I live in California and am looking for a good book on US coins and values. I am fairly new to the hobby and santa came early (ups) with my new e-trac. I just want some refrence to the coins I might dig up locally. Are certain coin guides better than others?
Your best bet would be the Red Book. It is published once a year by Whitman. They should be available at any coin shop near you or someplace such as Borders Books.
It contains a wealth of information about all US coin issues, and pricing for the various grades.
Keep in mind though that the pricing is merely an estimate. Since it is only published once a year the prices aren't current. Having said that though, the majority of individual coin prices change very little during the year or even year to year. Most price movement is seen in bullion type coins, very high end coins, and sometimes within a particular series if there happens to be a lot of demand. For example with the 100 anniversary of the Lincoln Cent in 2009, the price of even common wheat cents has risen this year. No doubt the telemarketers are stocking up getting ready to bombard us.
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