New Book Will Appeal to Coin Collectors and Other Hobbyists
(Pelham, Alabama) — Whitman Publishing announces the release of A Guide Book of Collectible Postcards, by Q. David Bowers and Mary L. Martin. The 432-page book will be available for preorder Labor Day weekend, 2020. In mid-September, it will be available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide and online for $39.95.
Collectors of coins, tokens, medals, and paper money also find postcards to be an appealing hobby. Hover to zoom.
Postcard collecting has been a popular American pastime since the hobby’s Golden Age (the 1890s through World War One). For today’s collector, postcards offer historic photography, snapshots of pop culture and everyday life, colorful works by famous artists — and the thrill of the hunt while building a collection.
Various United States Treasury facilities pictured on vintage postcards.
The Guide Book covers the hobby from the earliest postcards of the 1870s to the modern chrome cards found on store racks today.
Beautifully embossed and colored U.S. and world coin images.
Leonard A. Lauder, in the book’s foreword, wrote, “Together, Mary Martin and Dave Bowers have raised the bar for the serious recognition of the postcard as one of the most important forms of mass media in history.”
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and U.S. postage stamps, shown on old postcards.
The Guide Book includes:
- more than 1,500 illustrations
- Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs), linens, chromes, signed artist cards, sets and series, hand-colored cards, error cards, composites, mechanicals and novelties, and more
- Christmas, Halloween, comics, and other popular categories
- famous artists like Charles Dana Gibson, Winsor McCay, Alphonse Mucha, and many others
- history of the hobby and postcard production methods
- advice for smart buying and collecting
- valuation charts for hundreds of card types
- grading instructions
- check lists for sets and series, to keep track of your collections
- high-resolution images of more than 1,300 example postcards
- a comprehensive appendix describing more than 2,000 historic postcard manufacturers and distributors
- extensive indexes for further research
Banks are a popular postcard theme, with crossover appeal for numismatists.
“Collectors and dealers have been waiting for a full-color overview and in-depth reference to this fascinating hobby,” said Whitman publisher Dennis Tucker. “The Guide Book of Collectible Postcards is a one-stop resource for newcomers and experienced collectors alike.”
Coauthors Bowers and Martin.
David Bowers and Mary L. Martin share decades of experience in buying, selling, and collecting. Bowers, well known to coin collectors as the “Dean of American Numismatics,” says that “Postcard collecting, like coin collecting, takes you on a unique trip into the past. The Guide Book of Collectible Postcards showcases cards of high society and lowbrow humor, natural disasters, social, political, and religious movements, popular artists’ illustrations, newspaper comics, circus animals, early movie stars, athletes, planes, trains, automobiles, and the corner general store.”
Coauthor Mary Martin grew up in the postcard business when her parents were among the nation’s leading dealers. She is recognized as an organizer of collector shows, a prolific researcher and author, and one of the field’s most active buyers and sellers.
The Guide Book of Collectible Postcards was co-authored by two of the leading authors in antiques and collectibles: Q. David Bowers and Mary L. Martin.
A Guide Book of Collectible Postcards
By Q. David Bowers and Mary L. Martin; foreword by Leonard A. Lauder
ISBN 0794847374
Softcover, 8.5 x 11 inches
432 pages
Full color
Retail $39.95 U.S.
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