News Release

Whitman Publishing will release the newly expanded and updated seventh edition of A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, by Q. David Bowers, for the 2022 holiday season. The 336-page book will be available in December from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. In the meantime, it can be preordered (including online at www.Whitman.com).

The seventh edition’s coin-by-coin retail values have been updated in a snapshot of today’s rare-coin market, with detailed pricing in 11 circulated and Mint State grades plus 3 levels of Proof. The book includes hundreds of new images, with photographs of every date in the series plus new illustrations in the history chapters and appendices, and galleries of toned silver dollars and error coins. Analysis of certified-coin populations has been updated. The seventh edition includes an updated appendix on counterfeit Morgan dollars, based on the research of Beth Deisher, and a new appendix on the 1921–2021 centennial Morgan dollar coins. The index has been expanded for easy, comprehensive navigation of the book’s contents.

Following the format of the first six editions, the seventh includes a history of America’s silver dollar dating back to the 1790s, and chapters on the Morgan dollar’s design, how dies were made, the minting process, the five mints that struck the coin from 1878 to 1921, and Treasury hoards and other accumulations. For collectors, Bowers gives advice on ways to collect Morgan dollars; grading and the marketplace; and how to cherrypick rare die varieties. The book’s year-by-year catalog is an analysis by date and mintmark of more than 100 coins in the series. Appendices offer a report on the recent discovery of 1964 Morgan dollar dies and hubs in the Philadelphia Mint’s archives; a study of Morgan dollar patterns; a gallery and descriptions of misstruck and error Morgan dollars (including the 1882-CC “Grand Snake”); a study of counterfeit Morgan dollars in today’s market; and information on the 1921 Silver Dollar Coin Anniversary Act.

“No American numismatic library is complete without the latest edition of A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars,” said Jeff Garrett, senior editor of the Guide Book of United States Coins, in the new edition’s foreword.

The cover of the new seventh edition showcases a nearly perfect 1896-S Morgan silver dollar, graded MS-69. Positioned around it are an iridescent toned Proof of 1894; a cropped view of a 1964 Morgan dollar hub; a rare error coin, struck 25 percent off center; a 1921 “Chapman Proof,” graded PF-67; a Judd-1371 pattern struck in copper; and a 2021 coin marking the 100th anniversary of the historic Morgan dollar’s last coinage.

The Bowers Series, named for Whitman Publishing’s numismatic director, Q. David Bowers, is a popular library of numismatic books, each covering a different segment of the hobby. More than two dozen volumes have been published as of 2022, written by Bowers and other authors including David W. Lange, Rick Snow, Katherine Jaeger, Frank J. Colletti, Roger W. Burdette, Rick Tomaska, and Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Together they comprise more than 6,000 pages of history, market data, grading instructions, and other valuable numismatic information. Because Whitman Publishing is the Official Supplier of the American Numismatic Association, ANA members receive 10% off the book when purchasing directly from the publisher. It can also be borrowed for free as a benefit of ANA membership, through the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library.

Visitors to the March 31–April 2, 2022, Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo in Baltimore will have early access to the 2023 (76th) edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins (known to collectors as the “Red Book”). After its Expo debut this newest edition of the hobby’s best-selling reference will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide. In the meantime, it can be preordered, including at Whitman.com and other online bookstores.

A Guide Book of United States Coins is the world’s most popular annual retail price guide for U.S. coins, tokens, and other numismatic items.

The 76th edition has been expanded to 472 pages. It prices nearly 8,000 entries in up to 9 grades each, with more than 32,000 retail valuations in total. It includes many new features and updated research, plus additions to the book’s 1,900-plus color photographs.

Senior Editor Jeff Garrett said, “Today’s rare-coin market is dominated by collectors, with an emphasis on quality. Auction records continue to be set for outstanding coins and ultra-rarities. Renewed interest in collectibles, financially flush consumers, and fear of inflation have all combined to spark demand across the board for most United States coinage. The 76th edition of the Red Book has more price increases than any in recent years.”

Editor Emeritus Kenneth Bressett has worked on the Red Book since 1959. He wrote about the first 75 years of its history in his memoir A Penny Saved: R.S. Yeoman and His Remarkable Red Book. “I pity anyone looking for auction bargains today!” Bressett said about the current coin market. “Choice coins seem to be high on everyone’s wish list. Condition and rarity prompt the most active bidding, and shocking prices. The stimulated activity has also caused price increases in many lower-grade pieces. Are prices too high? Probably not, even though the expanded competition might not last forever. Markets and collector interests have a habit of changing over the years, but seemingly always in an upward direction over any reasonable period of time. The old adage ‘The time to buy is when the piece you want becomes available’ is as true today as it has ever been. I see nothing but good times ahead.”

Research Editor Q. David Bowers calls the Red Book “the most useful single-volume reference a coin collector can add to their library.”

“Our print runs for the Red Book have sold out faster than normal in recent years,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “We see this increased demand as a measure of the hobby’s growth. The 25 millionth copy of the Red Book was sold in 2021, and strong demand continues in 2022.”

The 76th edition, with a cover date of 2023, will be available in formats including the classic red hardcover; the convenient spiralbound softcover that lies flat when opened; and the easy-to-read Large Print Edition.