Customer Reviews

A Guide Book of United States Coins 2006: The Official Red Book

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are like many coin collectors, you probably have many editions of the Redbook. You may be asking, should i buy this years edition? I would say YES! If you just got into the hobby of coin collecting, then it is a definite buy! No questions asked!
They have made the price guide much more accurate this year. A good feature of the book is they show the mintages for the coins. The book is truly a guide. They have information about coin hoards, famous collectors, and famous ship wrecks. They have information about error coins and how they are made. They have an article about "waffle coins". They have the recent silver and gold american eagle pricing. They have many short articles. It is much better than the 2005 edition.
With each series they have information about how to grade these coins. They also have tons of full color pictures and close up photos of rare varities. If you have a collection you know nothing about i would reccomend reading this. In fact i would say all collectors should have a copy of the Redbook...who know all you will learn from this book.

There are many books that list coin prices. There are numerous web sites that also list prices - some, such as PCGS update them on a weekly basis. There are still more magazines, books and websites that deal with the history and minutiae of coins but there is no single respository of knowledge containing all three like this tremendous book. It is rightly the standard in the field, the one others are compared against.

This year, the photography has improved greatly (it was already spectacular). The whole book was updated as it is every year and this is perhaps its greatest strength: It is necessarily a work in progress, noting new errors, old finds, historical discoveries, trends, etc. Once again, we have a review of coinage in North America from the 17th to the 21st century, including patterns, tokens, interesting tales and, almost incidentally, the latest price guidelines.

Before the age of the THIRD PARTY GRADERS (too numerous and competing to mention) the Red Book was THE ultimate source... You can see feathers in the talons? Must be AU50. The fold of cloth on the shoulder is slightly worn? XF40 How many letters of "LIBERTY" can be seen with the naked eye? We all remember those days when grading was objective, easily understood and was not the mustery it has since become. If you want the best, get a copy of the 2006 Red Book!

This book, along with the book "American Numismatic Assocation Grading Standards for United States Coins" are two of the premier books to have if you are into collecting coins. It has great pictures, varieties and mintage figures. Although the price guide is not up to date, what can you expect from a book that was minted a while back. The price of coins are every changing. I definately recommend this book.

For anyone starting out, or for those who can not afford to buy very expensive coins this standard reference is terrific. As you get more serious you will need a grading guide but this is the place to start understanding U S coins. It is handsomely illustrated with lots of hints and tips. A bargain, too.

This book is a great tool. I have spent many hours at my computer while on that on-line auction site. I find a coin I would like, nearing the end of an auction, and check its suggested value for its condition. I then bid at the appropriate time. This book has helped me get some great bargans! It's also helped me avoid bidding way too much.

As a beginner collector I find the book a very good reference.

This an excellent reference if you just need to know the value of the coins you have or coins you want to purchase. The book is easy to understand and finding specific coins is simple. What you will not find is the exact market value of your specific coin. The coin market is too varied and subjective to expect to find exactly what the value of your coin is. You will have a better idea and that is the purpose of "A Guide Book Of United States Coins 2006."

The Redbook is Exactly what it's title says "A GUIDE BOOK"! This is the best edition yet. They are well respected and have been in business for 59 years! To the person below that doesnt understand. VERY VERY few coins grade above ms65 or pf65. And those that do, usually sell for varying prices at live auctions. Coins Really need to be graded by a RELIABLE 3rd party grading service (NGC,PCGS,ICG, or ANACS) Most of the others are not even recognized by true collectors, and numismatists. FORGET grading services like NTC ( tons of ms67 - baloney!) or SGS ( EVERYTHING graded ms70 or pf70?! Yeah Right- even when they have finger prints, tone spots scratches, and hazing! I have the coins to prove it!) With the legitimate services, they have websites with the grades you need and are fairly upto date prices. Remember the prices in the "GUIDE" are established about 2 months before publication in July. Also Monthly publications like Coin Values, Numismatic News, and Coins have updated values that are only about 2-8 weeks out when published. The best source for pricing info is CDN's "Greysheet". Any Dealer can give you prices from there or you can subscribe to it. The " bluesheet" is for graded coins, by the good grading companies.
As far as the person that got the wrong book, in reading his wording, he seems a little on the "slow side"/ not well educated, and probably ordered the wrong item to begin with unknowingly, from the reseller, by mistake. It is not Amazon.coms responsibility to police every dealer. They are just giving us options. He/she should have ordered directly from Amazon instead of trying to save a dollar.
Sorry if I seem rude or mean, but think about it.

What can you say. I'm just starting out and this is the book you buy first. Some good background info, OK pics, could use some more info on in between grades, but all that is available somewhere online.

Received the book earlier than anticipated, but to my dismay, found that pages 193-224 were missing. I am in the process of returning the item for a replacement