Guide Book of United States Coins 2005: The Official Red Book (Guide Book of United States Coins)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent edition; recommended for all
Review: Kudos to Mr. Bressett on this edition. I would recommend this to anyone just starting to collect coins, or who hasn't picked up a copy of this reference in a few years. The Whitman ads that offended me in the 2004 edition have been largely addressed. While there are seven full pages of ads (no longer all from Whitman) still present, five of them have been pushed to the very front or back of the book. If the two remaining pages of ads smack dab in the middle were moved to either end as well, this would be a five-star book. Or if the price was markedly decreased with the additional ad revenue.
That said, there were some great additions: The introduction has been improved with a summary of abbreviations used throughout the book. An additional column of grades has been added with the early coinage, which is nice. The poor quality of images from the 2004 edition have been addressed - one or two slipped through, but by and large all of them are good. The value table for the misstrikes has been dropped, which is probably a good idea - misstrikes are fickle creatures when it comes to value. The misstrikes layout is also very nicely redone. The hard times tokens are back, and the patterns section was kept. Near the very end, a few new notes from Q. David Bowers really enhance the sense of what numismatics is about - that there is a rich history not only of the coins themselves but within the collecting community as well. Last but not least, a very nice glossary is included at the end.
Oddly the `additional contributors' section was dropped; not a big deal to the casual reader - I don't know how the contributors feel. The commemorative section has a plethora of new images and some layout changes, with mixed results.
Overall, this is an excellent edition. Meaningful additions were made and existing materials enhanced. I would recommend this edition to anyone looking for a good coin reference.