What do you think?
Rate this book
The Official Red Book a Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Values
This is the eighth entry in Whitman's Bower Series of numismatic titles. Lavishly illustrated in full color, the Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels features high-resolution enlargements for important overdates and other varieties. These popular coins are given the famous Bowers insightful study, plenty of fascinating historical background, and good storytelling. Certified and surviving field populations, and historical and current market prices add to the book's reference value. Appendices cover error coins, pattern Buffalo nickels, and the chronology of the nickel five-cent piece. Full color throughout; illustrated; indexed. Softcover. 288 Pages
277 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2007
8 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 14, 2013
The idea of the book is to take you year-by-year through the buffalo and Jefferson nickel series, giving specifics about strike, luster, general eye appeal, and pricing. It's really interesting for serious collectors, and it recommends an ideal grade for each date for buffalo nickels that balances price and value. It also has a lot of behind-the-scenes information about the minting process, and why certain years are more available than others.
But there are some major problems. One is all the typos and spelling errors. There are a lot, and it's very distracting. It makes me question some of the content of the book, because you never really know if something was put under the wrong year. One part, in particular, lists the 'sharp' and 'full' strike percentage of buffalo nickels. In most cases, it's annotated something like this: (10% + 2%). But for about half of them, it's written (10% 1 2%). I was confused by this for a while before realizing that the "1" is supposed to be a "+". Of course, I could be wrong, but if so, that just goes to show that it isn't very clear.
The other major problem is the lack of illustration. For buffalo nickels (my primary interest), Bowers strongly recommends buying the sharpest strike possible, noting that they will probably be more valuable some day, and can be bought for similar prices to poorly-struck examples of the same grade. This is good advice. The problem is, "Full Details" coins are described only in text, and in a quotation from another author, at that! This is a MAJOR point in the book. Saying "look for the line that goes upward and slightly left from the braid" is much less effective than simply showing a picture with an arrow pointing at it. And saying "look for full details in the fur" is meaningless without a picture of what full details should look like.
All that said, I'm not sure there's a better reference work available for buffalo nickels. Considering that you can buy this for about $3 used on Amazon, it's not a major investment.
But there are some major problems. One is all the typos and spelling errors. There are a lot, and it's very distracting. It makes me question some of the content of the book, because you never really know if something was put under the wrong year. One part, in particular, lists the 'sharp' and 'full' strike percentage of buffalo nickels. In most cases, it's annotated something like this: (10% + 2%). But for about half of them, it's written (10% 1 2%). I was confused by this for a while before realizing that the "1" is supposed to be a "+". Of course, I could be wrong, but if so, that just goes to show that it isn't very clear.
The other major problem is the lack of illustration. For buffalo nickels (my primary interest), Bowers strongly recommends buying the sharpest strike possible, noting that they will probably be more valuable some day, and can be bought for similar prices to poorly-struck examples of the same grade. This is good advice. The problem is, "Full Details" coins are described only in text, and in a quotation from another author, at that! This is a MAJOR point in the book. Saying "look for the line that goes upward and slightly left from the braid" is much less effective than simply showing a picture with an arrow pointing at it. And saying "look for full details in the fur" is meaningless without a picture of what full details should look like.
All that said, I'm not sure there's a better reference work available for buffalo nickels. Considering that you can buy this for about $3 used on Amazon, it's not a major investment.
Displaying 1 of 1 review