Whitman Publishing recently released the second edition of the Guide Book of Buffalo and Jefferson Nickels by Q. David Bowers.
The 320-page softcover book is available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide and online for $19.95 USD.
“If you have even the slightest interest in Buffalo or Jefferson nickels, this book by Dave Bowers is an absolute must,” writes numismatic educator and die-variety specialist Bill Fivaz in the book’s foreword. “I guarantee you’ll have fun with these series.”
The book covers America’s two most popular nickel five-cent series—Buffalo nickels, minted from 1913-38, and Jefferson nickels, minted from 1938 to date. Bowers, the nation’s most prolific numismatic author, offers a detailed history as well as advice on smart collecting and a date-by-date analysis of both series. This includes mintages, specifications, strike quality and other technical aspects, market values in multiple grades (including Full Steps for Jefferson nickels), and high-resolution enlargements for important overdates and other die varieties. The text and catalogue are illustrated by 941 images, including photographs of every coin by date and mintmark.
10 PER CENT LONGER
The new edition is more than 10 per cent longer than the first, with 32 extra pages of content. It has been updated with many more photographs, expanded coverage of die varieties, new retail market values for each coin, and the latest U.S. Mint data. New illustrated appendices explore Depression-era and modern hobo nickels; James Earle Fraser’s nickel design as used on the American Buffalo 24-karat gold coin series; and “Nickels Here and There” (a study of the nickel in American popular culture). Other appendices explore a chronology of the nickel five-cent piece, Mint errors and misstrikes, and pattern Buffalo nickels.