Fond Memories My first encounter with the coin collecting subdivision of numismatics came about in the Spring of 1951. Our family moved from the city to a farm in a nearby (10 miles away) township where my father decided to grow a garden. While preparing the topsoil for planting he noticed a ragtag weather-beaten coin pouch. Upon retrieving it from its hiding place, he discovered the coin pouch contained three large Cents. I never gave the incident nor the coins any thought until the internment of my father (1957). I was in the Army and stationed in Berlin, Germany and, due to Red Cross intervention, was given emergency leave. I was able to visit my father three times before his demise. A wake was held in an Uncle's (dad's brother) house. On a lampstand in my Uncle's house lay an issue of B. Max Mehl's Coin Catalog. The coins came to mind and I asked my Uncle if I could borrow the catalog. He handed it to me. After talking to my mother, she explained the coins were not in her possession and didn't know what happened to them. Again, no more thought about the coins. After my discharge from the Army (October '57, at my wedding reception, my mother handed me a box containing several items she had kept for me. One item was B. Max Mehl's Coin Catalog. Again, no thought about the catalog or coins. In the Summer of '58 I saw a matchbook with a B. Max Mehl ad offering $1,000,000 for a 1943 steel Cent. That ad peaked my curiosity. The first thing I did when I got home was to find that catalog. I began searching all my change for those coins listed for sale in the catalog. I found a few. I visited all the coin dealers listed in the telephone directory and sold them the coins I had found. At one dealer whom I made many trips to, the clerk introduced me to one of his long-time customers who invited me to his home to see his collection. Two things happened while visiting him; 1. He gave me a business card of another coin collector who buys coins and pays more than the dealers. 2. His collection included a complete set of Indian Head Cents, Buffalo Nickels, and partial sets of Lincoln Head Cents, V-Nickels, Barber Dimes, Mercury Dimes, Barber Quarters, Standing Liberty Quarters, Washington Quarters, Barber Half Dollars, Walking Liberty Half Dollars, Morgan Dollars and Peace Dollars. Mind you, the Buffalo Nickel set did not contain any overdates nor the '37 three-legged Buffalo. The coin holder had blue cardboard circles inserted in those spaces. Not one of his Nickels were uncirculated or proof. However, to my eye, every coin in the Buffalo nickel set would have graded out at VF - XF. What a beautiful collection! I was so struck by what I saw, I made a silent vow to begin collecting Cents and Nickels starting the next day! My first task was to go to F.W. Woolworth's Five and Ten Cent Store to buy some coin albums. Secondly to pick up some coin rolls at my bank for searching. Soon (within two years) my two coin holders were filling up (no key coins). One 1 Cent piece (1955-S) kept eluding me. I couldn't find one in circulation so I ended up buying a BU one from a dealer. I gleefully pressed it into place, but upon looking at the entire set, it looked unreal or artificial. Next day I purchased a circulated one in XF. Set looked better. Since that time I haven't been enamored with coin sets containing both circulated and uncirculated coins. Are you? I do admire any and all coin sets where every coin is near the same grade: A. Uncirculated Toned. B. Brilliant Uncirculated C. BU Cameo. D. BU Rainbow Effect. E. BU Deep Mirror. F. Proof Like. G. Proof. H. Circulated: 1. Good - Very Good: a. Good. b. Very Good 2. Very Good - Fine: a. Fine 3. Fine - Very Fine: a. Very Fine. 4. Very Fine - Extra Fine: a. Extra Fine 5. Extra Fine - Almost Uncirculated: a. Almost Uncirculated Mixed grade sets in albums, folders, or single set holders (i.e. silver Nickels) are just not appealing to me. If you have sets containing coins of different grades including circulated coins and MS60-MS70 coins and they look okay to you, by all means they are okay. Author's note: Because of the elusiveness of the '55-S Cent way back then, I now own an uncirculated roll (50 coins). What I'm trying to say is though Uncirculated sets or single coins are a beauty to own or behold, you can be just as proud to own complete or near-complete sets of circulated coins. Don't forsake collecting coins just because you can't afford or find individual coins grading MS 60-70. Clinker
An interesting (personal) story, Clinker! And yes, a set of coins that are roughly in the same condition looks better to me too. Then again, people who collect coins from circulation will probably not really mind having such "mixed bags". Since I decided for my own collection that one piece per type is what I want (with very few exceptions, I do not collect by year, let alone mintmark), such minor differences do not really bug me. Christian
Nice thread Clinker. I'm in agreement with you in having a set of coins with the same "look" as being much more appealing. So for my wheaties set i decided to downgrade my 40's and 50's which were mostly a mixture of red and red/brown UNC's to brown XF/AU's to match the earlier ones. It's actually more of a challenge than what i thought it would be, you can't just run out and buy them from your local dealer, they just don't carry them as they're not worth much. As a result I'm left to buying bags of wheats, searching them and then reselling. I have to say though that it's been a very enjoyable and rewarding endeavor, I've found a few RPM's and a rotated die 41P during my searches.
Ah the days of the cement mixer collecting, I too am one that likes a uniform set weather it be a set G4 barber halves or a PR66 set of nickels.
o mission Good to hear from you. I've been wondering what your collecting genre was and now I know. Thanks for sharing that... Clinker
Hi KoinJester: Thanks for reading this "opinion" piece and sharing your point of view with us... Clinker
