red. Maybe I should look into the gray sheets. After all its not like money is grown on trees, um bad example.
The Blue Book is the Whitman book that lists dealer prices; the Whitman Red Book lists retail values. The Blackbook price guides are produced by House of Collectibles, not Whitman and are not associated with the Red or Blue books.
Thanks Crystal, I'll grab the Red Book this week , and yeah I noticed the prices on the BB are a little low comparing to what I've heard around (price wise)...Thanks again
Thanks for replying! I thought the Blue Book was for cars...didn't knew there was one for coins...and I keeeeeeep learning hehe thanks!
ok another question...the Red Book is printed for the current year...and the Black Book can be found for 2005 and 2006 why is that? and how accurate could be the 2006 prices? ...however I'll stick to the Red one didn't knew the one I have is for dealers hehe
Someone else is going to have to answer this question because the only thing I have ever used the Blackbook for is the occasional currency note that crosses my desk. The Red Book has just always had so much more information on coins that I have always used that instead. I know there are Blackbooks for US coins, World coins, currency, stamps, and probably a lot of other collectibles.
If anyone finds a black book with phone numbers and PHOTO'S I would be interested in that one also!!!
i have both red and blue book, though when buying will always look at the blue book first.who wants to pay retail ?. not me. i will add that its more used as a guide to if certain years are rarer ect, lets you know which to look out for more than the price ie i check if its a 2 usd coin or a 200 usd coin.Then you have a general idea
The Red Book (A Guide Book of United States Coins by Yeoman and Bressett, published by Whitman) is the standard reference book for collectors of American coins. Anything else just competes against it. Prices are totally irrelevant. Prices change every day. Prices quoted depend entirely on who you ask and what motivation they have for answering. All a "price guide" provides is an order-of-magnitude estimate to alert you to the rarities you might miss. One price guide shows an 1896-G Sliding Baseman Half Nickel in XF at $125 and in the 1896-E in XF at $15. Worrying over whether these prices are "really" $112.50 or $16.95 is not productive. New collectors -- and some people stay "newbies" all their lives -- get so focused on the prices that they miss the truly important content. The Red Book provides thumbnail histories of the coins, of course, and other price guides do this as well. However, the Red Book also provides a Bibliography in each section. These are the books that the Red Book was written from. They are the books you need to own if you are serious as a collector. Every price guide on the market was written by someone who could justify their status to an editor so that the publisher could justify the author to the public. Every price guide is written by an "expert" of some kind. Kenneth Bressett, the current editor of The Red Book, was president of the American Numismatic Association. He has written or edited over 100 books and articles. Aside from The Red Book, Bressett is probably best known for The Fantastic 1804 Dollar, which he co-authored with ANS President Eric P. Newman. There are other price guides out there. Before I bought one, I would run a literature search on the authors. Who is the author of the Black Book?
Hello mmarotta, Thanks for take your time in such an extensive reply, the author of the Black Book is Thomas E. Hudgeons, Jr. Ivan
of U.S. coins. I'm surprised at your comment's excessive generality Mike, since I know you are as aware as I am that there have been coins minted outside the U.S. borders for many, many centuries!
