Customer Reviews

Major variety-oddity guide of United States coins, listing all U.S. coins from half cents through gold coins, fully illustrated, with values

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I stumbled upon this book by chance and couldn't believe my luck. The reason I say this is that, while I find the world of error coins a fascinating one, it is rather tedious work poring over a coin if one has many of the same date and mint to look at but an unclear idea of what to look for. Now, with the aid of this book I had a resource that pointed me in the direction of 'known' varieties and oddities for my particular year and mint. In addition, it gave me ideas for things to look at even when there was no known variety/oddity listed. This edition has over 3900 listings and is illustrated (photos) with many examples of specific anomalies and it has gauge, weight and mintage specs, as well. While some of the things listed here probably amount to nitpicking, I'm glad for the chance to examine these nits. I now find that I see things on coins that I never would have noticed if I had not found this book. I've since upgraded to the 8th ed. which is a little better but no less difficult to find. Really, the only difference between them is that there is three more years data in the 8th ed., and the additional data seems less complete than that found in the earlier edition. Thus, it won't make any difference to you if you don't collect modern varieties and you aren't missing much if you don't find the later version. Plus, the 7th is a bit larger in physcial dimensions which makes it handier to use. Who can't love a book that lists a 'crocodile on roof' or 'bandaid on nose' oddity? If this book does nothing else it will get you thinking about the coins you examine in a more critical manner.

A BOOK THAT HAS BEEN OUT OF PRINT SINCE 1973. THIS IS A MUST FOR ANY COIN COLLECTOR. THIS IS A MOST VALUBLE TOOL. IT HAS LISTINGS FOR ALMOST ALL OF THE COIN ERRORS UP TILL 1973. I RECOMMEND WITH 5 STARS.