The back story of Q. David Bowers’s new Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars

The seventh edition of Whitman Publishing’s best-selling Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, by Q. David Bowers, is on sale now, available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. Here, Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker discusses the new volume in the context of the hobby’s fascination with these historic coins. Ask collectors to rank the coins of […]

Remembering David W. Lange (1958–2023)

David W. Lange, longtime Whitman Publishing author, has left the hobby community after a rich life devoted to numismatics. He died on Monday, January 16, 2023, after cancer slowly took his health and energy over the preceding months. Dave was the author of nearly a dozen books and hundreds of articles on United States coinage […]

Dennis Tucker on the new Guide Book of American Silver Eagles

Whitman Publishing’s new Guide Book of American Silver Eagles, by Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez, will debut in December 2022, available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. It is volume no. 27 in the best-selling “Bowers Series” of numismatic references. Here, Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker discusses the book and the popularity of American Silver Eagle coins. The American […]

Behind the Scenes: First Spouse Gold Coins—Reopening of the White House, Elizabeth Monroe

Elizabeth Monroe. 5th coin in the series. Mintage: 4,462 Burnished; 7,800 Proof. Designer: Joel Iskowitz (obverse); Donna Weaver (reverse). Sculptor: Don Everhart (obverse); Charles L. Vickers (reverse). Composition: .9999 gold. Actual Gold Weight: 1/2 ounce. Diameter: 26.49 mm. Edge: Reeded. Mint: West Point. Issue Price: $599.95 (Burnished); $619.95 (Proof). Release Date: February 28, 2008. The […]

From the Colonel’s Desk: The Guide Book of United States Coins’ Kentucky Connection

For many decades, starting in the 1930s, the city of Racine, Wisconsin, was home to the numismatic powerhouse of Whitman Publishing—the firm that popularized coin collecting during the Great Depression and World War II, mass-marketed coin boards and coin folders, and created the best-selling Guide Book of United States Coins (the hobby’s popular “Red Book”). […]

Behind the Scenes: First Spouse Gold Coins — Engraved in gold: The bravery of Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison. 4th coin in the series. Mintage: 12,340 Burnished; 17,943 Proof. Designer: Don Everhart (obverse) and Joel Iskowitz (reverse). Sculptor: Don Everhart (obverse and reverse). Composition: .9999 gold. Actual Gold Weight: 1/2 ounce. Diameter: 26.49 mm. Edge: Reeded. Mint: West Point. Issue Price: $509.95 (Burnished); $529.95 (Proof). Release Date: November 19, 2007. On November […]

Behind the Scenes: First Spouse Gold Coins—Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty

Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty. 3rd coin in the series. Mintage: 19,823 Burnished; 19,815 Proof. Designer: Robert Scot (obverse); Charles L. Vickers (reverse). Sculptor: Phebe Hemphill (obverse); Charles L. Vickers (reverse). Composition: .9999 gold. Actual Gold Weight: 1/2 ounce. Diameter: 26.49 mm. Edge: Reeded. Mint: West Point. Issue Price: $410.95 (Burnished); $429.95 (Proof). Release Date: August 30, […]

Behind the Scenes: First Spouse gold coins

The First Lady and the Future Chief Engraver Martha Washington. First coin in the series. Mintage: 17,661 Burnished; 19,167 Proof. The United States Mint’s First Spouse coins contain one-half ounce of .9999 fine gold—worth considerably more than their nominal $10 face value. The series debuted with Martha Washington in 2007. The portrait on the inaugural […]

Behind the Scenes: First Spouse gold coins

24-Karat Golden Legacies for America’s First Spouses In 1933 the United States was stuck several years deep in the mire of the Great Depression. The stock-market crash of 1929, and a crop-killing drought in the early 1930s, had brought a widespread collapse of the American economy. About half of the nation’s banks failed and 86,000 […]

From the Colonel’s Desk: Civil War token roundup—a strong market for Kentucky history

Some months ago, we took a look at merchant tokens issued by Kentucky businesses during the Civil War. (See “Kentucky Brass—Private Money in the Civil War,” July 29, 2021.) These tokens, usually made of bronze and the size of a cent, were manufactured privately, not by the government. Although not legal tender, they circulated as […]

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