You can have unlimited funds but without adhering to a basic core group of numismatic fundamentals, I believe it is very difficult–if not impossible–to build a great collection of coins. Some of the best collections I have seen in the last few decades were built by collectors with average discretionary income levels.   
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A few years ago, I wrote a blog about coin books that needed to be written for United States gold coin collectors. A few of what I considered to be the gaping holes in gold coin literature have been filled but others remain. Here, again, are some of my “dream books” and the reasons why I think they would be important. 1. A Collector’s Guide to Classic Head gold coinage.   
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A review of my book “Gold Coins of the New Orleans Mint 1839-1909” was recently featured in the on-line publication “The Esylum” dated October 1, 2006 and listed as Volume 9, Issue #40.   
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Having just returned from a nice long weekend in lovely San Francisco, I found myself often* asking the question “why doesn’t such a great town with such an indisputable numismatic history have a more active collecting base?” I can think of at least four reasons why San Francisco gold coins lag their fellow branch mints’ popularity. No one has written a book on these coins.   
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One of the most confusing areas for a new coin collector to understand is pricing. Many collectors have experience in purchasing stocks and are used to being able to open a daily newspaper and seeing accurate price quotes for a specific item. In most cases, the coin market operates on an entirely different basis. Stocks and bonds are easy to price because they are commodities. Every regular share of IBM is the same and is valued accordingly.   
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New collectors often ask me to recommend books to add to their numismatic libraries. I find myself recommending a core group of fifteen or so over and over again. This made me realize that it would be very helpful to write a short article that listed the ten essential United States coin books. My parameters for these books are simple: they are well-written and useful.   
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