Each listing includes variable prices based on a coin's measured quality, or grade.

In 1942, Yeoman had served as a founding co-editor of Whitman Publishing's Handbook of United States Coins (the Blue Book).

However, Yeoman believed collectors wanted even more information on their coins, so he began to compile the Red Book.

Delayed until the end of World War II, the Red Book was published in 1946, providing collectors even more historical information as well as retail values (prices collectors could expect to pay coin dealers to buy coins) instead of wholesale values.

Dubbed the "1947 Tribute Edition" (ISBN 0-7948-2230-4), it differs from the original by having a dust jacket (the first Red Book ever to have one) and an additional 32-page color section, comparing the coin collecting hobby in 1946 and 2006.

Except for the dust jacket and color section, it was an exact replica of the first printing (with the phrase "scarcity of this date" on page 135).