Whitman Publishing announces the upcoming release of volumes 3 and 4 of the WhitmanEncyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money, by Q. David Bowers. Each volume is an 8.5 x 11-inchhardbound book printed in full color on high-quality paper. Combined, they make up 928 pagescovering the early bank currency of the entire state of Massachusetts. The books will debutDecember 1, 2014, available from booksellers and hobby shops nationwide and online (including atwww.Whitman.com), for $69.95 each. The books can also be borrowed for free as a benefit ofmembership in the American Numismatic Association, through the Dwight N. Manley NumismaticLibrary.

The Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money is a multiple-volume study of currencyissued from 1782 to 1866, before the modern era of National Banks and the Federal Reserve. Over thecourse of these decades more than 3,000 state-chartered banks issued their own paper money.

In Volume 3, Bowers gives the history of every Massachusetts town and city from Abington toGreenfield, as well as of every bank in those towns that issued this uniquely American currency.Each note is studied, and hundreds are pictured in full color, with information on grading, rarity,values, significant auction results, advice for collectors, and more. Volume 4 offers the samecoverage of the towns, cities, and banks from Hallowell to Yarmouth.

"No price and rarity guide has been published on Massachusetts for many years," Bowers says."Collectors own thousands of notes that are awaiting proper identification; some of them have thepotential to be worth thousands of dollars."

Active collectors, researchers, dealers, historians, and other experts have volunteered theirtime and knowledge to help create this new encyclopedia series. The state editor for Massachusettsis C. John Ferreri, and the foreword is by Anne E. Bentley, curator of art and artifacts for theMassachusetts Historical Society.

Earlier volumes of the Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money included an overviewof the field, and coverage of the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire.Future volumes will cover the rest of New England, the South Atlantic states, the Mid-Atlanticstates, the American Midwest, the District of Columbia, and territories.