Collecting United States coins by date and mintmark is a popular pursuit. However, even if you had an unlimited budget and 50 years to spend, you could not build a complete collection. Some coins are simply unavailable, residing permanently in museum holdings.

Another popular way to collect U.S. coins is to gather one example of every type from the 1790s onward, or a specialty subset, such as twentieth-century types. In this updated edition of his award-winning book, Q. David Bowers explores more than 250 distinct coin designs, from the 1792 half disme up to today’s American Innovation dollars, and every gold, silver, copper, steel, nickel, and other coin in between.

Bowers guides you in forming a type-coin set of your own—a unique collection with personal significance. Along the way you’ll learn about American history, the minting process, coin grading, secrets of being a smart buyer, and more. The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of U.S. Type Coins is the third entry in Whitman’s bestselling Bowers Series of numismatic reference books.

• coin specifications
• retail market values
• grading
• secrets of smart buying
• 50-plus coin types
• Hundreds of full-color images
• Values in multiple grades
• Historical value charts
• Now including a section on Philippine coins struck by the United States, 1903–1945
• and more