There are pieces of numismatic history that are rare, and then there are those that are truly one-of-a-kind.

Three such pieces of the early days of coin collecting will be coming out of the Whitman Publishing archives and to the Bourse for the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Philadelphia Expo. They are:

• The Original Shop Dummy of the first edition of the "Red Book" (the Guide Book of United States Coins), published in 1946. Don't let the blue  color fool you. This is a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of the making of the book that to this day is the hobby's best-selling guide book, complete with vellum hand-lettered cover sketch.
• Before there was the Red Book, there was the "Blue Book," published beginning in 1942. The Original Shop Dummy of the first edition of the Blue Book, including penciled notes and pasted-in content, let's you peer even further back to the earliest origins of the original handbook of U.S. Coins.
• An Antique Whitman Publishing Printing Plate, used to print one of Whitman's game-changing coin boards, in this case "Barber or Liberty Head Half Dollar Collection No. 2." Whitman began making coin boards in the 1930s, followed by coin folders in 1940. This innovation made it easy to collect and display coins from pocket change and helped usher in the Great Depression era's popular craze for coin collecting.

They are only the latest addition to a remarkable array of coin and currency collectible treats that await dealers and hobbyists alike at the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Philadelphia Expo.

Click here for FREE online registration to the Expo.