(Pelham, Alabama) — Whitman Publishing announces the upcoming release of the newest Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties. The sixth edition, volume II, will debut in August 2023 at the American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In the meantime, the 320-page spiralbound-hardcover book can be preordered for $39.95 online, including at Whitman.com. After the ANA show, the Cherrypickers’ Guide will be available from booksellers nationwide.
To “cherrypick” is to examine coins that appear normal at first glance, seeking those with unusual characteristics—overdates, repunched mintmarks, doubled and tripled dies, and similar features—that reveal them to be rare and valuable. The Cherrypickers’ Guide uses close-up photographs and text descriptions to show collectors what to look for. It includes rarity ratings and retail values in multiple grades.
For the latest volume, Cherrypickers’ Guide coauthor Bill Fivaz and professional numismatist Larry Briggs coordinated edits and updates. They reached out to the hobby community for advice, recommendations, research, market analysis, and photographs. The new volume features more than 440 die varieties, including nearly 80 new additions. The book covers Capped Bust and Liberty Seated half dimes, dimes, and quarters; Barber dimes and quarters; Mercury dimes; Roosevelt dimes; twenty-cent pieces; Standing Liberty quarters; and Washington quarters, including the State, D.C., Territorial, and National Park series.
Picking up from there, volume III of the sixth edition is slated to debut in 2024. It will cover Capped Bust, Liberty Seated, and Barber half dollars, plus Liberty Walking, Franklin, and Kennedy half dollars, trade dollars, Morgan and Peace silver dollars, modern dollar coins, gold coins (dollars through double eagles), classic commemoratives, bullion, and coins struck for the Philippines under U.S. sovereignty.
Bill Fivaz, a coin collector since 1950, has earned recognition as one of the country’s most respected authorities on numismatic errors and die varieties. He is a longtime contributor to the Guide Book of United States Coins (the “Red Book”), a past governor of the American Numismatic Association, and a past member of the United States Mint’s Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. With the late J.T. Stanton he published the first Cherrypickers’ Guide in 1990, launching the modern boom in interest in die varieties.
Volume editor Larry Briggs is well-known to the hobby community as a dealer, author, and educator. He was president of the American Numismatic Association’s Authentication Committee. A student of history and archaeology, Briggs served in the U.S. Air Force and worked for Ford Motor Company before launching his own business, Larry Briggs Rare Coins, in 1978. His specialties include error coins and die varieties, Liberty Seated coinage, and early American coppers.
Cherrypickers’ Guide to Rare Die Varieties of United States Coins, sixth edition, volume II.
By Bill Fivaz and J.T. Stanton; forewords by Kenneth Bressett and Q. David Bowers; edited by Larry Briggs.
Publication date: August 2023. Retail $39.95. 320 pages, 6 x 9 inches, spiralbound hardcover.
