Welcome to the latest edition of my Notes. In recent times everyone has been busy putting together our great Eldorado Sale to be held in conjunction with the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo in Atlanta in a few weeks. The sale itself contains many different things, ranging from entry-level to quite rare, and with everything having significant numismatic interest, this being the rule for most of our sales.

At the Atlanta show itself on Thursday at 3:00 in the afternoon, I will be giving a program. If you plan to be there, I would be delighted to have you be a guest. There is no admission charge to the show or to any of the presentations.

Last week I gave the Whitman news release on the following new book, but had not yet seen a copy. Now I have, and here are some thoughts concerning it.

Arriving in the mail the other day was A Guide Book of the Official Red Book of United States Coins, published by Whitman. This is, in effect, a Guide Book to the Guide Book. I had seen it in manuscript form and with Ken Bressett (editor of that popular red-covered reference) had written a Foreword. However, now is the first time I saw it all together in book form.

Author Frank J. Colletti has devoted nearly 300 pages to telling the story of America's favorite numismatic reference. The first edition was launched in 1946, with a cover date of 1947, with an initial printing of 9,000 copies. These sold out quickly, and a second run of 9,000 copies was ordered, with a typographical change involving the 1903-O Morgan dollar. Today in the marketplace a nice copy of the first printing is worth $1,250 according to Colletti, and of the second printing $1,100. How do you tell? In the first printing at the bottom of page 135, above the listing for the 1921 silver dollar, a sentence ends, "which probably accounts for the scarcity of this date." In the second printing, this is changed to, "which probably accounts for the scarcity of 1903-O."

From the 1947 edition, it was onward and upward, to the point at which today in 2009 tens of millions of copies have been sold, ranking it as one of the most popular non-fiction titles of all time. Although the Internet provides pricing information as do weekly newspapers and monthly magazines, the good old Guide Book of United States Coins remains as popular as ever -a one-volume library, so to speak, a great introduction to United States coins. I heartily recommend the new Colletti book as a "good read," A Guide Book of the Official Red Book of United States Coins. The list price is $18.95, but your net is just $15.95 from our website. The official news release about this appeared on our website last week.

Books always have been and continue to be the very best numismatic investment. Probably, $100 to $300 spent on books will bring far more enjoyment than the same amount on coins, tokens, medals, or paper money. Moreover, this modest amount will multiply your enjoyment of those particular series once you go into the marketplace.

At the Central States Convention in Indianapolis, coming up soon, Stack's will be having a bourse table. If you plan to attend, come by and say hello to the staff.

Until next time, all good wishes to you.

Best Wishes,