Whitman Publishing announces the release of the newly expanded and updated sixth edition of A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, by Q. David Bowers. The 320-page book will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide in early March 2019, for $19.95. Before then it is available for preorder (including online at www.Whitman.com).
The sixth edition’s coin-by-coin retail valuations have been updated to reflect today’s market, in 11 circulated and Mint State grades plus 3 levels of Proof. Certified-coin population commentary has been updated. The book includes a new illustrated 9-page appendix on the discovery of dies, hubs, and models for the 1964 Morgan dollar, and a new appendix on counterfeit coins in today’s marketplace. The index has been expanded for easy navigation of the book. Numerous edits were made throughout the volume, reflecting new research including insight on George Morgan’s professional relationship and personal friendship with engraver Charles E. Barber.
As did the previous five editions, the sixth edition 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. Collectors benefit from Bowers’s advice on ways to collect Morgan dollars; grading and the marketplace; and how to specialize in 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 further study of Morgan dollar patterns and error and misstruck coins.
“The world of collecting Morgan dollars is full of the kind of historical intrigue that makes up any legend,” said professional numismatist Adam Crum in his foreword, “with roots reaching deep into the mines of the Comstock Lode and into the minds of numismatic scholars and collectors alike.”
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. Two dozen volumes have been published as of early 2019, written by Bowers and other authors including David W. Lange, Rick Snow, Katherine Jaeger, Frank J. Colletti, Roger W. Burdette, and Rick Tomaska. Together they comprise more than 6,000 pages of history, market data, grading instructions, and other valuable 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.