Whitman Publishing releases new updated edition of Robert Shippee’s award-winning memoir on collecting and investing in rare coins

(Pelham, Alabama) — Whitman Publishing announces the release of the second edition of Pleasure and Profit: 100 Lessons for Building and Selling a Collection of Rare Coins, by Robert W. Shippee. The 328-page book will debut at the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo, February 28, 2019. After that, it can be ordered from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide, and online, for $19.95 retail.

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In Pleasure and Profit, longtime collector Robert Shippee reveals how he carefully assembled a meaningful collection of rare coins. His Waccabuc Collection of half cents through $20 gold double eagles sold at public auction for a profitable $1.5 million. Pleasure and Profit gathers the lessons he learned from buying and selling each of the nearly 150 coins.

Shippee provides real-world advice to guide other collectors on acquisition strategies, storage choices, and disposition options, in addition to commentary on auction firms, third-party grading services, famous dealers, numismatic personalities, market forces, and—with unflinching honesty—his laid-bare financial results.

Pleasure and Profit is one of Whitman’s most talked-about books on collecting and investing in U.S. coins,” said publisher Dennis Tucker. “Many hobbyists have told me, ‘I wish I’d had a guide like this when I started collecting.’”

The first edition earned the “Best Specialized Book on Numismatic Investments” award from the Numismatic Literary Guild.

In the second edition, Shippee updates the market reports on nearly all of the coins in his case-study collection. He expands his discussion of rare-coin indexes and his comparison of coins vs. the stock market. And he makes a new analysis of his coins by denomination, tracking where they would be, value-wise, a decade-plus after their sale.

“With greater knowledge comes greater confidence as a collector,” Shippee says. “My hope is you can learn from my successes—and just as much from my mistakes.”

Q. David Bowers, past president of the Professional Numismatists Guild, calls Pleasure and Profit “one of the most useful books in American numismatics.”

Pleasure and Profit: 100 Lessons for Building and Selling a Collection of Rare Coins, 2nd edition

By Robert W. Shippee; foreword by Q. David Bowers

ISBN 0794847137

Softcover, 6 x 9 inches, 328 pages, full color

Retail $19.95 U.S.

Press release courtesy of Whitman Publishing.

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Comments

  1. cagcrisp says

    Sooner or Later people will become Immune to Gimmicks…

    Buy the sets and Flip the cent on the bay.

    Reeks of Desperation…

  2. Hidalgo says

    @cagcrisp

    Problem is that folks continuously fall for gimmicks.

    How many reverse proofs, enhanced uncirculated, mint marks (2017 P Lincoln, ASE versions, etc.) are really needed? As long as there are buyers, the US Mint will continue to produce variations.

    P.T. Barnum: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

  3. Sith says

    Gentleman,

    I think you don’t see the problem with this issue, or do I have it wrong? The mint is including the coin with the proof sets, and charging you for it. If you want a proof set, you going get the coin whether you like it or not

  4. cagcrisp says

    @Sith…

    I guess thegood news is that the Mint didn’t raise the price for the proof set because of the extra cent.

    eBay loves the Mint…

  5. cagcrisp says

    @Hildago…

    At least this Gimmick is Free. The one in the Silver proof set is going up in price more than the Silver content adjustment would justify. We will see what happens to the Uncirculated set…

  6. John Q. Coinage says

    PCGS has shuttered its currency grading for US Note$….. no current plan on a restart…. %’ing

  7. Hidalgo says

    @cagcrisp .

    Has a price for the 2019 Silver Proof Set been posted? If the price increase is say, $1 – $6, then it can be attributed to inflation, higher cost of materials, etc. Whatever reasons the US Mint justifies for price hikes.

  8. smalltimecollector says

    Regarding this book. idk if it’s a good fit for a collector that buys coins because they like them. I can only guess that the subject will be to purchase the best possible and in many cases graded by known companies. Finding coins at fire-sales (deaths, divorce or financial ruin) and then selling at a well advertised auction. To read instructions would be interesting and may play into a casual collector looking at investing a small amount into rarities. It would seem the audience is the hard core investment trader type.

  9. Jerry Diekmann says

    Will there still be a “S” mint coin in the 2019 proof set? In other words – two proof cents?

  10. cagcrisp says

    @Jerry Diekmann says,”Will there still be a “S” mint coin in the 2019 proof set? In other words – two proof cents?”

    Yep.

    New in 2019! Premium Coin: The 2019 proof set is accompanied by a NEW 2019 premium penny in a proof finish struck at West Point Mint with a “W” mint mark. This special coin is packaged separately in clear United States Mint plastic wrap…

  11. Bigguy says

    Coin world posted that proof coins and commemoratives will be .999 silver instead of 90% the article is at coin world

  12. Larry says

    The 2019 Silver Proof Set will have a reverse proof W penny. Sigh. That means the one in the 2018 reverse proof set won’t be unique. On the other hand, we will have a nice 3 coin W penny set. It would have been nice if the mint just sold that set, because I only buy the silver proof set every year, not the regular proof set or uncirculated set. I can see a ton of sets being opened to make a set of those coins.
    I don’t know why some on this blog call these ‘gimmicks” I like the variety. I’m still waiting for a matte proof gold coin set. The old matte proof coins I have seen at shows are stunning.

  13. CaliSkier says

    OT
    Have any of you out there purchased/read this book? I’d imagine that this is an interesting book, that can be enjoyed by many. Investors, speculators, collectors(other than coins?), dreamers, realists, numismatists, etc….

    The research and history alone probably prove of interest as well. Again, curious if any own or have read Robert Shipee’s, “Pleasure and Profit”? Thoughts?

  14. Jerry Diekmann says

    cagcrisp – OMG – is there now going to be three gimmick cents this year? Pretty soon there is going to be so many low mintage wonders that none of them will have any extra value. Talk about how to ruin a hobby – the Mint is doing everything it can to drive away collectors. In the end there will be just investors and flippers – and the fools who part with their money for overpriced TPG gimmicks. Makes no sense, at least in the long term.

  15. smalltimecollector says

    first economic data since shutdown released today Chicago Fed National Activity shows below average growth. The next week or two, and especially next months data that’s been delayed because of the shutdown delayed important info.
    Other data that’s been available shows individuals may be having problems paying for term and consumer loans. Not included are home loans that saw increasing numbers of foreclosure starts in the last half of 2018. Be interesting to see what occurs through this year.
    I’m beginning to wonder if some of the mints more expensive offerings will see lower mintages that in the recent past.

  16. Larry says

    I wonder if the mint might release some W pennies into circulation. Maybe that is the “released into circulation rarity” for this year?

  17. Sith says

    @cagcrisp

    “I guess the good news is that the Mint didn’t raise the price for the proof set because of the extra cent”

    We don’t know that yet as “Pricing for the Silver Proof set and Uncirculated Mint set with premiums has not been announced.”

    “eBay loves the Mint”

    Yes they do…

  18. cagcrisp says

    We are Tracking a Two Level ($100) Mint pricing Increase for Palladium…

    To get a Two Level price Increase for Palladium we need Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s Fixes to Average at least $1,513.00 and for Wednesday’s PM Fix to be $1,500.00 or Above.

    Current Bid/Ask on Palladium is $1,521.00/$1,546.00.

    A Two Level price Increase would make tomorrow’s SO 2018 Proof Palladium $1,937.50…

  19. Hidalgo says

    @cagcrisp

    Palladium prices. I see a speculative bubble growing that will eventually burst. Shades of gold and silver prices from 2011!

  20. cagcrisp says

    @Hidalgo…

    There are Potential strikes in South Africa that is driving the bus

    South African mine owners are going to court to try to prevent the scheduled strikes…

  21. johnaz says

    If they put that penny in celo wrap like in the 50 and 60,hair line like the proof sets of the 50,and 60.

  22. cagcrisp says

    Brexit and Gold…

    Last night Corbyn said that the Labour Party would support a Second referendum. He had been opposed to that previously.

    IF there is a Second referendum and IF the U.K. votes to Remain, what happens to Gold?

    1. Theory #1 is that the Euro goes Up, USD goes Down and Gold goes Up because of the weaker dollar
    2. Theory #2 is that Gold goes Down because the EU is now going to be Stronger and less demand for an alternative currency…

  23. Dustyroads says

    The Palladium price action has been very impressive over the last three open days. You might think that to find an equally impressive move one would only have to go back to January 16 and 17. I believe Pd’s price action is so strong that to mach it one would in fact have to go all the back to December 1, 2010. In that instance Pd continued to rise until it finally hit it’s top on February 21, 2011 then began a long sideways movement until on September 21 2011 it went into a slide which washed out 20% of it’s gains. Pd slowly continued to rise over time until it plateaued at $780. from October to June of 2015. When at that time it lost support Pd came down to it’s 2011 lows which it tried to maintain, but wasn’t able. On January 12, 2016 Palladium finally hit it’s low at $453. beginning it present bull run. As I’m writing this Pd price is at $1,552.

    Platinum is making moves up as well, however, markets don’t easily forget a bear market like the 7 year long market that Pt has been in. Palladium is just simply a safer bet for speculators, not taking into consideration news.

  24. Tom says

    @ Dustyroads. Of all the metals I have traded in, Palladium is the most volatile. I was buying it in the $30.00 range years ago. Few would touch it. Buyers wanted gold and silver. A few wanted platinum. But Palladium was too risky. When it hit$ 60.00 it started gaining traction.

  25. John Q. Coinage says

    Tom, when was it $60? or” $30″ maybe in the 1960’s…..not withing this century, maybe the EAR:Y ’90$… [!!!] , I’ve had Pd for 20+ years & it was in the high 100’s…..in the 1990’s it was $100> most times?

    Pd is a THIN Market, eventually Pt will be in balance with Pd, unless there become major technical reasons…..I didn’t want to buy more @ $500 a Z, well oh well….

  26. John Q. Coinage says

    0h & my 5z Apollo 11 PUCKS are ont he way, they were a “back order” till MAY 1st!!!! Returns or what..I will see….

  27. Tom says

    @ John Q. I said years ago. In the late 80’s, I more than doubled my money when Palladium hit $ 67.00. I hauled that stuff around from show to show. Often other dealers would make me a good deal to trade junk silver for it. Most don’t remember $4.00 silver either. Or gold under 250.00.

  28. Dustyroads says

    Tom, It’s amazing isn’t it, all the changes we have seen. Too bad we can’t know everything about where prices are headed. It is possible though, at least I believe it is, that there are signs to look for where assets have a chance of gaining traction. I really like the monthly chart and the 50 EMA especially for spotting bull markets. Our major indexes are still looking good, however I don’t like that they are running as hot as they are. Too much, too fast. Makes my think that investors don’t care if they wreck it. Seems to me that their all a bit drunk from watching their accounts growing lately. I’ve been watching for a downturn in housing starts, finally saw it today. Inflation is back down to 1.6 and we still need to see what GDP is going to be. Anybody else believe we’re living once again in 1939, legalism, witch hunts, I’m okay but you’re not okay, all about the group mentality….etc etc. I believe one of three things is about to happen, 1) the major indexes have a healthy pullback, 2) the major indexes have a rally the likes of which we’ve never seen before with a subsequent crash, or 3) we enter into a war which will be a defining moment for the US. I say a healthy pullback.

  29. John Q. Coinage says

    Yeah Tom I still have memories of pulling 90% from change….. Pd was really only the Noble when I started with it & was just about $100 oz. I made a good amount & sold some, maybe time to offload more. ….. Dusty not sure which will play out but the inflation #$ are cooked to a degree, the claims of no inflation are not really for the boots on the street… energy & food & seem to go up -up…particularly here in CA where we get gassed by the gas price$…..but I think they are left out of the inflation #s….. but I have to pay for them regardless…..

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