Book Review: Cherrypickers' Guide
Mike Marotta
Fifth Edition, Volume 1: Half Cents to Jefferson Nickels, by Bill
Fivaz and J.T. Stanton, 2009, 365 pages, $39.95. The hybrid binding,
spiral protected by hardcover, makes this a tool for the bourse floor.
The page layout delivers plenty of white space for notes and
marginalia. Each entry is tagged for its “Pickup Points” rarity
(Bowers, Sheldon), interest rank, Red Book variety, pocket change and
Young Numismatist discovery opportunities. Appendices outline the
Minting process, suggest the best ways to send coins in the mail, and
coordinate the new and old Fivaz-Stanton numbering systems.
I originally posted the above here and on CoinPeople, but I cannot
find the RCC post in the archives, so please excuse the replay.
I went looking for this review because of the "Falling Down on the
Job" topic. The point was made that since we don't get paid, this is
not a job. But cherrypicking, is indeed, the way to get paid if you
collect. Dealers often complain that they are forced to be
generalists while collectors have the luxury of being specialists.
Consider the Silver 3-Cent (1851-1873), also called a "trime" in its
day, but not so much so now even by its aficianados. It's a cute coin
on its own, regardless. The Cherrypickers' Guide lists eight
varieties, an inventory small enough to memorize. You can go to any
major show -- ANA, Long Beach, FUN -- and see all the trimes in less
than a day. Make any local show, any flea market or antique mall, and
-- knowing the markets for the entire series; again, its small enough
-- you can find the bargains and get paid to find new homes for them
elsewhere.
These opportunities exist all over the spectrum of collecting from
Roman Constantines to Modern World Banknotes.
The Cherrypickers' series, of course, is for American Type Coins --
again itself a finite universe -- and that is what interests most
people here on RCC: most people in America collect American coins. No
surprise in that. So, if that is your world, then this is your
travelogue. For forty bucks, you can't go wrong.
Mike M.
Michael E. Marotta
"Buy the book before you buy the coin." -- Aaron Feldman