United States Coins 2020 Whitman Blue Book Review
The Official Blue Book Handbook of United States Coins 2020 is a great resource for every coin collector. It contains priceless information and is especially worth it for the great price of $10. I bought this book on Amazon last year and I use it all the time. This book contains all of the mintages and prices of US coins and has very useful information about the history of US coinage. Whenever I go to appraise people's coin collections, this is the first resource I grab. The only suggestion I have for the publishers is that the values of constitutional (junk silver) is based on the melt value of silver at the time. This mainly has to do with the increase in silver spot price since it was printed. For example, a common Roosevelt silver dime in VF or EF condition is listed at $1.10 but the melt value as of me writing this is just under $2. I know that the value of silver is out of their control, but it would be a good idea to explicitly say that the value of common silver coins is based on the melt value of it the coin. All in all, this book is the best possible resource for US coins I have ever used. I will be buying the 2021 US Coins Blue Book this year for sure!
Comments
CentSearcher
Level 5
Yeah, silver melt is really causing problems with the values in the redbook / bluebook. Thanks for sharing!
Mal_ANA_YN
Level 5
Great information in both the red book and the blue book.
CoinsInHK
Level 3
My first coin book was a blue book (that I still have to this day) and it brings back fond memories of when I was just starting collecting, flipping through the pages, and admiring all the photos inside. Of course, professional services are better for examining coins for accurate grades, but as stated in the blog the Blue & Red books can be great to use, and for eyeball grades and in general, just finding info on a coin it's great! Thanks for the blog :) Sincereley, CoinsInHK
Stumpy
Level 5
Not a bad way to obtain a base value for a coin, Bama has a valid point on up to date value though. I also have and use this book, more for info, but use it I do. Nice review!
Kepi
Level 6
Thanks for the review. ; )
walking liberty
Level 4
The blue books are a nice reference for coins.
Longstrider
Level 6
I have to agree with I.R. Bama. Good luck and thanks.
I. R. Bama
Level 5
I don't think I would use that to price coins that I am grading for someone else professionally. I would use PCGS price guide online as it is based on market prices that are current as opposed to being static because they only publish once a year. Or I would use the green sheet to give them the wholesale price of each coin. Then they can know exactly what they will get if they sell to a dealer.
TheNumisMaster
Level 5
I would agree with you there, however I have found the red/blue book to be an invaluable resource for raw coins. But PCGS price guide and auction history is wonderful for graded pieces.
TheNumisMaster
Level 5
I have both the blue book and the red book. A very important resource!
Golfer
Level 5
I have a blue book also. Nice to have a guide on what a dealer might pay you for a coin. Plenty of price guides out there. It's good to gave an idea of what a coin might be worth before you buy it. Buying coins that you like is the key, then buying at a fair price. Thanks for a nice blog on blue book.