Updated with new research, market prices and expanded text by Q. David Bowers, the ninth edition of Dr. J. Hewitt Judd’s United States Pattern Coins will be released in October by Whitman Publishing, LLC.
The hardcover resource offers information on the history, rarity and values of these experimental pieces, created from 1792 to 2000.
“United States Pattern Coins illustrates the trials, struggles, and backstage intrigue that preceded so many of the U.S. Mint’s regular issues,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “This is a fascinating inside look at America’s rarest coins.”
At 352 pages, the fully illustrated ninth edition is 16 pages longer than the eighth edition, published in 2003. With the aid of several authorities in the field, Bowers set out to build upon the strong foundation originally laid by Judd in 1959.
Saul Teichman, Robert Hughes, John Gervasoni, Julian Leidman and Andy Lustig are among the coin dealers and researchers who have contributed to the new edition.
To complement the text, the book features hundreds of new photographs, many provided by the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, Princeton University and other premier institutions that hold these rare pieces.
The book includes new appendices that examine patterns struck outside the Mint, pattern metals and a gallery of unusual sets and curiosities.
It includes new research on authenticity, provenance, populations, rarity levels, recent auctions and retail values.
“If you collect U.S. coins and think you’ve seen it all, you’re really only getting half the story,” said Mary Counts, president of Whitman Publishing. “United States Pattern Coins will open a whole new world.”
The book will premier at the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Expo in Atlanta, Oct. 6. It will be available at coin shops and bookstores for $29.95.
