Jeff Garrett interviewed David Fanning on the Red Book Podcast. -Editor

In this fascinating episode of the Red Book Podcast, Jeff Garrett sits down with legendary numismatic literature expert David Fanning of Kolbe & Fanning Numismatic Booksellers — the world's longest-running rare numismatic literature firm.

From $14,000 coin books and annotated auction catalogs to the origins of die varieties, provenance research, and the evolution of coin photography, this episode dives deep into the hidden backbone of coin collecting: knowledge.

Topics Covered:

• How David Fanning got started in numismatics
• The history of Kolbe & Fanning
• Why "Buy the Book Before the Coin" still matters
• The most important U.S. numismatic books ever written
• Rare book collecting vs. coin collecting
• Provenance, auction catalogs & annotated copies
• Ancient coin libraries and research
• The impact of digitization & the Newman Portal
• Legendary collectors like Armand Champa, Virgil Brand & Harry Bass
• How numismatic books changed coin collecting forever