Refining my Kennedy collecting

I may be wrong but i feel as though mint sets are not as good of an idea as everyone has been saying. I recently bought 10 mint sets ranging from 73 to 78 for raw ikes or the possibility of a high grade but was disappointed to find that most of the coins look to have been packaged with a coal shovel. Maybe i just got a bad batch or maybe its just the 73 to 78 sets but i never seem to have good luck....

 

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That doesn't surprise me -- most mint set Ikes look like they were "packaged with a coal shovel". lol

That's why Ikes in 65+ grades are expensive and rare.

Mint sets are still a good source -- if you can see the coins before you buy them -- but it will still take a lot of work to find high-grade examples because of the rough shape of most mint set coins.

 

I've had about 50/50 luck with the Ikes. Kennedys seem to be a little better but I agree, I haven't always gotten the best coin I thought I would.

 

I am also of the opinion that cracking Kennedy half dollars from slabs to put into an album can result in a large percentage value loss. This is especially true when it comes to proof coinage where the surfaces are so delicate that you might crack a PR69 from a holder and, by the time you smash it into an album, it may be no more than a PR66. Then, if you were to refer back to that coin as a grading standard for PR69 you would be sorely misled. Additionally, keep in mind that all a certified grade represents is a single opinion at an isolated point in time. In other words, unless you are planning on buying every MS66 ever graded to use as a standard, it is better to learn the overall mechanics of grading instead of relying on what a single slab states.

 

John, here is a sample of my Kennedy Set. The coins are all consistently Gem 65 or quite a bit above, and it was assembled with mint sets, a partial collector's set, and the silver proofs as gems from various sources. It really didn't cost a lot. As you can see, several of the coins are already toning after 6-9 months.

 

That's because you store them in your oven.

 

Yupp. At 350 degrees, with a Marinara Sauce, and chopped vegetables.

 

I'm so disappointed in you David...

Seriously? vegetables?

 

Yupp. Sauteed veggies to go with the Mixed Seafood that goes in, along with the Pasta al Dente.

 

I've noticed the same thing about the Ike's - a lot of beat up dollars in the mint sets. As far as the Kennedy's go, however, the guys ARE right - you can find many beautiful pieces, so that's the direction I'll go.

 

I check the kennedys to but i was not trying to prove anyone wrong just sharing a little first hand experience.

 

Ikes are funny like that. I've gotten much better Ikes from my bank than i have in mint sets.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

This is a quote from the article in the coinweek link below.....

http://www.coinweek.com/coin-grading/when-dealing-with-eisenhower-dollars-grade-is-everything/

 

I'm getting into this game a little late but for the grading aspect, all you really need is a minimum of 8 with a possible max of 9.

Kennedy's saw little circulation (just like the Eisenhower Dollars), as such, worrying about XF45 - PO01 is a little pointless as very few of those are around anyway and you'd probably NOT want them in a collection. Unless, of course, you were going for a low ball collection but then that can get quite expensive.

The Typical BU Kennedy grades around MS64. MS65 and MS66 are not uncommon with the exception of a few years in the 70's and 80's. Those coins will cost you up to $100. A 1971 in MS66 could easily break the $100 barrier while a 1984-D might come close. Generally, the others can be had for between $10 and $100. There are a LOT of different date/mm coins for this collection! I count 90 from 1964 through 2012 excluding proofs and varieties.

However (lest I get distracted), generally speaking, having good solid AU58, MS62, MS63, MS64, MS65, MS66 and MS67 graded coins should cover the entire series. The sole exception is the 1998-S SMS Silver Piece which usually grades from MS68 to MS69. MS60 and MS61 are rarely given although some do exist.

So, at the minimum, if you have the above 7 slabs, you should get a reasonable idea on grading.

Additionally, grading usually concentrates on the "focal areas" of the coin. For the Kennedy Half, the Cheek and fields on the obverse while the upper part of the shield and the fields on the Reverse. Both are subject to full rims which is why the 1971 philly coin gets so expensive. They had notoriously weak rims and as such, if the rim is missing, the MS66 grade is just a wish.

MS67 graded coins can have a lot of subjectivity in that "some" hits and dings can exist, just as long as they are not too deep and too frequent. I've seen MS67 coins where I felt they deserved an MS66 but few of the grading companies are going to cough up money for a single point difference in grade and they'll defend their decisions by keeping your "regrade" fee's.

Learning to grade Kennedy Half Dollars simply takes some experience in the field by looking at a LOT of coins in the same grade. I don't really believe that settling on the above 7 slabs will do you any good in the grading arena "unless" you're happy with MS64. MS64 is a respectable grade but it has little actual market value. In other words, you'd be better off simply finding the best looking coins out of roll searching for face value. You'd be pleased with the results and, once your set is complete, THEN go through and look for slabbed upgrades and relplace on an "as needed" basis.

I realize that roll searching isn't your thing and neither is buying mint sets BUT, given the size (in numbers) of the Kennedy Half Dollar collection, my advice is to get started as cheaply as possible and at the same time, get a feel for what the Kennedy Half "really" looks like. This can only be done, well for me at least, by in hand comparison. Once you've got this experience under your belt, you'll have a better appreciation for the high dollar and expensive coins which are out there in the market place.

Who knows, maybe you'll even start an interest in varieties since the Kennedy Series is simply loaded with varieties. Some are fairly awesome (like the 1974-D DDO) and some are meh like the Accented Hair Proof. Some are quite common, like the 1966 DDO's and some are just danged hard to find like the 1972-D No FG.

Whatever you decide, in about a year, you should have all the experience you need.

 

Excellent post by 19Lyds.

 

Wow, Lyds, thank you. That post is copied and saved to my research.

 

Indeed, great post by 19Lyds, including some really nice in-depth info about some specific coins. Thanks to him I'm hooked on Ike's as well...

After reading all this I may just have to start on this series myself. Thanks to my mother's hoarding tendencies I have literally hundreds of mint and proof sets covering the 70's on through the mid-2000's which should cover most of the coins needed. John, give me a shout if you need help filling at least the proof version holes in the collection - since you prefer raw, and I prefer slab, maybe that can work to both our benefit.

 

I think the best advice is to assemble a slabbed grade set to refer to. Just a word of caution, I attempted to do this a couple of years ago and found that for Kennedy & Franklin Halves grades/coins vary widely – apparently these coins are/were assigned to new graders for learning. I have slabbed 65’s that are clearly 62’s, as well as other wrong grades. So, I went to PCGS photograde online to determine which slabs are accurate.

 

Nothing can vary as much as the Ike Set, but yes the Kennedy and Franklin sets to have a lot of wiggle room. I know the Ike group has a great Grade View tool to help with grade comparison, is there anything out there like this for the Kennedy set?

 

I don't think that the PCGS photograde gets enough press.
It is an extremely helpful guide for grading. My biggest issue with it is there are no descriptions, or what to look for regarding each grade.
Aside from that, I use it often.

http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Kennedy/Grades