NEW BOOK: CHERRYPICKERS' GUIDE, 6TH EDITION, VOLUME I

Whitman Publishing announces the release of a new, expanded, and updated 25th-anniversary volume of the Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins. The popular award-winning series shows collectors how to find valuable coins hidden in pocket change and dealers’ inventories. The new sixth edition, volume I, covers half cents, large cents, small cents, two-cent and three-cent pieces, and nickels. It will be available on September 29, 2015, online (including at www.Whitman.com) and from booksellers, hobby shops, and coin dealers nationwide, for $39.95. The book can also be borrowed for free as a benefit of membership in the American Numismatic Association, through the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library.

Longtime die-variety specialist Mike Ellis joined the Cherrypickers’ team as editor of the new volume, working with the book’s original creators, Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton.

“Cherrypicking” involves examining coins to find those that look common at first glance, but have unusual characteristics (like doubled and tripled dies, overdates, and repunched mintmarks) that make them rare and valuable. An example is the 1873 Indian Head cent with a doubled obverse (pictured on the book’s cover). The normal coin can be bought for about $125 in circulated condition, while the doubled-die variety in the same grade is worth $2,000.

The Cherrypickers’ Guide includes 1,100 close-up photographs plus text descriptions to guide the reader, as well as market information and values in multiple grades, for more than 680 varieties. Appendices include essays on types of doubling, how to examine your coins, Proof set varieties, collector clubs, recommended reading, and other beginner and advanced topics.

The new volume is 48 pages longer than the fifth edition and features 150 new varieties. “Lincoln cent collectors are the biggest winners with the latest Cherrypickers’ Guide, with 43 new varieties, including many moderns,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “Also, the Buffalo nickel and Jefferson nickel chapters have each nearly doubled, with 31 and 34 new varieties, respectively.” Other series that include more than 10 new entries include two-cent pieces, Shield nickels, and Indian Head cents. There are additions to the Flying Eagle cent and Liberty Head nickel series, as well.

Ellis and Fivaz coordinated the efforts of more than 15 die-variety specialists from around the country, updating retail prices, rarity ratings, and various market factors for each coin. The new book gives special attention to the Two Feather varieties of Buffalo nickels, the doubled dies of the 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial cents, and various Close AM and Wide AM cent varieties.

The front of each chapter conveniently lists new entries, as well as entries scheduled to be removed from future coin-by-coin listings, and old entries that have been debunked by modern research.

The Cherrypickers’ Guide can be pre-ordered online before its September 2015 rollout, including at www.Whitman.com.

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The Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins, sixth edition, volume I.
David Bowers and Kenneth Bressett.

ISBN 0794843182
Spiralbound hardcover, 512 pages, Retail $39.95

To more information, or to order, see:
Cherrypickers' Guide to Rare Die Varieties, 6th Edition, Volume I (/www.whitman.com/store/Inventory/Detail/Cherrypickers-Guide-to-Rare-Die-Varieties-6th-Edition-Volume-I+0794843182)

Wayne Homren, Editor

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web