2017-07-14 Fri

On 4th July, the United States of America received its gift, a new edition of the Whitman Guide to Coin Collecting by Kenneth E. Bresset, which was first published in 1999.

Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker said, “Coin collectors have long been fascinated by the great rarities of the numismatic world”. He also added that numismatics love to learn about such things and marvel over such fantastic stories. We’re inspired by the adventures of the super-collectors like King Farouk of Egypt, a decadent monarch, who drained his treasury to make way for his pastimes. The fabulously wealthy Colonel E.H.R. Green, who could afford any coin he wanted and once owned all five 1913 Liberty Head nickels and Louis Eliasberg, the only collector ever to acquire one of every federally issued United States coin.”

Tucker further adds that not everyone is destined to be an Egyptian King but few among us can draw inspiration and become like Green and King Farouk. He also states that we do have the ability to become like John Pittman, an ordinary working man, happily married for 60 years, a chemical engineer for Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York, who had to collect coins on a regular budget. When Pittman’s collection was auctioned in the late 1990s, it went for more than $30 million.”

He says many hobbyists started collecting coins at a young age and from their pocket change. Numismatics no longer holds the same royal feel anymore and people nowadays take it as a popular pastime, fuelled by the quarters found in our pocket change, pursued by countless schoolchildren, waiters and waitresses, cashiers, computer techs, mechanics, farmers, college students, and other ‘ordinary’ Americans. The new edition of Bressett’s book is intended to guide new collectors in their entry to the hobby. Bressett is the long-time editor of Whitman’s A Guide Book of United States Coins, familiarly known as the “Red Book,” having been named to the position in 1974.

Tucker writes, Ken Bressett’s The Whitman Guide to Coin Collecting is one of the many contributions to the hobby. The main objective of the book is to provide knowledge and deep insights to numismatics.

The book has been updated several times, including in a new edition in 2003. The new and expanded edition has been updated with new information and guidance for hobbyists, and upgraded to full colour, with even more illustrations. Its readers will enjoy a one-on-one appointment with Ken Bressett, who opens the vault doors to his immense storehouse of practical, hands-on knowledge. It’s the perfect welcome to the world of coin collecting.