August 7, 2014 – The newest edition of the “Guide Book of United States Coins” (known to hobbyists as the “Red Book”) has been published. More than 140 experts contributed to the 68th edition, which has a 2015 cover date.
R. S. Yeoman, “A Guide Book of United States Coins”, 68th edition. 448 pages. Full color. The book is available in different versions (hardcover, spiral bound, etc.). For more details, see publisher homepage (link below).
The Red Book, used by collectors to identify and value their US coins, prices 7,600 entries in up to nine grades each, with more than 32,500 valuations in total. Keeping up with the latest coins from the U.S. Mint, the 68th edition has added pages in the “Quarter Dollars,” “Silver and Related Dollars,” “Modern Commemoratives,” and “Gold Bullion” sections. All of the Mint’s circulating coins have been updated with the most recent data. The 68th edition includes 92 new coin issues and 13 new sets, with information about the San Francisco Mint “America the Beautiful” quarters (the only circulation-strike quarters made in San Francisco since 1954), and new research on die varieties.
The Red Book debuted at the Whitman Expo along with the U.S. Mint’s latest commemorative coins: the National Baseball Hall of Fame half dollar, silver dollar, and 5 dollar gold piece. The coins are featured in the book’s Commemoratives chapter.
The cover of the 68th edition shows three classic American coins: the Buffalo nickel, the Saint-Gaudens 20 dollar gold double eagle, and the Kennedy half dollar. The latter coin marks its 50th year of mintage in 2014.
Longtime Red Book contributors Donald H. Kagin and David McCarthy, who work on the book’s “Colonial Issues” and “Private and Territorial Gold” chapters, among others, were at the Whitman Expo. They exhibited portions of the famous $10 million Saddle Ridge Hoard of 1,427 gold coins recently discovered buried in eight metal cans in California.
As in past years, collectors will benefit from the Red Book’s recent auction records provided for significant rare coins. Listed throughout the charts are more than 170 notable auction results. Combined with the listed retail prices, the auction data help advanced collectors understand the modern market for high-end rarities.
In addition, the appendix of the “Top 250 U.S. Coin Prices Realized at Auction” has been fully updated. Since the last edition 13 more coins have broken the 1 dollar million mark, for a new total of 65. This includes five new coins that sold for more than 2 dollar million apiece since the 67th-edition Red Book debuted one year ago.
In a promising measure of the health of the hobby, the Red Book’s numismatic bibliography includes 22 standard references published within the past five years.
About the “Guide Book of United States Coins”
“A Guide Book of United States Coins” is the world’s most popular annual retail price guide for U.S. coins, tokens, and other numismatic items. More than 23 million copies have been purchased since 1946, making it one of the best-selling nonfiction titles in the history of U.S. publishing.
For the 68th edition, more than 140 professional coin dealers, scholars, and other numismatic experts contributed their knowledge under the direction of Senior Editor Kenneth Bressett, Valuations Editor Jeff Garrett, and Research Editor Q. David Bowers.
The 68th edition of the Red Book is available online and at bookstores and hobby shops nationwide. In addition to offering a Large Print Edition and several formats of the regular edition (hardcover; spiralbound softcover; and spiralbound hardcover), Whitman Publishing is also taking orders for the leather-bound Limited Edition (500 copies autographed by Bressett).
For more information and to order check out the Whitman website.